Feeling Settled

It would appear that my Olympics work schedule is, at last, finalized. I started at BC Place, got moved to Pacific Coliseum, had to rearrange shifts that conflicted with my events tickets, had to remove my 5am shifts due to lack of transportation, had to, once again, request a change for shifts that interfered with events tickets, and FINALLY have a schedule that works.

The whole process of requesting changes to my schedule was making me incredibly nervous – I did not want to seem difficult but everytime I requested a change, they would forget to take into account my availability (which I had given them several times). There are only 3 days out of the 24 that I am not available to work and inevitably, those were the days I kept getting scheduled. I was certain that at any second they were going to move me to another venue, or just say “This girl’s not worth it!” and withdraw my volunteer offer. I was even willing to sell one of my events tickets when I got scheduled to work the same event, just to avoid having to request another schedule change! But, turns out that my family had given me an early Christmas present and upgraded that particular ticket (Pairs Figure Skating final) to one of the better seats in the house! (Thanks guys!)

Anyway, now that everything is sorted out, I’m feeling more settled and reassured that I’m not going to lose my offer – LOL. I’m starting to get really excited too, and am thinking about all the little things that I need to get in order before I go. Mostly, figuring out what I need to pack! I know that as soon as January 1st hits, the time is going to fly by – 54 days to go!!

Step By Step

This whole volunteer application process has really been a step by step process. When I applied way back in March, I had so many concerns about how much the trip could cost, whether or not I’d have accommodation, how I could take that much time off work, etc., etc. However, I figured that if I was going to apply, I’d  have to just deal with each hurdle as it came up; wait for A, then worry about B. Figure B out, then worry about C…and so on. And although I’m literally mid-process now, I find that these little hurdles keep arising, and I have to continue to take each one step by step.

So far, the steps in the process have looked something like this:

1. Apply
2. Wait…and wait some more
3. Secure accommodation
4. More waiting
5. Interview
6. Look at flight options and costs
7. Talk to my boss
8. Wait
9. Get my offer
0. Talk to HR
11. Get my volunteer schedule
12. Book my flight
13. Change my schedule because of date conflicts
14. Get assigned a new role

Each time I have gotten one step further, I have crossed another hurdle. Today’s hurdle involves transportation – something I never considered to be an issue because not only to volunteers get free access to all public transit during the games, but because I also knew they were going to be adding a lot more routes and times. But, since my accommodations are actually in Burnaby and many of my shifts start at 5am, turns out – I may NOT be able to get to my venue that early in the A.M. via public transit (based on the schedules I’ve looked at). I’d probably have to be getting on the bus/train by about 4:15am, and it doesn’t seem that they’ll be running until 5am. I’ve since emailed my Events Services coordinator and explained my concerns. Luckily, he’s been very understanding and is going to see if there’s another transit option I haven’t considered. Safety is also a concern for me, as I’m not too excited about walking several blocks to a bus station by myself in the dark at that hour.

Fortunately, this isn’t something that will make or break my role and with any luck, I’m hoping they might just give me some later shifts! LOL. The nice thing about problems like this is that they know we’re volunteers – they can only expect so much! Having said that, the last thing I want is to be difficult, and I certainly don’t want to risk putting my offer on the line. The good news is that the closer we get to the games, the fewer hurdles there will be to figure out.

One of the exciting next steps I took this week, involved signing up for a time to get my uniform and volunteer accreditation! It just made me realize how close this is really getting….71 days and counting!