​Okeedokee, where to begin? I joined Key Club as a freshman, and only did so because my cousin was an officer and forced me to. I remember (vividly) my first Key Club meeting consisted of some hyped up officers chanting and yelling “28” a lot. I was a nervous freshman, so it was an intimidating experience. However, I still went to meetings throughout the year, because my cousin gave me rides and my absence from meetings would have made for awkward family reunions. After my freshman year consisting of weekly morning meetings, my cousin pushed me to go to service events. I never needed the hours, because we already did so much with our church, so I figured there might be something else to them, otherwise she wouldn’t have been going either. I was right: service events, as millennials put it, are LIT. I volunteered for Salmon Days for the first time as a sophomore and I had never met so many fun people in one place (wait until I went to my first DCM). After that, I went to so many different events: every time, I met new people from Liberty, from the Issaquah School District, and from all around Division 28. One time, after finals week, I woke up early on a Saturday (a cardinal sin) to volunteer at Eastside Baby Corner. It was there, in 45 degree wind-chill in a poorly lit warehouse that I sorted baby clothes for two hours until I realized what I was really doing. I was directly helping the process that gave underprivileged kids in the community coats in the winter. I was shivering, despite my coat and scarf, and we took a break to huddle by one of two weak space heaters, I realized that there were kids without the heater, coat, and scarf, and that the work we were doing was helping them get those necessities. After that, I committed my junior year to heightening my level of involvement, which gained me the notice of Sara, the president at the time. In December of junior year, she repeatedly encouraged me (read: cornered me in 8th period) to run for President, and because I was enthralled by her support (read: because she was my photography editor), I decided to run. Somehow, a rambling speech made me President, but Key Club made me who I am today. It changed me as a person, because while the work of an officer is an organizational and social revival, the spirit and commitment of just being in Key Club is enough to renew anyone’s love for their community and the work we all do. We serve our communities, support each other, and love everyone. To all the intimidated freshmen out there: trust me, it’s worth it.