The Day I Became A Princess
Only a couple minutes past seven on the day of April 2nd, I was awoken by the sound of my phone alarm chiming. At first I was reluctant to get out of bed due to my physical exhaustion from the school week prior to the weekend, but eventually I brought myself to it. Today would be the day I got be a princess… at least for a couple hours. A program I am a part of, Youth Leadership Wilson, was sponsoring an event called “Hungry For Heroes”. This included all of the Youth Leadership Wilson participants dressing up as princesses, princes, or any character that might be considered a “hero” to a younger child. Any child could come have their photo taken with these characters as long as they paid the admission of a canned food item. These cans will be donated to the children within the county school system who are underfed, especially when school is not in session.
I pulled the plastic bags off of the Rapunzel costume and took it off the hanger. I unzipped the side zipper, and slipped the dress onto my body. I had already felt the tightness of the corset start to make my body temperature rise, but there was not much else I could do about that. The next step was to braid my hair and put the fake flowers intertwined into my hair. Even with the clips I bought with my aunt at Hobby Lobby, the stems poked my face making it quite uncomfortable, plus the clips pained my scalp when there were multiple of them on at a time. By the time I had my hair done and dress on, my father told me we would have to leave promptly in order to make it to the event on time, so we did. I grabbed my polaroid camera, a purple bed sheet I planned on using as a backdrop, my frying pan, and some paper props I made for my area.
The roads to Mt. Juliet Christian Academy seemed desolate, with very little cars around. Although it was 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and I would be sleeping in if I could, too. I called Mrs. Dorie as my dad and I pulled into the school's parking lot and asked her where we needed to meet her. She was not there yet, but she told us look for the white SUV and park near it. I exited the car and my arms were loaded with all the things I was bringing inside. Someone held the door open for me as well as directed me towards the gym to where the event would be happening. By the time I got there, most people had just started arriving and were changing into their costumes. Another friend of mine from school aided me in hanging decorations before guests started to arrive. The gym at this school was large, but all the equipment and such around the edges made the environment not so ideal for those who wanted to take pictures with their own backdrops. We took a group picture and debriefed about what we would be doing for the next two hours, and then split up into our stations. To the left was Chelsey and Tate dressed as Tinkerbell and Peter Pan; to the right was Millee dressed as Jessie from Toy Story.
Kids made their rounds to meet all the characters by circling the gym. Each person who came that day was given an autograph book for each “hero” to sign. For each child who came to my section, I would write: “Live your dreams! -Rapunzel”. I alternated from holding my frying pan like Rapunzel did in the movie and just holding my pen: holding both was almost impossible. The high schoolers shared in light conversation with each other when the crowds were small, yet when they were large they quickly snapped back into character. Kids were sometimes confused by the imprecise outfits that portrayed certain characters, or they cried because they were scared of someone, and maybe even screamed. Despite those things. the most rewarding part of the whole process was seeing the precious smiles of those who were infatuated with the idea of getting to meet these fictional characters, because to them they are real. Some kids would come in wearing Elsa outfits, or a Buzz Lightyear one, and it was just a heartwarming sight. The irony of it all is that a girl who once never wished to take off a princess dress and wanted to be one, ended up getting the chance to be one for someone else. Disney songs from numerous movies blared through the speakers on the stage in the gym and I danced and sang along for most of the time. The length of my dress was the only issue that I ran into, so tightly I clenched it in one of my hands as I did jazz squares to pass the time. Simultaneously the theatre department was working on the set for their production of “The Sound of Music”. Power tools could be heard screeching from the gym, raising many questions and causing a little concern.
The stream of children began to slow down as the time left of “Hungry For Heroes” began to dwindle. Many of the princesses were lined up on the ground sitting and they wore tired expressions on their faces. I would have to agree, it was a very tiring process, but it was ultimately worth it. Throughout the duration on the three hours I was present, I felt slightly dehydrated and hungry. The only saving grace I could spot was the water fountain in the hall parallel to the gym in order to keep my feeble body moving. When the clock read 11:00, the place vacated in an instant. I consolidated all my belongings and bid everyone farewell until next week, when we get to do it all over again. The brisk breeze was cold on the thin material of my dress, and I impatiently awaited the arrival of my ride home, my dad. As I hopped into the shotgun seat, I started to rip flowers out of my hair and kicked my shoes off and thought to myself, It’s not easy to be a princess.
I learned that the innocence that can be found among children is something that should be cherished and appreciated more than it already is. All of the kids that I talked to told me about how they had seen me in “Tangled”, and that coming to meet us was something they really enjoyed. I hope that even if it’s not through dressing up as a character, I can continue to provide that level of happiness and joy to people of all ages. Sometimes tasks such as this might be painful (i.e. fake flowers stabbing the side of your face), but it’ll be worthwhile in the end.
Love always,
Allison
I pulled the plastic bags off of the Rapunzel costume and took it off the hanger. I unzipped the side zipper, and slipped the dress onto my body. I had already felt the tightness of the corset start to make my body temperature rise, but there was not much else I could do about that. The next step was to braid my hair and put the fake flowers intertwined into my hair. Even with the clips I bought with my aunt at Hobby Lobby, the stems poked my face making it quite uncomfortable, plus the clips pained my scalp when there were multiple of them on at a time. By the time I had my hair done and dress on, my father told me we would have to leave promptly in order to make it to the event on time, so we did. I grabbed my polaroid camera, a purple bed sheet I planned on using as a backdrop, my frying pan, and some paper props I made for my area.
The roads to Mt. Juliet Christian Academy seemed desolate, with very little cars around. Although it was 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and I would be sleeping in if I could, too. I called Mrs. Dorie as my dad and I pulled into the school's parking lot and asked her where we needed to meet her. She was not there yet, but she told us look for the white SUV and park near it. I exited the car and my arms were loaded with all the things I was bringing inside. Someone held the door open for me as well as directed me towards the gym to where the event would be happening. By the time I got there, most people had just started arriving and were changing into their costumes. Another friend of mine from school aided me in hanging decorations before guests started to arrive. The gym at this school was large, but all the equipment and such around the edges made the environment not so ideal for those who wanted to take pictures with their own backdrops. We took a group picture and debriefed about what we would be doing for the next two hours, and then split up into our stations. To the left was Chelsey and Tate dressed as Tinkerbell and Peter Pan; to the right was Millee dressed as Jessie from Toy Story.
Kids made their rounds to meet all the characters by circling the gym. Each person who came that day was given an autograph book for each “hero” to sign. For each child who came to my section, I would write: “Live your dreams! -Rapunzel”. I alternated from holding my frying pan like Rapunzel did in the movie and just holding my pen: holding both was almost impossible. The high schoolers shared in light conversation with each other when the crowds were small, yet when they were large they quickly snapped back into character. Kids were sometimes confused by the imprecise outfits that portrayed certain characters, or they cried because they were scared of someone, and maybe even screamed. Despite those things. the most rewarding part of the whole process was seeing the precious smiles of those who were infatuated with the idea of getting to meet these fictional characters, because to them they are real. Some kids would come in wearing Elsa outfits, or a Buzz Lightyear one, and it was just a heartwarming sight. The irony of it all is that a girl who once never wished to take off a princess dress and wanted to be one, ended up getting the chance to be one for someone else. Disney songs from numerous movies blared through the speakers on the stage in the gym and I danced and sang along for most of the time. The length of my dress was the only issue that I ran into, so tightly I clenched it in one of my hands as I did jazz squares to pass the time. Simultaneously the theatre department was working on the set for their production of “The Sound of Music”. Power tools could be heard screeching from the gym, raising many questions and causing a little concern.
The stream of children began to slow down as the time left of “Hungry For Heroes” began to dwindle. Many of the princesses were lined up on the ground sitting and they wore tired expressions on their faces. I would have to agree, it was a very tiring process, but it was ultimately worth it. Throughout the duration on the three hours I was present, I felt slightly dehydrated and hungry. The only saving grace I could spot was the water fountain in the hall parallel to the gym in order to keep my feeble body moving. When the clock read 11:00, the place vacated in an instant. I consolidated all my belongings and bid everyone farewell until next week, when we get to do it all over again. The brisk breeze was cold on the thin material of my dress, and I impatiently awaited the arrival of my ride home, my dad. As I hopped into the shotgun seat, I started to rip flowers out of my hair and kicked my shoes off and thought to myself, It’s not easy to be a princess.
I learned that the innocence that can be found among children is something that should be cherished and appreciated more than it already is. All of the kids that I talked to told me about how they had seen me in “Tangled”, and that coming to meet us was something they really enjoyed. I hope that even if it’s not through dressing up as a character, I can continue to provide that level of happiness and joy to people of all ages. Sometimes tasks such as this might be painful (i.e. fake flowers stabbing the side of your face), but it’ll be worthwhile in the end.
Love always,
Allison
Comments
Post a Comment