Week_8_3/4/16_Introduction Corrections

The Importance of Volunteering for College Students

Volunteer work can open many different paths for you, and there are many benefits that can spring up when volunteering. Volunteering can help benefit you in physical and mental ways. Being an advocate for volunteer work is hard, because most just do not have the time of day, or just does not show any interest in volunteering. It has been said by many, and myself that “volunteering makes you a better person.” There is truth in that statement, but it is hard to determine what is considered a “better person.” The definition of a better person can be viewed differently, and interpreted differently by others. When volunteering, the goal is to freely give your time to others. The goal of freely giving your time is different for others. Volunteer hours might be required for a certain club or organization. Volunteer work might be something you are passionate it about and are freely doing it on your own schedule. The point is, volunteering can make you a better person no matter what you consider a “better person.” Volunteering has many different opportunities and can open many different paths for you as well. Volunteer work is something you can put on your resume, and it can help you stand out from all the competition from other candidates. Volunteering not only boosts your resume, but it also helps to connect and network with others. When volunteering, the opportunity to meet many different people are endless. You can meet many different kinds of people who work in many different fields. Volunteering in college can be very helpful to students, especially if they are undecided with their major. Volunteering can help college students figure out what they want to do with their lives because of all the different types of people they meet. When volunteering, you encounter many different groups of people whether it be groups of children or elders. Working with different groups can help you figure out what you want to do with your major, whether it be working with children, working with the elderly, medicine, or teaching. The possibilities are endless, and all volunteering is doing is helping you to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life. Volunteering helps you figure what will get you out of bed each morning. From a personal point of view, volunteering helped me to figure what kind of setting and people I wanted to be working with for the rest of my life. Working with children in Honduras sparked my passion. Working in a third world country made me want to pursue a job where I could make the lives of others better. What makes volunteering so interesting is that all kinds of people, all different, are able to come together and work to achieve a common goal. Volunteering is beneficial not only to boost your resume, and build relationships, but it also can bring people or a community together. As I stated earlier, people come together to achieve a goal, despite their differences. Volunteering brings communities together, because they work together to make it a better place to live. Volunteering as a community also ties into working together with people, and creating those relationships you will use later down the road. Volunteering is very helpful to others, but the problem of volunteer tourism is a recent dilemma when discussing volunteering on mission trips. Volunteer tourism is defined as “short-term volunteering placements of tourists as part of their overall vacation or travels.” When looking at volunteer work, the problem of volunteer tourism is a topic of discussion. Most do not see the negative effects of volunteer tourism because most are not aware of the recent dilemma. Volunteering and volunteer tourism are two different concepts that people should be able to distinguish the difference. The purpose of this paper is not to force people to volunteer or make people who do not volunteer feel bad, but the purpose is to simply state why volunteering is important, and the significant impact it can make on college students. When volunteering, there are many benefits that come up, and many of them have been covered. Especially for college students, the benefits and opportunities are endless. Not everyone volunteers, because it might be out of their comfort zone, which is understandable. But volunteering offers so many different opportunities for volunteers, as well as working with many different groups of people. The point being made is that volunteering has many significant benefits associated with it, and people should be made aware of them.