My first day volunteering. I am wearing the volunteering uniform and identification badge.
So What?
I volunteered in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters (CHKD). There, I started off volunteering through their junior summer volunteer program. I enjoyed the experiences I had and the connections I made so much that I continued to go back every other week during the school year my senior year. There were so many great experiences I had while volunteering, but a year from now I will probably remember Jan, the lady I worked the closest with, and one baby in particular that I would always visit while I was there. Every time I would go visit this one baby he was so full of joy with a smile from ear to ear. This is connected to leadership, because I took on new tasks every day and I did them with a smile on my face, even if some of the tasks weren't thrilling. Thinking back to my volunteering at CHKD always warms my heart. Thinking of all the babies I got to spend time with that stopped crying the moment I held them gives me a sense of pride, because I helped make their day a little bit brighter.
Now What?
This volunteering was definitely worth while. I will use what I discovered through these findings in figuring out what occupation I want to pursue when I get out of college. Volunteering in the NICU actually changed my prospective career choice for the future; I am not sure what to yet, but it helped direct me to a different path for my life. Originally I wanted to be a neonatologist, but through volunteering at the NICU, I discovered that I like the personal connections that I made with the nurses and patients. I realized that a neonatologist does not have nearly as much free time on their hands to have a conversation with someone and I don't believe I want that for my future. That is not to say that neonatology is not an amazing profession and that I completely steered away from the idea, my road has simply taken a slight curve. This volunteering experience opened my eyes to the possibilities of a different path than I had intended my life to go in, but sometimes different means better and I believe this is the case!
Other Questions?
I do see the benefits of doing other community service work. It bring the community together as a whole and allows me to learn from other people. There are many volunteering clubs open to any and all students at Virginia Tech who want to get involved with helping the community. At home, our school systems have many ties with non-profit organizations to assist them when need be. What seemed to be effective for myself was continuously volunteering in one place instead of volunteering only a few times and moving on to another organization. Continuously volunteering in one location allowed me to get to know the people I volunteered with and for on a more personal level. That made them open up to me and me to them, while engaging in something that we all found an interest in. My values are expressed in my community service work, because I believe that everyone deserves fair treatment when they are first met. I try to talk to everyone and get to know everyone contrary to stereotypes that I hear. I also believe in giving back, because I would be nowhere if I was not given help in different moments in my life. I believe strongly in paying it forward. Kindness is often a chain reaction and sometimes all it takes is helping someone off their feet, so they are then stable enough to help someone else up and so on. The most satisfying part of volunteering is going home knowing I helped make someone else's day a little brighter. Because of my service learning, I have grown as a person while assisting others to grow in their lives as well.
I volunteered in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters (CHKD). There, I started off volunteering through their junior summer volunteer program. I enjoyed the experiences I had and the connections I made so much that I continued to go back every other week during the school year my senior year. There were so many great experiences I had while volunteering, but a year from now I will probably remember Jan, the lady I worked the closest with, and one baby in particular that I would always visit while I was there. Every time I would go visit this one baby he was so full of joy with a smile from ear to ear. This is connected to leadership, because I took on new tasks every day and I did them with a smile on my face, even if some of the tasks weren't thrilling. Thinking back to my volunteering at CHKD always warms my heart. Thinking of all the babies I got to spend time with that stopped crying the moment I held them gives me a sense of pride, because I helped make their day a little bit brighter.
Now What?
This volunteering was definitely worth while. I will use what I discovered through these findings in figuring out what occupation I want to pursue when I get out of college. Volunteering in the NICU actually changed my prospective career choice for the future; I am not sure what to yet, but it helped direct me to a different path for my life. Originally I wanted to be a neonatologist, but through volunteering at the NICU, I discovered that I like the personal connections that I made with the nurses and patients. I realized that a neonatologist does not have nearly as much free time on their hands to have a conversation with someone and I don't believe I want that for my future. That is not to say that neonatology is not an amazing profession and that I completely steered away from the idea, my road has simply taken a slight curve. This volunteering experience opened my eyes to the possibilities of a different path than I had intended my life to go in, but sometimes different means better and I believe this is the case!
Other Questions?
I do see the benefits of doing other community service work. It bring the community together as a whole and allows me to learn from other people. There are many volunteering clubs open to any and all students at Virginia Tech who want to get involved with helping the community. At home, our school systems have many ties with non-profit organizations to assist them when need be. What seemed to be effective for myself was continuously volunteering in one place instead of volunteering only a few times and moving on to another organization. Continuously volunteering in one location allowed me to get to know the people I volunteered with and for on a more personal level. That made them open up to me and me to them, while engaging in something that we all found an interest in. My values are expressed in my community service work, because I believe that everyone deserves fair treatment when they are first met. I try to talk to everyone and get to know everyone contrary to stereotypes that I hear. I also believe in giving back, because I would be nowhere if I was not given help in different moments in my life. I believe strongly in paying it forward. Kindness is often a chain reaction and sometimes all it takes is helping someone off their feet, so they are then stable enough to help someone else up and so on. The most satisfying part of volunteering is going home knowing I helped make someone else's day a little brighter. Because of my service learning, I have grown as a person while assisting others to grow in their lives as well.