A lot of teens think of summer as a chance to kick back and relax, maybe mow a few lawns to earn some cash…a break from life. Other teens, though, see it as extra time to make a difference in the world. When they go back to school and get asked to write the usual “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” paper, they can say, “Me? Oh, I just changed the world.”
In this month’s New Era (a magazine for Mormon teens) a writer tells how she got roped into helping at the Bishop’s Storehouse, which is a food bank for Mormon church members. It’s a little different from most food banks, in that the person needing help first meets with her bishop (pastor) to determine what type of help is needed. They then are given a list of the items available and mark what they need, which is approved or adjusted by the bishop. They go into a building that looks like a grocery store, but with just a checkout counter instead of a cash register and get their order with help from volunteers.
At first Sarah resented having to do this service because it cut into her free time. After a while though, she realized she felt great knowing she was helping others and making a difference, and she began to work even harder at it.
There are a lot of volunteer jobs available for teenagers. The first step is to identify what you really care about or are passionate about. If you worry about people being hungry, you might want to work at a food bank. If the environment is your specialty, volunteer with an environmental group or just go out and pick up trash somewhere, maybe getting your friends to help out and ending with a picnic. Do you plan to be a teacher someday? Maybe a group is looking for tutors to help out in a summer program. Can’t live without a computer? Teach a class on computers at a senior center. No matter what social issues you care about, you’re likely to find some way to turn it into a volunteer job.
While you don’t get a paycheck in the form of cash, the paycheck you do get is worth more and lasts longer. Volunteering makes you feel like you’re helping to create the world you’re going to be living or running someday. The more problems we fix while you’re young, the better your world will be when you’re an adult.
You’ll never really know how many people you help. If you tutor one child, you might feel like you only helped one person. However, if that child grows up and goes to college because you taught him to read and to love reading, you’ve then helped his spouse and children, too. They’ll probably go to college because their dad did, and your influence can go on forever, because you may well have rescued hundreds of generations from a lifetime of poverty. Pretty amazing results for a few hours of tutoring!
Volunteering can also help you find out what you want to do for a career and give you job experience to put on your first resume. A lot of the volunteer work I’ve done helped me decide what I wanted to do with my life—sometimes I loved it and sometimes I hated it, but I learned what I’m willing to spend my life doing. Colleges like seeing volunteer work on your application.
Really, though, even though volunteer work can benefit you, the best reason for doing it is because it’s a great feeling to know you’re making a difference and not just sitting around complaining about what’s wrong with the world. Don’t complain—get up and go do something.