Volunteering is one of the greatest and most rewarding ways in which you can become more involved in your community. No matter what your reasoning may be, it is important that you understand how amazing volunteering is when you are passionate about a project and have the drive to make a difference.
My first real experience with volunteering started in seventh grade when it was required for every student to complete twenty-five hours of community service. It sounded like a lot of hours to a twelve-year-old girl, but I started looking into volunteer opportunities that fit my interests and I headed to my local library to clean books. This experience opened my eyes to a world where I realized that there were multiple organizations and places that needed assistance and that people were grateful for the extra helping hand. I started experimenting with different types of service ranging from volunteering at my local food bank, playing bingo with the elderly, and coaching volleyball to a group of middle school girls.
When I was in high school, I was involved in Interact Club, which is a younger version of Rotary that focuses on volunteering in your local community. One of the coolest things about this club was that it featured the motto “Service Above Self.” To me, this quote sums up how people should view service and volunteering in their own lives. Providing service to your local community is a selfless act because you are placing the importance of others above yourself. Some people think that volunteering is selfish because they believe a lot of people do it just to look good on a resume, but I argue against this idea. When you find something you love and are passionate about, the tasks you complete are not chores you do just to look competitive on a resume or make yourself feel superior to others. Soon enough, you find yourself genuinely giving back to the community simply because you are invested in the cause and you want to help out in the best way that you can.
The summer before my senior year of high school, I really got involved with my local library by helping kids and teens sign up for the summer reading program. I also joined the teen advisory board that planned and executed events for young library members. It was at this point when I realized how much my love of literature and children came together into one passion. It warmed my heart to see kids find joy, friendship, and adventure in books just like I did when I was younger and I felt like it was a passion that I needed to continue exploring. It was also at this moment when I realized what I wanted to be involved with and the cause I wanted to fight for: the development of literacy and the discovery of an unwavering love for books.
My passion for service stems from my love of literature and working with kids, so when I got to UCLA and discovered Project Literacy, I was pleased with finding a service organization that really captured exactly what I was looking for. This love of literature and working with kids comes together into one organization that is fighting to raise adult and child literacy rates in low-socioeconomic neighborhoods here in Los Angeles. Coming from your typical suburban area, I was never exposed to large communities where massive amounts of people either read below their age-level or cannot read at all. Every week, I drive to Watts and tutor a sixth grade boy in his math and science related homework along with the curriculum that Project Literacy creates weekly that focuses on reading, comprehension, and grammar. Depending on how many tutors are at site each week, I have also worked with three different elementary-school-age girls who have expressed how reading is one of their favorite subjects, yet they struggle with grammar and reading with fluency.
It’s an incredible realization when you see the progress you have made and how you’ve impacted someone else’s life. Although it may not feel like much because you are only spending two hours a week with the kids, it is important to know that you are both a role model and a friend to someone you may otherwise have never associated with. When I am in Watts, I see the potential so many of these young kids have and I want to be able to help them get there in the best way that I can and in this case, it is through assisting their literacy skills.
Since service is such an important activity to be involved in, I think that it should be mandatory for students to complete a certain amount of community service hours when they are younger. Although one may argue that this is a way to force young people into volunteering, it gives them a chance to experiment with different activities and organizations depending on their interests and passions. For some, this may spark a love of community service and for others, it might be just something they are doing because they have to. There will be mixed reactions, but my hope is that there are young people who will discover their passions and calling for service early on and will have more time to make a difference throughout their lives.
Volunteering is basically what you make of it. The more effort you put into what you do, the more impact it will have on the community and the deeper you will delve into your passions in life. If you love animals, computer programming, the elderly, medicine, children, cooking, sewing, or literally any other hobby or interest, there’s definitely something out there for you. It’s really simple to ask around or look online to find clubs and organizations that speak to what your passions and interests are. In time, you will find yourself doing what you are passionate about while simultaneously making a huge impact in your community and that moment will arguably be one of the greatest that life has to offer.
Image courtesy of teenlife.com