My First Dance (& Other Tales from Highschool)

In Which I Volunteer At The Animal Shelter

Redemption-- The action of being saved from error and evil. I wouldn't exactly call the candy-selling fiasco evil per-say, but it was definitely not one of my best looks. That's why I was so happy during our winter assembly and the news that followed! It'd be a chance to redeem myself, and to make a difference in the world.

You see, every year, my highschool would do something charity-related. I'm not sure why they picked winter, but maybe it's just a hard time for a lot of people? I know many charities that pop up during that time. Anyways, this was my first time hearing about it, and I was pretty excited. They chose the animal shelter too, which just increased my willingness to participate. Animals were a passion of mine. Though I didn't have any pets of my own growing up, I still really liked being able to care for the creatures around me. Plus, who didn't want to help orphaned kittens and puppies? It was a dream come true!

Because it was volunteer work, nobody was actually required to do it, but you know I was right up there at the sign-up sheet as soon as they put it up. A few other classmates I knew signed up to help, including Sienna. I was glad she would be by my side to help out. Animals might be cute and fun to be around, but they were definitely a handful. Plus, having a friend around would make social interaction a lot easier.

After a couple of days, all of our names were called over the loudspeaker, and we filed into an empty classroom one by one. From there, a nice teacher that I hadn't met before explained what we would be doing while we were helping out at the animal shelter. Apparently, it wasn't all playing with baby animals, but that was to be expected. It wouldn't have been labeled as work if we were just there to play. We'd be doing feeding, and walking, and grooming, and cleaning, and, yes, playing. I didn't mind any of that. I'd been wishing for a chance like this for a long time.

The sign-up sheet was passed around to each person, and we wrote our names under days that would work for us. Sienna and I made sure to put our names on the same days because we wanted each other's company. Plus, we'd be able to carpool which would be a lot easier for our parents to put up with. Driving your kids back and forth to the animal shelter every week wasn't something most parents looked forward to, so it lessened the load. We both had flexible enough schedules that it worked out well in the end; there wasn't one day that we wouldn't be together.

Our first shift was on a Friday after school. Since there was a couple hour gap in between when we were let out for the end of the school day and when we were to report for our volunteer duties, Sienna and I made plans to hang out at her house. My mom called the bus garage that morning, and the bus driver was super friendly about letting me on. Sienna had promised me he would be; he was a nice guy in general. I heard he even handed out candy to his passengers during the holidays. He was the bus driver every kid dreamed of having.

Sienna met up with me at my locker when it was time to go home, and I followed her to the back of the school to get on her bus. The bus driver greeted us with a friendly smile and encouraged us to take a seat up front, just in case anything were to happen since I was a newcomer to his route. I was fine with that, and so was Sienna, even if she was the type of person to try for the very back row each day. It was only for one ride, and she had me with her, so it didn't really matter. Besides, this bus was highschoolers only, so we wouldn't have to deal with any younger kids bothering us.

From there, we talked about our day until the bus came to a stop on Sienna's street. I thanked the bus driver on my way out and followed her a couple houses down to her home. Her mom was waiting for us in the kitchen. She'd made peanut butter jelly sandwiches as an after-school snack, and I have to admit that I devoured mine in mere minutes. I always got hungry after school.

Sienna and I hung out in her room after that. We talked about how her crush texted her and how I was going to the movies with my dad the next day and all sorts of other things. We maybe talked a little too long because her mom was calling for us while we freshened up, but that's okay. We were just having fun like all girls do!

We made it to the animal shelter in just enough time, and a girl up front greeted us with a friendly smile. She introduced herself as Amanda and said she was one of the workers at the animal shelter. She gave us a brief tour around the shelter and gave us some important information about our volunteer work. Since it was our first day, we were going to be on cat room duty. The cat room was a room where the friendly cats got to hang out and relax. It was pretty big and had big windows that overlooked the backyard where some of the dogs were playing. There were bowls of kibble and water along the walls and toys just about everywhere. There were even ledges built into the walls that the cats could climb and lay on. It was a cat paradise and a paradise for Sienna and me.

I immediately got to work on stroking a little grey tabby that came up and rubbed against my leg. She had the prettiest green eyes and purred when I pet her. Sienna was quick to get a picture, and I didn't mind at all. I loved having physical reminders of the fun memories I made.

It wasn't all fun and games, of course. I did get to snuggle and play with the kitties, but we had to clean litter boxes, empty and refill dishes, and clean up their area too. It was hard work keeping an eye on so many animals, too. Luckily for us, Amanda came in and helped us out when it started getting a little chaotic. All the cats were friendly, with humans and with other cats, but there was a small fight that broke out, so I was relieved to have someone more responsible there to break it up.

All in all, I had an amazing first shift, and it continued to get better throughout the days. We eventually got up to the dogs and I fell in love with them even more than I did with the cats. Sienna and I were praised by the staff as good volunteers, and they even gave us cookies on our last shift. Not only did I feel grateful for the experience I'd earned but also proud of myself for doing something to help people (or in this case, animals) in need. I would recommend volunteering to anyone, as long as you're willing to put a lot of effort in. You can do so much good regardless of what cause you choose to help, and I'd bet you'd feel good about yourself, too.

I was honestly sad when it was time to stop volunteering. Outside of school programs and stuff, only people 16 and older were allowed to be full-time volunteers. I guess it has to do with liabilities, but my mom joked that it was because of kids' impulsivity. All the animals there were just so sweet that I wanted to take every single one of them home. Sadly, neither of my parents wanted to take in an entire pack of animals, so the answer to that one was no. Still, in the end, our school managed to really help out the animal shelter and allowed the real workers to focus more on other aspects of the job. It also helped raise awareness around the community, and more pets were adopted out that month than any other month. I don't know if that had anything to do with it being around the holidays or not, but it made me feel happy regardless. Our school did a good thing, and that was what mattered the most.