Ryan Cashon

This experience marked my 2nd day at the 2025 Children's Film Festival, an event that has been a privilege and a learning experience. My role today was to work as promoter at the front door. This role can be very intimidating: there can easily be confrontation since people usually do not enjoy the "sales person" mentality. Rejection is hard and this role requires a lot of it. However, talking to people is my specialty so I was readily on board. I set up at the front doors next to this security guard named Nelson. He was an older gentleman with a warm smile and an almost family-like energy. Talking to him felt like I was talking to my grandpa after a long day of work. Throughout the whole shift, he kept me company. We talked about family, retirement plans, career choices, the whole nine yards. My favorite people to talk to are older people. They are filled with so much knowledge and life. They have lived through so many hardships and have grown and reflected. They have hard outer shells given to them by life, but internally they are flowing with passion and liveliness. He was a doll and really fun to talk to. As a promoter I was able to witness whether the previous promoting had been working and the results were initially negative with hopeful outcomes. It was clear that people had not been made aware of this event. It its defense, this was the first year this event had been hosted. However, when people were made aware, they were excited to take their children. It is evident that people want these community building events. People are desperate for community. For a Sunday, the turnout was surprising large. The same amount of people, if not more, came out in support of the event. Children were running rampant, enamored by all of the activities. I felt like I was really helping the event out that day. This day was calmer than the former but it was also successful. I am really proud of the work me and everyone else did to make this event possible. I truly do believe that events like these are necessary in the development and facilitation of our community. I love Memphis, always have and always will regardless of what others think. This city has been good to me and I want to make it the best it can be. Events like these bring not only money to the city, but creative expression. Memphis is the music city. It is a city of culture. Events like these remind us of that fact. I hope that this event becomes celebrated annually and that others follow.

Since I completed the afternoon and evening shift in succession. It makes sense to merge their reflections together. This will be a reflection for 9.5 hours between both volunteering shifts.


I was given the opportunity to volunteer at the Pink Palace for the 2025 Children's Film Festival, a great event which allowed children to see local/international indie films while interacting and creating with different art mediums such as claymation or stop motion. My role for this day was to scan tickets and run the concessions stand. While the roles themselves were not necessarily eventful, being able to interact with children as they explored the museum was a fantastic experience. Another great feature of volunteering for the Pink Palace was being able to talk to so many people in the art field whether film, design, or even music. There were so many cool and interesting people aging from late high school/early college all the way to retired individuals helping their community. I talked with this one gentleman who is apart of a producing collective. We talked for about an hour about art and culture in Memphis. He was a U of M alumni and was very fond of his musical experience there. It was really neat to see how some people were doing after their time at the university. What really made this event was being able to see kids enjoy their time creating things and being present in the moment. I feel that it is very rare these days to see children away from their devices. Kids have so much access to everything that it makes sense that the real world would not entertain them as much. It is both the fruit and bane of our efforts with the improvement of technology. So, seeing the children sit and be present was very refreshing. I met this one parent. She had a lower functioning child with autism. He was a very smart and happy kid; his energy was infectious. We were talking about how he had created a new character (a pterodactyl) and had been creating a stop motion animation with him. Seeing a child who has probably been underestimated his entire life create something that most people don't even know how to do spoke to why these events are important in the first place. They create an environment where these children can really express creative freedoms. It was truly a beautiful moment to experience and one I will not forget. I finally closed the night helping everyone set up for the next day. I made some friends, networked with some individuals, and came away with some new respect and appreciation to the Memphis community. I do not know if people are truly altruistic, but moments like these support the case.

Since I completed the afternoon and evening shift in succession. It makes sense to merge their reflections together. This will be a reflection for 9.5 hours between both volunteering shifts.


I was given the opportunity to volunteer at the Pink Palace for the 2025 Children's Film Festival, a great event which allowed children to see local/international indie films while interacting and creating with different art mediums such as claymation or stop motion. My role for this day was to scan tickets and run the concessions stand. While the roles themselves were not necessarily eventful, being able to interact with children as they explored the museum was a fantastic experience. Another great feature of volunteering for the Pink Palace was being able to talk to so many people in the art field whether film, design, or even music. There were so many cool and interesting people aging from late high school/early college all the way to retired individuals helping their community. I talked with this one gentleman who is apart of a producing collective. We talked for about an hour about art and culture in Memphis. He was a U of M alumni and was very fond of his musical experience there. It was really neat to see how some people were doing after their time at the university. What really made this event was being able to see kids enjoy their time creating things and being present in the moment. I feel that it is very rare these days to see children away from their devices. Kids have so much access to everything that it makes sense that the real world would not entertain them as much. It is both the fruit and bane of our efforts with the improvement of technology. So, seeing the children sit and be present was very refreshing. I met this one parent. She had a lower functioning child with autism. He was a very smart and happy kid; his energy was infectious. We were talking about how he had created a new character (a pterodactyl) and had been creating a stop motion animation with him. Seeing a child who has probably been underestimated his entire life create something that most people don't even know how to do spoke to why these events are important in the first place. They create an environment where these children can really express creative freedoms. It was truly a beautiful moment to experience and one I will not forget. I finally closed the night helping everyone set up for the next day. I made some friends, networked with some individuals, and came away with some new respect and appreciation to the Memphis community. I do not know if people are truly altruistic, but moments like these support the case.

This weekend I had the privilege of volunteering at the annual Bluff City Chorale Festival at Northwest Community College. This event was hosted by Northwest but was organized by Amy Touchstone, Executive director of Cororio, a non-profit choir society with their mission being to "offer children of all backgrounds the opportunity to better themselves and the community around them through the gift of music. [they] seek to transform the lives of children from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds by giving them the skills, self-discipline, and confidence to succeed in music and in life." I have personally been apart of this program for many years and it holds a special place in my heart. It is also one of the major reasons why DeSoto county, Mississippi has some of the most developed high school choirs in the state.

Bluff City Chorale Festival... What is it?
The Bluff City Choral Festival is a annual festival that invites choirs from in or out of state high schools and middles schools alike. These schools will compete in team building activities, choral activities, a choir performance that will be judged for both personal gain as well as trophies, and in a large food drive and other community service opportunities. The goal of this festival is to both promote musical growth for schools in Mississippi that may not have the same resources, as well as give back to the community as a whole. Along with the choral performance, many highly skilled musicians are asked to attend to give feedback to the respective choirs performing. This years special guests were Dr. Brandon A. Boyd, the director of choral activities at the University of Missouri; Dr. Julie Yu, the director of choral studies at the Wanda L. Bass School of Music located within Oklahoma City University; and Adam Potter, the director of choral activities at Roberts Wesleyan College. This festival is both so amazing and important for the community. If you or anyone you know would want to be apart of Cororio, please let me know!

Reflection: I started my Friday at 5:30 am, getting ready to head over to Senatobia to begin the day. I would arrive at the campus at roughly 7 am where I would find a van full of breakfast, snacks, and drinks for the day. My first task would be setting up all the snacks and drinks, as well as breaking up ice bags to put in the coolers. this would take roughly 30 minutes to 45 minutes since we were feeding so many people. I would than be instructed on what my main task would be. I was tasked with being a tour guide for a high school choir for the entire day. Since I came in as a back up tour guide, I was only able to choose from the list of tour guides who did not show up. I ended up picking a small school first, so I asked If I could be a tour for another. I ended up being the tour guide for Independence high school and Riverside high school. My high school was also there so it was very nice to see familiar faces. I was very lucky to have two schools that did not conflict schedule wise; one was a morning session tour and the the other one was a later afternoon session tour. The tour was simple enough; take choirs to their designated areas at designated times. The main locations were the choir room, the band hall, the gym for team building, and the performing arts center for their judged performance. I was responsible for any students roaming like for the bathroom, as well as for making sure that the choirs entered the stage on time in the right formation. This may not seem like a lot but it was very difficult especially with how tight the time windows were. Being the tour guide for Independence high school was a true pleasure and a learning moment. Their choir was only about eleven people with their teacher being fresh out of college. These kids also come from a lower income area with a school that is severely underfunded. In short, they did not have the same opportunities as me. However, these kids had the same passion if not more! I genuinely fell in love with this choir. They were so tight-knit like an actual family. For some of those kids, choir was really their only family. There vibe was just so pure and enjoyable. That is why I was so shocked to find out that one of their classmates had recently passed away, with another one in mourning. How could these kids keep their composure when tragedy had struck them so violently? I felt so moved my their compassion for music that I ended up giving them a speech. From that moment on I was no longer their tour guide, I was their number one supporter! These kids and their choral director truly represented what this event and organization was all about. The next school I guided was Riverside. They were a larger school, so it was harder to connect the way I did to Independence. However they were also passionate and loving. An emergency occurred when they were rehearsing in the choir room. I was outside waiting for the choir to finish when I heard commotion. I went to check on them when I saw a girl passed out on the grounded. It turns out one of their students had POTS syndrome! It was a scare but ultimately she was alright. My final task I was asked to do was running some of the teamwork exercises. It was there where I had a full circle moment. I had been to this event three times previously in high school. When I was participating in the team building as a student, I always looked up to the college students running the events. In my mind, this guys had it all figured out. They were funny, loud, and full of energy. Being in the volunteer shirt... Being the college student running the games... I felt like I had truly made progress in my life, like I was meant to be where I am. So, I had to bring all the energy I had, and for four hours I did. I ran reverse charades -- charades but one person guises everyone else -- and human chain link -- where everyone's arms are locked and they have to untangle themselves to win. With each new group, I gave one-hundred percent energy. I could see the same look in those kids eyes that I had when I was there. They were inspired. They were excited. That is a moment I will never forget. Overall this experience was truly a gift, and a learning moment. I had so much fun helping the high schoolers in any way I could. I truly felt like I was giving back to my community.

What skills did you develop or improve through this service experience?
This service concludes my final hours for volunteering this semester. Over my time volunteering with this organization, I can say that skill that I have learned include communication, leadership, teamwork, empathy, hard work, efficiency, and positivity. All of these skill were developed because they are all essential to the tasks at hand. If I could not utilize all of them, I would not be the same person as I am now. With these skills I have learned how to learn from others, develop myself and others, and work in a productive manner that benefits everyone, especially those who need it most.

Did this experience change your perspective on your role within the community or
environment?
I can say that over the course of this service, my entire perspective on what it means to help others has changed. Before these experiences, I had little to no volunteering experience. It is not like I didn't want to help others, I just never felt like I had the time. However, like most things, I had to make time to serve others. I have gained a new respect for life. I have no right to complain when people are suffering. This revelation has made me approach everything in a new light. I have learned to be humble, appreciative, and empathetic.

Did you work individually or as part of a team, and how did that impact your
experience?
On this particular service, I worked completely alone. This was the day after I had gotten back from Vegas. I was tired, and there were so many people that I mostly kept to myself. That is extremely uncommon for me. I am usually a chatter box so it was weird to experience this service from a observer's perspective. This impacted my job in the sense that I felt disconnected. I ended up doing most of the dishes. It wasn't that I was not productive, I was just productive in a different sense.

How did your service contribute to the mission or goals of the organization?
As I have volunteered, it seems that people have been coming more and more. I have really took on a leadership role, training others, and leading small groups myself. This is all to say that I feel that, in my time working there, "Serve with a Smile" has really come a long way. I feel like we are generally helping people, and it shows. When a kid comes up to me smiling after he had a delicious meal, it makes my heart melt. I am so happy that I learned about this opportunity. I am proud to be a "Serve with a Smile" member.

To say this. I am truly grateful for the experiences I have had with this organization. I have grown so much over such a short period of time. Volunteering has taught me so much, from caring about others to just being responsible with my schedule. Doing service feels good, it is not an act of kindness on my part. It is a trade. A trade of service for smiles. Those smiles are now a very important currency to me. I hope to have more moments with this organization in the future. This isn't the last they have heard from me.

What skills did you develop or improve through this service experience?/What unexpected challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?

This answer fits both of these questions very well.
This week volunteering was very difficult. I had just come back from Vegas that morning around 7 am and I now had to wait until 5 pm to volunteer. The skill I learned today, a very important one I might add, is working when not at your best. I strive to be in the best physical and mental state when doing any task. I add that it is extremely important to have that mindset; one should only work out of that mindset when necessary. However, there are times when mental and physical exhaustion and decay is unavoidable. Working that shift was a great example. Overall, I had to essentially relearn everything I was doing because of how mentally shot I was. There was a lesson learned that day.

What did you learn about the community or environment you served?
Like my last reflection, now even more so, I have learned that there are so many children struck in poverty. This has become an overlapping theme that ways heavy on my soul. When I say there were so many children in this small facility, let alone the rest of Memphis, Tennessee, the USA... It's not like I wasn't aware of this fact previously, I have just subconsciously chosen to ignore it. "If you don't see it, it didn't happen..." I want to stop doing that. I want to be better than saying "oh it is awful that this occurs" and move on with the rest of my day. I want to be a force against it, an actual force working to help counteract and prevent these issues.

Did you work individually or as part of a team, and how did that impact your
experience?
The funny thing is I did both at the same time. Like an introverted extrovert (paradoxical), I worked in a group doing individual tasks. I hate working in silence; it is the biggest pet peeve for me. So when having the opportunity, I like to chat while working. I did not work in a team in the sense that we were working together to achieve a single task. I washed dishes, some made food, others were doing "spring cleaning," etc. I had no help on my front, the only thing separating dishes from the destruction of grime was little ol' me.

How did the organization support or guide you during your service?
As always, people like Ms. Polly are there to guide and direct us through our service. It is truly amazing that I get to work with people like here; people who have been through struggle, persevered, and are now giving back to a cause, desperate for help. She isn't there for a paycheck, she could of worked anywhere else and most definitely made more money, but she doesn't. She is happy where she is right now, serving with a smile to those who need it most. Her food is made with love and care, like a grandmother's thanksgiving dish. It's not about quota or hours; it is about help. I am truly blessed to be guided by such amazing people.

How has this experience influenced your future career or educational goals?
I wouldn't necessarily say that this experience influence my future career goals, but it did make me question where my nursing career would end up. This time through, I interacted more with the people staying at Room in the Inn, rather than working in the kitchen. Being able to feed the children really opened my perspective on what it means to help others. I have always thought about doing pediatrics but seeing those kids really put that idea in my head.

Did this experience change your perspective on your role within the community or
environment?
The shocker in these situations would be the fact that there were so many children in poverty there. I understand that it is a cruel but true reality, but it is really hard to witness it first hand. These kids deserve every opportunity growing up that I had. Seeing these things is hard, but it is important.

What new connections or relationships did you form during your service?
In all of my experiences, I have met U of M students during service, but what is really surprising is the amount of University of Tennessee medical students I see. I have been able to network with many people that come from different backgrounds attending different colleges. It feels nice to see familiar faces at Memphis and hopefully Tennessee in the future.

How did the organization support or guide you during your service?
I feel like I am taking on a level of leadership in this organization. I haven't done anything extreme yet, but when a task needs to be done, I would be the first one asked to do it. I also show people around and guide people to places they don't know yet. I am always the first one to talk to people and keep good energy throughout. Serve with a Smile has been really good to me, and I don't want to take it for granted.

Personal reflection: None of the questions really felt right to me, so I am going to do a overall reflection. I had little experience with volunteering before college. Going into volunteering as an adult was scary, but Serve with a Smile has been a wonderful group to work with. I want to change up my volunteering, and I will, but with their everyday schedule with convenient times... It is hard to pass up. I have grown as a person since my start with volunteering and I hope to continue to learn and change.

What skills did you develop or improve through this service experience?
There are two sides to this I will discuss. One is the physical aspect. I have never worked in a kitchen before so serving food to others is a new experience for me. This was my second time around at Room in the Inn, so I felt more comfortable taking on bigger responsibilities. I served others, made food, and kept the environment clean. At one point, Ms. Angela left to help out other people, and me and two other volunteers were left there to operate without instruction. That leads to the second part: Communication. It is weird to go somewhere when volunteering with new people. You just met them and now you have to work with them like you had been doing it for years. I am not a small talk person. I like to get to the meat of the conversation so these opportunities have been helping me achieve that in different ways. I slowly feel my social anxiety going away.

What did you learn about the community or environment you served?
As much as I want to be positive in this section, there is something that needs to be said. The Room In The Inn is a great place for people to rehabilitate. However, why would someone take advantage of the opportunity just to waste it? As I was preparing food, I was told that 4 people had came in. When Ms. Angela heard the conversation, she asked some details about the people. It turns out that the people who had just arrived would ask for food just to throw it away without eating it. I was genuinely upset. It was a realization moment. I am not saying that I don't want to service others, It just made me appreciate the people who were seeking help to improve their lives more.

What new connections or relationships did you form during your service?
It really is a small world. I don't remember how it was brought up, but it turns out that me and Ms. Angela used to work at the Whispering Woods in Olive Branch as well as being affiliated with Kurt, an older gentleman who ran Midsouth Bridal. It was a insane coincidence. The two volunteers were U of M students in the English department. It was really fun talking to them, and now I have two new faces to say hi to when we cross paths.

Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
Yes, I really like this organization. The people are nice and the service feels meaningful. Plus its just right down the road, and they offer hours just about every day of the week.

What would you change about your approach to this service opportunity in the future.
I would like to do more for the Inn. I wanna see if there are more opportunities than just working the kitchen or serving. I heard about possibly doing a game night or something. I would like to see if there is a higher position I could take with more responsibility.

How has this experience influenced your future career or educational goals?
- I don't have much volunteering under my belt, so this is a new experience to me. I feel blessed that I chose such a noble cause as "Serve with a Smile," as opposed to a more corrupt, less beneficial cause. Not that I think this cause is better than others; I just know that there are people out there that use volunteering to scam good people. I feel this impact influenced my future career choices because it showed me what I like doing. I like helping those who cannot help themselves, whether that be physically, mentally, or emotionally. Serving in a food kitchen for those who are rehabilitating and trying to get back on their feet helped me realize my goals. It reassures me that the medical field is the right path to go.

How did your service influence your understanding of social or environmental issues?
- This impact showed me that there are people who need help. One thing that bothered me is how little this place was known. There was not exterior presentation, I had never seen or heard of it before, and there were not many people volunteering when I was there. It was just a small building, nothing out of place. This impact showed me that there are places that are getting no attention when they need it the most. While it is good to donate to big charities like Red Cross, there are local places around the corner ready to be discovered and helped.

What new connections or relationships did you form during your service?
- I met this wonderful lady named Ms. Polly, as in "Polly Pocket." She was the lead care taker of the establishment and she did an excellent job. Not only was she good with the people, her reasons for doing her job were simultaneously heart breaking and warming. She had been homeless once, for four whole years. She had kids and did her best to provide for them before her landlord leased the property from right under her. She eventually made it to Red Cross where she noted that the food tasted awful. She knew she loved cooking and took a chance, asking for a job from one of the chefs. The chef said if she could live in a property for at least a year, she could apply And that's what she did. Now she cooks at this shelter, and at least from the smell, her cooking is tasty.

Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
- Yes. Mainly because it seems like a place that needs more attention and help. While it is good to help anywhere, I think it is more important to help this local small services to help build them up and make a difference in your local community.

Did your service align with your personal values and beliefs? If not, how did you handle
any conflicts?
- This service aligned with my values in every way. I love how they not only give shelter, food and water, and medical aid, they aid in the person getting back on their feet and getting a job. It's not just a shelter, it is rehabilitation. One thing that bothered me was the fact that people were donating food that were over a year expired. When I found that out, I felt something in me shift. How could people do that, it felt so heartless. I felt this strong urge to do something about it, and that is what I intend to do.