<p>Managed to complete my first essay after days of procrastination. This is in response to the 2nd prompt and would appreciate comments or criticisms</p>
<pre><code>I stood waiting with anticipation for my next prey. I hid in the shadows, sweat accumulating on my forehead. Time slowed down and everything moved slowly. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Were those footsteps I heard entering my dwelling? I prepared for attack. The footsteps are getting closer and my heart felt like it would beat right out of my chest. The footsteps are right next to where I lay hiding. I leapt out. AHHHHH! The children stood petrified for a split second. They proceeded to bolt out of the haunted house as quick as light. My friends and I talked about the scare and the reaction of the children. This continued for the rest of the night and the year after.
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<p>This was 5 years ago in 7th grade. I still remember spending hours with my friends Bradley and Richard preparing the haunted house to scare children and adults alike. We built the haunted house inside a garage. Dont ask me how we did it. The prepping took time as we had to set up walls with trash bags and get the lighting at just the right intensity. The haunted house was finished by Halloween. Entrance fees came to mind but decided that the only reward we needed was knowing that we satisfied their need for scare and gave them a unique experience in Halloween rather than the repetitive trick-or-treat. The haunted house sadly ended with the start of high school.</p>
<p>That night I learned an important lesson, working hard can be joyful if you are passionate in what you are volunteering for and it does not have to end with personal gain. In other words, I found the meaning of good volunteering. Where people volunteer for what they are passionate about and not just laboring in work expecting good to come somewhere in the world. Where people dont just volunteer because colleges like to see it, but because its what they are passionate about and because they enjoy helping the community.</p>
<p>The experience of working on building the haunted house and having a great time drew me closer to the world of volunteering. Before this experience, I had the impression that volunteering was just trudging through the hours volunteering because in the end it was apparently going to help children in Africa. The haunted house experience provided me with a newfound perception in service. Volunteering can be a fun, unique experience and there are many people, besides children in Africa, to volunteer for. In high school, I joined volunteer organizations that were interesting to me and allowed me to serve the people whether it be children in Africa or people in my community.Volunteer essentially made up the main core of my life as I volunteer with animals to homeless people, San Francisco to San Ramon.That Halloween night was the spark of my volunteering obsession. I am grateful of the new view of volunteering that the haunted house has provided me. Who knew that scaring children would influence volunteer work in a person? I knew I didnt but Im glad it did.</p>