Why Volunteer?
Volunteering provides many professional and personal advantages. This includes; work experience, an opportunity for international students to practise English, engagement with others, expand your social networks, and learn work-ready skills.
These advantages are what initially motivated me to volunteer in my community. I had started volunteering focusing on the benefits it can bring me such as references and letters of recommendation. But as I started to involve myself more and more, I realised the impact that the time I was giving up each week was making.
Through volunteering:
1) I realised that in our local community there are so many people struggling through difficulties, and just a few hours a week could make a very large impact in someone’s life.
2) I was connecting with people who were working towards the same goal and who were ready to provide support when needed.
3) I experienced how valuable a contribution is in making a difference in the community.
How to manage volunteering, study and social life?
As a student I understand it can be hard to manage extra-curricular activities, a healthy social life, and studies. However, volunteering does not need to be something that takes up a lot of time, as little as 2 hours a week can make a huge impact. It also does not need to be consistent, there are many volunteering organisations that are just happy for an extra hand.
How can I get involved?
There are awesome volunteering opportunities available to students at Griffith University, please see the links below to see the opportunities available:
There are also other opportunities outside of University, please see the below links:
I encourage everyone to volunteer their time in any way possible. It doesn’t even need to be a long commitment, as long as you are willing to give your heart to it, you will be able to do it!
-Anna
