Volunteer work can be a great way to positively contribute to your community by giving back. It is also a great way to grow as a person and can be an enjoyable experience that can come with surprising benefits.
A couple of years ago, when I was a freshman, I had accidentally enrolled in an English 1301 course with an extra integrated community engagement component embedded in its curriculum, since I hadn’t checked the course’s description.
While it was different from the standard version of the course, it still fulfilled my degree requirements. We were individually tasked with finding some way to help and interact with the community so we could then write a report about our impact and what we learned from the experience.
The manner in which the students could complete the project was not restricted to volunteer work. For example, we could get part-time work at a nonprofit, such as the university, or other non-government organizations (NGOs) while getting paid. However, I decided to volunteer due the relative ease in which one can readily find volunteer work.
The organization I decided to volunteer at was the Palm Valley Animal Society at the Laurie P. Andrews Center in Edinburg. I was already familiar with the organization’s mission and location because I had donated supplies in order to get extra credit in high school. I figured I would enjoy taking care of the animals since they were clean, well-fed and trained to be well-behaved.
I began with the society by getting registered in its system for volunteers and going through its group orientation. The orientation was thorough because it encompassed the training for most of the different types of entry-level tasks that we were able to do for the organization.
The types of tasks we could perform ranged from cleaning the animals and their living quarters, maintenance and assisting in events to, my favorites, feeding and walking the animals. There were also other tasks, such as giving flea baths and assisting with some medical routines.
In the organization, you could reserve specific tasks that came with a specified time and location and come in on your own time to assist with tasks that are available to do at that point. Throughout my time there, I chose to exclusively only do the latter since I had my commitment to school.
I started out cleaning the living quarters in the mornings and I fed and helped to exercise the animals on most weekdays in the afternoon. I really enjoyed taking care of the animals because they were very excited to see me once they got used to me, which was accomplished quickly since they loved the food and were eager to play around.
I found dog walking to be the most enjoyable activity because the center has a large fenced-off area in the back, which makes it easy to play with the dogs in a more closed-off quarters, or in a large area if you would like to walk long distances or perform activities that require a significant amount of space, like fetch.
Pet sitting the cats was a close second because the cats were tame and could be a bit quirky at times, which was always fun to see. The environment was temperature controlled, making it much more pleasant compared to walking the dogs outside when it was cold at the end of the semester.
Toward the end of my volunteering days, I decided to adopt one dog and cat that I got particularly well-acquainted with. My experience helped me adopt them because it proved that I would be a good caretaker for my new pets, which is a key criterion in the adoption process.
