When I was in college, I did over 400 hundred hours of community service. None of those were for a class or court ordered. I did it because it was something I loved. I realized I was extremely fortunate to have so much in my life and really wanted to help my community. I have had so many wonderful experiences and opportunities, I'm thankful that community service has become such a major part of my life.
I did some volunteering in high school, I was a part of the Earth Service Corps and participated in beach cleanups and e-recycling drives. I thought it was cool and I was interested in more. Then I got to college, I realized college was the time I could really become the person that I wanted to be and to become someone in the community that could help change things. I started to get involved in a few service clubs. The club that made the biggest impact on my life though was Alternative Breaks. I remember looking at all of the spring break trips I could go on and not being able to decide which one to put as my top four. I ended up getting my top choice -- LGBT Awareness in Atlanta, Georgia. This was one of the best weeks of my entire college career. I made some of my closest college friends and some of my most precious memories. From that point on, I was hooked.
I went on multiple other spring break trips, and when I joined a sorority I took over as the volunteer coordinator for our national project. At first I thought that I had so much to give the communities around me and that was why I should volunteer. But I was very wrong, I learned that the community had so much to give me and community service was how I would learn some incredibly important things. I traveled to different parts of my country and met some very passionate people in some cool places like Atlanta and Nashville. I got to help make the city I lived in look beautiful by helping to plant flowers in downtown. I worked with conservation efforts so I could enjoy nature with my family. I played with kids and had a blast with face paint and legos. In all of those situations, I got so much out of those experiences and it was a better experience than watching Netflix for that time.
There all sort of other benefits to volunteering too. Research says that people who volunteer regularly feel like they have more time. Volunteereing has also been found to reduce stress levels, reduce the risk of depression, increase happiness and increase lifespans. When I was in job interviews, I always brought up the opportunities I sought out to get involved with the community and all of the life experiences I had as a result. When I worked for Disney, I get invaluable networking opportunities from being involved at an organization like Make-A-Wish which helped me to get some backstage experiences at Disney I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I have moved to five different states over the last three years, getting involved in the community helped me to get ingrained into my new surroundings. I got way more out of being an active citizen than I could have ever imagined when I first started.
If you don't know how to start getting involved, think about what you care about and start looking around for opportunities. If you would like help, there are organizations like United Way which can help you find projects to join. If you are unhappy with something around you, do something about it. As Ghandi said, be the change you want to see in the world.
