Volunteer!

vol·un·teer 
–noun1.a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking.
2.a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.
 
Definition 2 is me.
I sometimes get bored and have absolutely nothing better to do.. and when that happens I usually find myself looking for something to do, and volunteering options are endless so I do that.
 
When I was in 5th grade I was bored, I really wanted to volunteer at the hospital to be a "candy striper" but I was too young to do that.. but I kept looking. I eventually wound up in contact with the activities coordinator at the nursing home in town and they were happy to have me. For three years after school and saturdays every chance I had I was there, I would visit, play card games, help with games.. Bingo was my favorite. I learned so much from all my friends out there. Why did I do it.. pure boredom.
 
In high school I was president of our Interact club, which is Rotary International's service club for 14-18 year olds. Through the club I was able to help with our town's Meals on Wheels program, and we helped at several soup kitchens and food pantry's in the Bloomington area. Again such an awarding experience, I learned so much from that opportunity; public speaking and community service and just really got such an apprecaition for all the little things that I took forgranted before.
 
I have continued my love for meeting new people and helping others and keep trying to find new ways I can help out whether it be something small and local or something on a huge national level. My current job has given me lots of opportunties to help out in the community and surrounding areas.
 
I am currently a mentor for a 5th grader through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program. I'll admit, this can be a pain sometimes, and I wonder if I am actually helping my little out in life, we really don't do too much except play basketball ALL the time, every Wednesday over lunch. I didn't expect the experience to be completely life altering but sometimes I get frustrated that I'm not helping him any. But I do hope that maybe one day in his future he will remember that someone took the time to spend with him, and that's all I need.. so this opportunity may not be an immediate gratification, but hopefully one day.
 
The next thing that I am really excited about is the Habitat for Humanity Women's build that I will be helping with. All women work crew will work together to build a home for a single mom in the community. I have always wanted to be a part of a home build through this organization, and am especially excited to be apart of an all womens build. Everyone I have heard about these events from say how wonderful and empowering it is to work together to see something come from the ground up. We girls can do anything we put our minds to.
 
I'll admit there may be some selfish reasons I volunteer.. gives me something to do and I get to meet so many great people and learn tons of things. I will be able to tell people that I built a house.. yep me with my own bare hands. I guess I do it too, to stand out. Not in a everyone look at me look at me, where's the news crew kind of way, but more of a personal assurance that I am doing something that most others don't do, that I'm doing something with my life kind of thing.
 
The thing I would love to do the most is to do something either nationally (out of this state) or internationally. If I didn't need the money I would love to volunteer for the peace corps I can't imagine the things I could learn from an opportunity like that. I heard a speaker when I was in college that shared their experiences from their third world country volunteer efforts and it was amazing.
 
So I guess my point is, volunteer. It is such a rewarding experience and yes one person can make a difference, you get as much out of it as you put in, seek out the opportunities to put your mark on something.
 
 

http://www.habitatmclean.org/
http://www.bbbscil.org/