As a part of the University of Cincinnati’s Honors Program, I am required to complete honors experiences each year. These experiences are planned out projects based on self reflection and are centered around the thematic areas of community engagement, creativity, global studies, leadership and research. The honors program allows you to create your own unique self-designed experiences which you can choose whatever it is that you want and create a project revolving around it. Community service has always been a huge part of my life so this summer I decided to create a self-designed experience revolving around it. My plan was to volunteer throughout the city of Cleveland in different community service settings and reflect upon my experiences and obtain a greater understanding of the back stories of the different organizations that I volunteered at. My favorite place that I was able to volunteer at throughout my experience was at a local nursing home. I was able to interact with the residents, bring them treats, and help them play different games like bingo. Just having volunteers and new people to see around would make the residents light up. I would encourage everyone to volunteer at a nursing home at least once because of how rewarding and interesting it is and how much you will be able to learn through the stories residents share with you. Throughout my entire experience as a whole, I was able to not only learn more about myself as a person but I was able to discover the truly great benefits of giving back to the community.

I believe that community service is something that everyone should do. Volunteering your time or anything that you have to offer not only can be truly rewarding and impacting but also can help you to learn more about yourself. You can discover what your strengths and weaknesses are. You can become passionate about something new. You can meet incredible people. You can better yourself as a person. You can learn new things from the people you interact with. There are honestly endless possibilities. When you decide to give back by volunteering at the local nursing home or food pantry or even just by donating canned good to a food drive you are touching the lives of other people. Nothing can compare to the smile that appears on the person’s face that you are helping. Just by spending a short period of time giving someone a meal or having a conversation with them allows you to have the opportunity to make a huge impact, and for that person to impact you. You can make a person’s day with just a simple conversation and just offering your time to listen and speak with them. The people you will meet will make impacts on you that you won’t be able to forget.

Finding a location where you can volunteer at is very easy, too. Look for local food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens or nursing homes, just to name a few. You could even volunteer to help the environment! Usually other volunteers or employees who work at these places are very happy to have volunteers to come in and help out and will work with you to figure out the perfect time and day. Sacrificing your time to volunteer will always be worth it in the end.