The Sydney Olympics
offered me an opportunity to learn more about staging a major
multi-sport event and this knowledge, I felt, would stand me
in good stead
as I developed the media services that would be needed
for our Salt Lake City
Winter Games in 2002. 
I also decided that working as a volunteer
would give me a greater understanding of a whole range of issues
which is why I joined the ranks
of those working in the front line.
But little did I suspect
just how much the experience would offer me
such powerful
feelings and a strong sense of pride - emotions
which influence the many memories that I took away with me
when I left Sydney.
As a woman volunteer, I am not usually keen
on uniforms, but from the moment I put on my Sydney volunteer's
uniform I felt I was part of something important, something
big that could well be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I
immediately bonded
with others in the same uniform and as we passed each other
in the street dressed in our colorful outfits,
we smiled and said "G'day" to each other and those
greetings continued throughout the two weeks of the Olympics.
My job was as a supervisor
in the Main Press Center where I managed 800 journalists'
desks, the telephones, the banks of televisions and other
volunteers, many of whom were media students. Our shifts were
eight hours long and often overnight as the Center was open
24 hours, but we generally stayed longer out of choice as
the work was important and exciting. Without us the journalists
would not get their articles back to their home news desks
and the stories of the emotional highs and lows of the competitors
would
never reach the outside world.
As volunteers, we all felt our work was a valuable contribution
to the success of the Olympics and we reveled
in the compliments
we received. We worked hard and we had fun. We made new contacts
and friends from all over the world and we learned new skills
which we will never lose.
When the Olympics finished, all the volunteers - 47,000 of
us - were invited to take part in a parade
through the streets of Sydney. Many of us did this, and thousands
and thousands of people came out to cheer our efforts. Being
part of that experience brought tears to many eyes.
The Olympics was marvelous,
and the work I went to do is relevant and valuable to the
job I do now. But the experience of being involved in such
a massive
event and the recognition
we were given for our efforts is what I will remember forever.
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