4 years as a Panda

Another Asian Moon Festival has come and gone. Last night marked the 10th anniversary of the annual event which has more or less become a tradition at UCO. To this day, it still holds a very special place in my heart as one of my favorite community events to volunteer for. This event signifies the first organized event I played a role in planning while I served as AASA president a few years back. I can still remember exactly how I felt planning the 5th Moon festival.. I was a nervous wreck the entire night but the feeling of satisfaction, pride, and personal growth that hit me as soon as it was over when all the families and children had left was amazing.

This was the 4th year I had the opportunity to return to my undergrad campus, spend time catching up with a few friendly faces, and dance the night away as a panda. Yes, I'm that dancing panda that either made your kid squeal with delight or terrified the living daylights outta them. One of my favorite moments of the night was when a young girl ran up to me and tackled me with a big ol' hug. I, of course, returned the warm hug while overhearing her parents mention to her, "aww, remember 2 years ago when you were too scared to give the panda a hug?".

Being somewhat of a Disney junkie, characters have always been one of my favorite aspects of visiting theme parks. It's an amazing feeling to witness the sheer joy and laughter of the children who I get to spend a few moments with either playing, dancing, or exchanging high fives. After I had changed and was walking back to my car with a friend, I recognized a young boy walking back with his family who I had danced with and hugged on several occasions (some kids are really into pandas, haha). He barely noticed me but overhearing him exclaim to his parents about the wonderful time he had was enough to put a smile on my face. I guess I did my job right!