Reasons to Volunteer

8

Hannah Fox (seventh from left) takes a break while seving lunch at the GMHC when I site-led the LGBTQ+ Solidarity Alternative Spring Break.

Reasons to Volunteer

By Hannah Fox May 2020 Alumna

If you had asked me what I wanted to get involved in as a new student, I can almost guarantee you that I would not have said, “Volunteering!”

At that time, I saw volunteering as a requirement that I had to fulfill to graduate high school, and something that I would likely need to commit a few hours to in college, too. I didn’t mind meeting those requirements, but I also wasn’t actively seeking them out. During my first semester on campus, I was required to meet a small service requirement for a class assignment, so I checked out an opportunity through the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center. After spending a couple of hours in the Volunteer Center, I was hooked. The Volunteer Center became one of my favorite places on campus. I often refer to it as my home away from home. I spent all eight semesters of my undergraduate experience deeply involved in several of the Volunteer Center’s programs.

Here are some of the lessons I learned during my service journey that changed how I view volunteering.

VOLUNTEERING DOESN’T JUST MEAN “RAKING 1 LEAVES ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON.” My high school offered fairly limited opportunities for volunteering - they would let us know when an elderly member of our community needed some yard work done, or ask us to come early to events to set up tables and chairs. These experiences skewed my perception of what I could do as a volunteer. After coming to college I quickly learned that there is an entire world of possibilities. Through the Volunteer Center you can spend your time mentoring students in local elementary schools, guiding baby sea turtles back to the ocean on Florida beaches, or making and distributing safer sex or abstinence kits. You can also form co-mentor relationships with residents in local nursing homes and assisted living facilities or help clean up walking trails and parks. If none of these opportunities are calling to you, know that they are merely a few examples of the types of service you can find through the Volunteer Center. I like to say that they truly have something to meet all interests. When you participate in any of our programs, you will spend time learning the why behind your service before you even get started. The Volunteer Center believes in educated service to ensure that you, as a volunteer, understand who you are working with, what you are doing, and why it needs to be done. So sure, you may end up raking some leaves along the way - I know I did - but you will also take time to reflect on the experiences to unpack the impact that they made on you and your community partner.

2 YOU CAN TAKE CLASSES CENTERED AROUND VOLUNTEERING.

CMU offers several service learning courses, which they define as, “a form of experiential education in which students participate in meaningful service activities that meet identified community needs and are integrated with course student learning outcomes.” I took advantage of three service learning opportunities while enrolled at CMU, and I would easily count them in my list of favorite classes. My first year I took a course about the prison industrial complex and we spent eight weeks out of the semester meeting with inmates in the Saginaw Correctional Facility. We met with the same inmates every week in small groups to get to know each other and discuss conflict management. Some of my classmates were so inspired by the work we did in this course that they even formed their own RSO - Student Advocates for Prison Reform and the Incarcerated (SAPRI). My sophomore year my classmates and I learned about the ways that music impacts us in our everyday lives, including the powerful ways in which it can help heal the mind and body. Using what we learned, we helped design a music-themed garden for a hospital in West Branch. Our plans serve as the blueprint that future classes can use to implement our ideas and build the garden. Finally, during my junior year, I spent a week on Beaver Island. My classmates and I spent the week facilitating science experiments and hosting a science fair for the students of the Beaver Island Community School. I am so grateful for every memory I made through these experiences and would highly encourage everyone to look through the service-learning courses being offered to find one that inspires you!

3 VOLUNTEERING BUILDS COMMUNITY AND CONNECTIONS.

When I think of connections I’ve made through volunteering, my mind goes to two places - connections with community partners and connections with the people around me. I was involved with America Counts and Reads for seven amazing semesters - two as a Tutor, and five as the Student Coordinator. When I stepped into the program we already had deep connections with the Mount Pleasant Public Schools, as well as Saginaw Chippewa Academy and elementary schools in Shepherd, Coleman, and Clare. Their partnership is essential for ACR, and without it we would not have a program. I loved playing a role in fostering those relationships by visiting the schools, meeting with principals and teachers, and having discussions about what we could do to improve our program to

best meet their needs. I am so excited to watch these relationships continue to flourish and build off of each other now that I have graduated and handed the Student Coordinator position down to another amazing student who is dedicated to education and mentorship.

Like I said, I also value the important connections I have made with the people around me through volunteering. One of my favorite parts of the Volunteer Center is the people you’ll find there. I can’t begin to count the number of times I walked into the office when I wasn’t working just to do homework or chat with my co-workers. I knew when I entered that space that I was surrounded by people who cared. I could go there to celebrate my highest victories and to find support through difficult moments. I also knew that it was a place that I could have tough conversations about justice-related issues that were on my mind. It is a safe place to challenge and be challenged, and everyone was always willing to expand their world views to learn more.

4 VOLUNTEERING CAN HELP FORM DEEP FRIEND SHIPS.

When you spend so much time surrounded by people who feel the same sense of social responsibility, it is only natural that lasting friendships will form. In a time when it feels like everything is going wrong, it can be so refreshing to meet people who have a similar set of interests and a drive to make the world a more just place. Some of the best friends I made in college were met through shared volunteer experiences. I loved that we were able to connect through the lessons we learned from community partners and memories that we made while serving.

5 VOLUNTEERING CAN HELP YOU BUILD ESSENTIAL SKILLS THAT EMPLOYERS ARE LOOKING FOR.

According to indeed.com, some of the top skills that employers look for include Communication, Teamwork, and Leadership. When I consider my growth in these areas, my volunteer experiences played an important role. From painting a conference room in New York City to helping CMU Students collect food from the Student Food Pantry right here on campus, the teams that I worked with would have gotten nowhere if we hadn’t learned to communicate effectively to meet each other’s needs and the needs of our partners. If you are looking for leadership opportunities, the Volunteer Center may be the place for you. Every program we offer has opportunities for student

Hannah Fox takes a break while hiking the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes with friends that she met at the Volunteer Center. Hannah Fox and her classmates and preparing for Science Exploration Night at the Beaver Island.

leadership, such as being a Lunch Buddies Site Coordinator or Alternative Break Site Leader. These positions are a lot of fun and also give you the chance to enhance your problem-solving and communication skills while working with your team.

6 VOLUNTEERING CAN OPEN YOUR EYES TO CAREERS YOU HAD NEVER BEFORE CONSIDERED.

When I came to CMU I had no idea what career I wanted. I had a very hard time picturing myself in any field, and really struggled with knowing that I was headed in the right direction. This all changed when I began volunteering with survivors of sexual aggression. I became very involved with Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates (SAPA) and led an Alternative Weekend Break called “Survivors of Aggression.” The more I learned about survivors and immersed myself into this world, the more clearly I began to see my life unfold. I figured out pretty quickly that I want to continue this advocacy work for the rest of my life and am now preparing to move to Saint Louis, Missouri for an AmeriCorps position that will allow me to do just that. Advocacy for survivors of sexual aggression is my greatest passion in life, and I wouldn’t have even known that it was a career field I could enter if I hadn’t taken those volunteer opportunities in my undergrad experience.

7 VOLUNTEERING CAN HELP YOU LEARN TO THINK DEEPER ABOUT THE ISSUES THAT FUEL YOUR PASSION.

An example we often use in the Volunteer Center is cleaning trash out of a river. One day you notice that a river near you is full of litter. This upsets you, so you dig right in and clear the trash out. You walk by the very next day and notice that the river is still full of trash. Once again, you dig in and clear it. The next day you find that despite your previous efforts, it is still full of litter. This time, you walk further down the river and discover that there is a community a few miles down, and their debris lands in the river. You have discovered the root cause of the trash, and you now have three options. The first, is that you can become overwhelmed and give up. The second, is you can continue to pull trash out of the river every day as you see it. The third is to work with the community to find a more sustainable way to dispose of their trash so it doesn’t fall into the river. Once you begin to identify the root causes of the things you are most interested in, you will inevitably begin to understand how several issues connect. For example, I am very interested in working with the LGBTQ+ community, so I went on the LGBTQ+ Solidarity Alternative Break. The community partner we worked with provides several essential services for the LGBTQ+ community in the area, so everyday was a new adventure with new tasks at hand. One of their services is providing resources for people living with HIV/AIDS. We learned that it is very important to maintain a healthy diet while taking medication for HIV/AIDS, but a lot of their clients faced food insecurity. To combat this, the community partner provides hot meals for their clients daily, and has opportunities to bring food home for the weekends. We had the opportunity to help prepare and serve the food, while taking time to chat with the clients and get to know them. We also learned that New York City is facing a housing crisis, and thus have a high population of people who live with housing insecurity. We spent a day cleaning and organizing a closet full of donations that they distribute to their clients who are in need of warm clothing. I felt like each task we completed was the result of many social justice issues, and for the first time I began to see how interconnected they were.

8 VOLUNTEERING CAN BE AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE, BUT IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AS WELL.

In my experience, I have found that it can be really easy to give everything you have to service. However, it is so, so important to make sure you are taking care of yourself as well. I am a big believer in the idea that you cannot pour from an empty cup. You cannot provide effective help if you are feeling tired or worn down from the service. I encourage you to find the self-care strategies that work for you to refill your own cup. Remember that self-care is different for everyone, and it isn’t just bubble baths and face masks. Those things are great, but self-care can also be simply making sure all of your needs are being met, such as taking time to have a nice, long lunch break with a healthy meal, cleaning up the space you live in, working out, or having coffee with a friend.

Once you feel recharged and re-energized you are ready to get right back at it and begin volunteering again!