Volunteering: Helping Yourself While Helping Others

With our busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer.  I know this all too well as I worked long hours to finance my undergrad while keeping up with schoolwork.  It is for this reason that I’ve missed out on many volunteering opportunities Laurier has to offer.  Fortunately, I’m returning to Laurier for my Master’s, thereby giving me one last opportunity to volunteer.  I’m excited to volunteer as a Peer Advisor at the Career Centre because I know I will gain a whole set of invaluable experience.  I wish to highlight some of what I hope to gain out of my upcoming Peer Advisor experience: 

I hope to gain experience and to determine if I have an interest in the career field, such as career counselling, planning, and the like.  

As with any other type of volunteering, I hope to make new friends and contacts and to increase my social and relationship skills.  If you are like me who may not be the most naturally outgoing person, volunteering (any volunteering experience!) gives you the opportunity to put yourself out there and allows you to practice and develop your social skills.  As well, volunteering is a great way to meet new people who share similar interest. 

I hope to increase my self-confidence.  Peer advisors help students with many career related matters, which will provide a natural sense of accomplishment. 

I hope to learn valuable job skills.  Many volunteering opportunities provide extensive training.  With the Career Centre’s summer assignments alone, I already feel like I have been provided with extensive training.  For example, I have learned so much about successful resume writing, effective job search skills, and so much more. 

Like a resume, these benefits are tailored to my upcoming volunteering experience as a Peer Advisor for the Career Centre, and are just some of the benefits of volunteering.  If you have volunteered in the past, can you think of other excellent benefits that I haven’t mentioned?  If you are considering where to volunteer in the near future, what are you hoping to gain out of that experience?  

By: Jun Mian Chen, Peer Advisor