IT was, and will likely always be, the best thing I have done in my life.

From an audition in the Mitchell Library, where we had to pretend to call home a golden eagle to roost, to stepping out on the field at Celtic Park with more than one billion eyes on us, volunteering in the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games with my fellow Athlete Marshals still gives me goose bumps when I think about it.

It was truly astonishing how the choreography team, headed up by charmer extraordinaire Steve Boyd, managed to make 500 of us novices into a slick, step-perfect machine using charm, humour and a pile of teddy bears we threw at each other on the beats of one and seven.

Saturdays spent marching around the playground of Bellahouston Academy were fun to us but must have looked bonkers to the neighbours. We had catchy music coming into through radio sets and headphones.

To anyone looking on, we were striding about in perfect silence lifting and twirling our chairs.

Weeks of rehearsals lead up to opening night, an overwhelming mix of nerves and excitement. It was an out of body experience, waiting at the top of the stairs to come down into the gaze of the cameras and the gaze of the world, knowing the Queen was there, John Barrowman had just kissed a boy, Billy Connolly was about to speak and the Red Arrows were flying overhead.

Our job, after our dance performance, was to look after the 5200 athletes who would soon be streaming in the Celtic Park and need our direction.

We also knew that each of the 71 countries would be led out by a Scottie dog, our new four-legged friends who had been practicing walking round the perimeter of the stage without taking fright and who would knew would be the show-stoppers - no matter how good our routine.

We also were on guard for any little 'accidents'. Should one of the dogs relive themselves, we had to point at the poo until someone arrived to take it away. Steve: "We don't want a 30ft skid mark on the perimeter."

I learned about mass choreography, I learned about friendship, teamwork, how to hold it together in front of 1.2bn people.

Most of all, Steve urged us to be good hosts and sweet with one another and isn't that really a necessary take away in these straitened times?