On service learning day we did a project on haunted house. We prepared the haunted house in a CD shelter. As we wanted to make it look creepy and dark, we pasted garbage bag all over the room using scotch tape. After we’re done, we hanged an upside down head at the entrance so that when people come in, the head will fall right in front of them and scare them off. Next, people will hide behind the garbage bag and make a few holes which is just right 2 fit their hands in. Thus, when people come in, they will be able to touch them. Then, the opera ghost will pop up of nowhere and give them a “ boo” wearing a opera mask. After that, is the crying ghost. The crying ghost will suddenly stand up and scare them using a torchlight by putting under their face. Next, is a lamp with a fake head with wig on her hair. It isn’t really scary, but under the dark, anything will look creepy. As they walk straight, there is a bin. While they pass by, the bin will just suddenly open and a doll will pop out. As they make for the exit, a person lying on a table with white cloth over him will sit up and scare. After preparing all this, we used whiteboard and a piece of long dark blue cloth to surround the pathway for the operators to work and prevent form being seen.


Before the whole thing start, we were busily preparing ourselves. On that actual day, I was putting make-up for my face as I was one of the crying ghost. However, due to the high temperature, I was sweating profusely and the make-up were smudged every time it’s applied on my face. So, we had came up with a good idea. We decided to stand just right in front of the air-con and put on our make-up. Thus, this had solved the problem. We also put on red fake nails on our fingers to give the effect. Soon after, it was time to let customers come in. The first batch was a pretty successful one. The girls screamed so loudly I could hardly hear what my friends are trying to tell me. So, more and more people came rolling in. However, there’s one particular batch who broke one of the prop used, which was the lamp that belonged to our teacher! I am not sure whether they did on purpose but I sure hope that the next time such incident will not happen again!

After the recess had ended, we were given a break. That’s when I realized that my eyes and my face were a bit red and swollen. It was then when I found out I was allergic to face-paint! So, my teacher told me to take a rest and not be the crying ghost anymore. I felt both sad and happy. I felt sad because I cannot take a role in the haunted house anymore and I was happy as it can give me a break from a tiring day. However, my “ bad luck “ didn’t stop here. As we use lightstick in the haunted house, one of the lightstick leaked and it went into my left eye! It was really painful and I could not even open my eyes! Luckily my class chairman brought me to wash my eyes, and because of that, I could not enjoy myself hundred percent. However, my eyes are fine now and I could still see clearly now. What a close call.


Soon, the whole thing came to an end. We tore down the place and pack the stuff very quickly and efficiently. Then, the exciting part came.
We were getting ready to count the total amount of money we earned! Those few minutes were the longest minutes of my life. Soon, the result was out. We earned over three-hundred dollars! It was beyond everyone’s expectation. So what we did were worth it! I felt like flying to the sky and jumping up and down. It was really a lot of money to me.


After everything was done, I felt really tired and sleepy. The whole day with something I’m allergic to on my face, having to scream at everyone I see which pass by me, not eating enough, and so much more. However, I really enjoyed myself. Although it was a tiring and long day for me, it had brought me new friendships with other people in the class which I am not close to, even for the past few months. I interacted and co-operated with new partners and people which I had never worked with. It was a brand new experience working with them and I enjoyed myself pretty much.


Also, I found out that everyone have another side of themselves. Some of my friends might seem really quiet in class, however, when they are taking part in the haunted house and is acting as a ghost, they can really do a good job and scare people’s heads off. I also found out that some of our classmates are quite approachable and friendly. Nowadays when I walk pass them, we’ll give each other a smile or just say a simple “hello” . This haunted house had indeed been an successful one, because we could earn money to donate to those who needs it, and lastly, to know and tie tight our knots with our friends, that’s the most important lesson to me after this service learning project and I’m really glad that all of us benefited in this project.


Tan Yan Ni ( 21 )
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