Maybe I should call this the best unpaid job ever.  I volunteered at the Pacific Science Center, mostly during middle school, but a little bit during high school.

pacific-science-centerEvery other weekend I would don my blue shirt and name badge with pride, and help educate Seattle’s youth in the ways of science.  I worked the tide pool, the virtual reality basketball, and Bubblefest, all in exchange for one free soda per day from the cafe.  One time, not while volunteering, I accidentally swallowed my gum during the Bubblefest bubble-gum blowing competetion.  Embarrassing!

One of the best places to work was the high ride bike.  The high ride bike is a bike on a rail about 30 ft above the ground (and later, above water).  It’s anchored by a long hanging weight that makes it impossible to tip over.  But it’s still scary for most people, and they put a net below to catch whoever “might” fall.  During slow times I would do laps forward and backwards to try and attract customers.  One time I get yelled at for going backwards by a manager who that was unsafe.  Shouldn’t a manager at the science center understand that the physics involved were the same backwards or forwards?  Either way, good times on the high bike.

The other good spot to work was the toy test, specifically the video game part.  This was a once-a-year event so you had to plan ahead, and then you had to be sure to only sign up for half-days so you could spend the other half of the day testing the games for yourself.  They had dozens of video game consoles set up with not-yet-released games, so you got to play the latest games before anyone else and just fill out a quick form on what you liked and disliked.

The Science Center also put on a haunted-house over Halloween, and staffed it with volunteers.  We dressed in black and put black face paint on to make ourselves scary and hard to see.  It was all good fun until it came time to take the black face paint off.  I had the stuff stuck around my eyes for days.  I thought it looked a little goth, but people at school were asking if I was wearing eyeliner.  Just what a freshman needs.  That might actually have been my last time volunteering there…

Still, the Science Center gig was the best job ever because it continued to pay dividends even years after I’d left.  I held on to my name badge, which apparently they haven’t changed in years, and that granted us free admission and free IMAX movie tickets on more than one occasion.   Thank you, PSC!

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