My Glasgow Commonwealth Games Experience

My team and I at  the Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh.

Although I don't play any sport, since a young age, I have loved watching it whether on TV or live playing and regardless of whether I support the team or athlete, I always thrive off the exciting buzz and atmosphere! I remember in 2000 (I would've been 9) when the Olympics were held in Sydney, Australia, we got to watch some of it while we were at school when it was raining during lunch or break times. I started to become very interested in the games and would race home from school to see if there was any more I could watch and I think this is where my love for sporting environments started.

In 2007, Glasgow won the bid against Nigeria to host the Commonwealth Games and I was thrilled as I believed that Glasgow was the perfect choice! I have been going through to Glasgow all my life to visit family and I have always loved the city with its vibrancy, unique culture and friendly people. It was going to be a 7 year wait until the games would actually be held but even at 16 years old, I was delighted by the news and was motivated to get myself involved in the games, one way or another.

2012 came and it was the year of Team GB! The Olympic games were brought to London and were a huge success, leaving a sporting legacy all through the country and motivating thousands of people like myself, to volunteer at sporting events. The undeniable positive impact the the London 2012 games brought to Great Britain motivated me to apply to volunteer at the Glasgow Commonwealth games which were to be held just 2 years later, in the summer of 2014. The application process was lengthy due to the overwhelming amount of applicants interested in making their contributions to a very unique and exciting opportunity. I remember receiving an email saying that volunteer applicants had broken previous games records with over 50,000 people applying from countries all over the world. This notion excited me but also made me nervous as I knew there were so many people wishing for the same opportunity as me but they could not give it to everyone!

When I received the good news email to say that I was one of the lucky 15,000 applicants to have been chosen for a voluntary position in the games, I was absolutely thrilled! Throughout the process my desire to be involved in a once in a lifetime event grew and so too did my worry that I would not be given the chance. However, I was proved wrong and after receiving the email, I went straight to work, researching the different voluntary positions throughout the games and what kind of tasks I would be involved in. I began my journey in May 2014, working in the famous and historical Kelvinhall in Glasgow. This is a landmark building in Glasgow, previously known as an events venue hosting boxing and travelling circuses during the 1960's and 70's. My position would be working in the Accreditation department, also known as the heart of the games where contractors, volunteers, athletes, games force staff, security and chief executives would pass through to receive their access passes allowing them into games venues. This was an interesting and intricate process which involved a lot of face to face interaction, patience and attention to detail whilst cross checking passports and identity documentation required to receive an accreditation pass. After a couple of months, I then moved to work at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh (my home city) to carry out these tasks in a games specific venue. This was a very exciting time as I had a very nice supervisor who managed to get us tickets for the diving each day, allowing us to watch some live sport and meet Tom Daley in real life!

A few ladies from the team at Kelvinhall, Glasgow.

The fellow volunteers I met were exceptionally friendly and each and every one of them was grateful for the once in a life time opportunity we had been granted. I truly believe that Glasgow pulled off what was a mammoth task and one that many people doubted Glasgow could do. The games have left a positive legacy, inspiring a wealth of people from all age groups to engage in more sporting activities and take up voluntary work positions. I would encourage taking on voluntary work if the opportunity ever arises because from my experience, fellow volunteers shared a positive and motivational mindset that we were all there because we wanted to be, not as an obligatory process to make money. 

In 2015 the Pan American games will be held in Canada and in 2016, the Olympics will arrive in Rio! Both events excite me greatly and although they are much further away destinations, I am still considering applying for a voluntary position to gain experience in a much different environment.

My experience of volunteering at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games was exceptionally positive and rewarding and if I had the chance, I would do it all over again in a heart beat.

 

  A visit from Clyde, the games mascot. 

     

       Tom Daley and friends, training for the syncro dive finals.

Goodbye University!

After what was an enjoyable but VERY intense 4 years, I finally graduated with a degree in Psychology and Sociology from Queen Margaret University this summer (hence the lack of blog posts as the work load got heavy). I thoroughly valued my experience at QMU and I could not praise the lecturing staff any more for their passion and dediation to the course. The university overall is generally small in size and I consider this to be one of the key reasons to my success as the teaching was often available on a one-to-one and subjective basis, allowing students to direct the course of actions we took in terms of subject choices and career options.

Throughout my degree I studied modules related to business and social psychology in which I gained a wealth of knowledge about human interaction and consumer behaviour, ultimately triggering a passion to work in the field of Marketing, Communcations and PR. I consider myself as an observant and insightful individual who has a great interest in interaction and therefore by applying the knowledge I have obtained through university and life experiences, I hope to make invaluable contributions to the business sector.