Jessica Hung, Week 12 - The Power of Volunteering

Nowadays, most kids volunteer to enhance their stellar college applications. They are only focused on getting enough hours and doing as much volunteer work as they can. Yet, volunteering has many more benefits other than helping a student get into their dream college. Here are some reasons why:

  • Volunteering can spread happiness. You can feel a sense of fulfillment and purpose, and others will also feel grateful for your efforts.

  • You can give back to the community by volunteering. You can help at a local animal shelter or food bank, participate in an environmental conservation effort, or tutor an underprivileged kid. 

  • You can use your own skills to help others.

  • You can learn new skills from volunteering. 

  • You can meet new people from different communities.  

  • You can create a world of compassion and empathy.

  • Depending on where you are volunteering, you might be able to get free food — and who doesn’t love free food?

When I first started high school, I volunteered to complete the school requirement: forty hours. From my volunteering experiences, however, I quickly learned that volunteering has so many other benefits. I have learned to be more patient and caring for others. I learned new skills, such as building a desk, doing face paint, and planting onions. After I finish a volunteering shift, I always feel happy that I can help others, even if it’s only for a few hours. 

Every little thing you do in the community can affect more people than you think. We should all do our part in helping the world by volunteering and making it a better place for everyone!

Volunteering (taken from Google)

Comments

  1. Praghna March 6, 2024 at 7:36 PM

    Hi Jessica! I agree with you on the fact that most people only volunteer for college applications and completing the necessary requirements. I find that a lot of the activities I do during high school are for college (though I do still enjoy some of them).
    I appreciate the list format while mentioning the benefits of volunteering as it clearly segregates your thoughts and expresses the qualities of volunteering without any complications.
    I love that you mentioned that volunteering helps you "feel a sense of fulfillment and purpose" because I also learned this through my years of volunteering and gained a passion for volunteering due to this reasoning.
    I personally also find that volunteering with friends can be a really fun activity as well (plus you also earn hours at the same time).
    Thank you for your blog and I hope to read more from you in the future!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Arushi March 6, 2024 at 8:39 PM

    Hi Jessica! It definitely is upsetting that many students only volunteer because of high school graduation requirements or for having more to add on their resumes because volunteering is such a meaningful and fulfilling activity.
    I really liked how you structured your blog, especially with how you listed the reasons why volunteering is good for students in concise bullet points. You got straight to the point immediately, and I really appreciated that.
    I also enjoyed your reading your anecdote. I think that it was a great way to transition to the conclusion and it also served as proof to your readers that volunteering is truly beneficial to both the giver and the receiver. I also liked how you tied in the graduation requirement part and transitioned into how you actually ended up really liking volunteering.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mansi MittalMarch 7, 2024 at 11:21 PM

    Jessica, I really enjoyed the creativity of your topic—volunteering has become so overlooked, especially as it is constantly evaluated as you mentioned for its appeal on college applications or to simply fulfill the requirements set for us. However, volunteering truly is powerful, as you give back to the world, to the community, and to yourself. The most powerful aspect of volunteering is that it doesn’t always have to be in a soup kitchen three hours away or at a special organization; volunteering can start right where you are, helping the people around you simply for the greater good. Volunteering has such a catalyzing effect—it’s incredible to think what the world could be like if everyone simply set some time aside to volunteer. I enjoyed hearing about the skills you’ve learned from volunteering, both practical such as desk-making and mental character growth as you learned patience. They are equally inspiring, and I will certainly be trying to spend my free time volunteering in my community in the future.

    ReplyDelete

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