The reasons to be volunteer

When it comes to service work, it’s important to realize that, similar to an actual career, not all volunteer positions fit everyone. It’s one thing to just log hundreds of hours for the sake of mildly impressing a college admissions officer, but the actual goal should be maximizing your utility. Let’s face it: We’re high school students. We’re busy; even if we’re procrastinating, we’re busy. Volunteering isn’t exactly at the top of anyone’s priority list, so finding a non-profit organization that clicks with you is the first step to enjoying (tolerating?) volunteering.

As I mentioned earlier, I spent a couple of summers hastily completing my school’s volunteer requirements at a local thrift shop. I did not care for it at all, and I only showed up so the volunteer coordinator would sign my hours sheet. It wasn’t until the summer before my junior year that I found out just how enjoyable volunteering could be when I began working for a local vet hospital. So, if you’re in the same position as I was, try out different organizations. Don’t just settle for an organization to rack up the hours. There’s a lot more to volunteering than that!

1. Gaining New Experiences and Insights

Volunteering allows students to get involved with new things and develop technical, social, and academic skills that couldn’t be learned in a classroom environment. Whether you’re helping out at your local library or tutoring underprivileged kids, volunteering allows you to experience different environments and situations.

I know that a lot of us, as competitive, college-obsessed, sleep-deprived students, get lost in the quantity of volunteer work, but it’s crucial to take a step back from the number games. Instead of boasting about how many hours you’ve piled up, why not talk about the things you’ve done? Volunteering brings out new interests, hobbies, and opinions; moreover, volunteering expands students’ horizons. As Ashley, a rising senior, who volunteers with numerous organizations and clubs, puts it, “If your volunteering experiences can give you something to write or think about for your college essays, then I say it’s done something good for you as a person, and it’ll help you overall in your college admissions process…it should mean something to you!”

2. Giving Back and Helping Others

Admit it: you’re pretty lucky. You’re working your way through your high school education with intentions to move on to post-secondary education. You assumedly have a roof over your head, food to eat, and clothes to wear. Even if you don’t have the “best” of those, you’ve got them. Volunteers create better environments for others; they create healthier communities, and they brighten lives. Jill, another rising senior, has been playing the piano for more than a decade and the flute for seven. She volunteers by performing in concerts for senior citizens. “We always talk with them after our concerts, and their stories are very humbling. They make me realize that I’m actually very lucky to know how to read and play music. They always tell us how great we sound and how they wish that they spent the time in their youth to learn an instrument.” As a volunteer, she’s been able to give back to the community that fostered her musical talents.

3. Creating Connections with People

No matter the age, building relationships with people is crucial. Not only does the volunteer work you do as a student show who you are as a person, but it reflects many positive character traits that potential employers and admissions officers want to see. Volunteering allows you to meet a wide variety of people from all sorts of walks of life.

Networking is an amazing benefit of volunteering, and students learn professional skills and have access to a breadth of knowledge from their co-volunteers.