The First Competition nationals are held once every year around January. It has five consecutive days of competition, each with a different competition category. The one I participated in on January 25th was the FLL Explore and FLL Discover category, in which the participants are around 6-10 years old.
My volunteering position was team check-in and photographer. I registered with my friend, and we were both assigned the same job. The check-in time spans from the morning to the afternoon because the competition allowed teams to check in at least one hour before their presentation. This helps the teams that are presenting in the afternoon save time, as they don't have to check in in the morning first.
Our job was to confirm the participants' ID to the name on the registration sheet, including both the coaches and the students. We also have to count the number of people who actually came after all teams complete check-in, so the event organizer can pay the exact ticket money for the competition arena.
Some people also come to ask questions about the competition schedule, and this is also our duty to answer them or guide them to the places.
We are also encouraged to take pictures of the teams at their pit because sometimes it is hard to predict when and where some interesting moments will occur. In fact, I did take some photos where the students were introducing their project to other people and they seemed so into it.
Lastly, at the award ceremony, we helped with delivering the medals to the judges who were handing the awards to the teams. There were about 60 awards so we worked really hard to keep up with the pace of the ceremony.
Overall, the volunteering experience was great! The volunteer manager was really kind and nice when assigning our jobs. She guided us through the specific details and chatted with us during the lunch break. I had a really fun time volunteering and will definitely come again next year.
