Volunteer so you can persevere
Did you know that volunteer work has had an equivalent financial value of $297.5 Billion per year within the United States alone?
That’s a lot of labor put back into our communities.
I believe that every able-bodied person should complete volunteer work of some kind. There are so many positive outcomes available. For instance, volunteering your time brings you closer to your passions and build up your skills and reputation to help you achieve your goals.
Interpersonal Growth
At a young age, I began my journey into national service work. On my own, I left home and traveled the west coast with a National Service organization called AmeriCorps: NCCC. Throughout my time in the organization, I witnessed others around me changing. We each became more reliant on ourselves to get things to do. Most of us had just graduated high school and moved away from home. We all had a ton to learn!
Being exposed to real work problems forces you to get serious. You’re being forced to grow up. The best part is that you’re doing it inside of a controlled environment.
Along with growing up comes discipline. You have to hold yourself to the standard that you want to see. You’re investing your time into what you’re doing, so naturally, you can easily see if you care or not based on the amount of interest and work ethic you put out.
Organizations like AmeriCorps: NCCC helps you build your communication and teamwork skills. You’re being placed inside of a team environment for 10–12 months, completing service projects.
Professional Growth
If your goal is to learn a technical skill set, there are a ton of opportunities out there. Checking out service year is a great example of the massive amounts available.
I learned the basics of GSI (or Global Satellite Imaging) through volunteering with the Blue Mountain Ranger District in Oregon.
Using the experiences will only build out your tangible library of skills. For the most part, you have a fair amount of control over the experience you have. Meaning that you’re not there for monetary gain, so you have the freedom to choose which direction you go.
Not only that, but you’ll also be developing a solid set of examples of the work you’ve done. Signaling to hiring managers that you’re a serious candidate!
Changing your outlook on job searching
Completing volunteer work of any kind exposes you to various new ideas and mindsets. Naturally, the more you surround yourself with those, the easier it becomes to decide what it is that you want to do with your time later on.
Because of the leadership experience I had in NCCC, I’m now applying myself every day with the same enthusiasm as an Assistant General Manager. I discovered the love I have for teamwork and leadership. I was forced out of my comfort zone. I wouldn’t have discovered that otherwise.
Having the freedom to experiment with different walks of life will only benefit you in choosing a degree. You might even find that you don’t need a degree to achieve your newfound goals.
So, why is this important, anyway?
When you’re starting on your journey after high school, it’s easy to jump straight into college. If we have a system in place that puts our younger generations into a position where they’re able to learn more about themselves while also building their resume and picking up new skills, we might be able to speed up the process of career building.
