Why Should You Volunteer?

This past semester, I have been blessed with the incredible opportunity to volunteer as a tutor at Pinewoods Library and a small amount of time to translate Parent-Teacher conferences.. While information about Pinewoods and translating has been provided in a previous post, I hope my presentation of my experiences will inspire people to see the value in serving.

I went into the Parent-Teacher conference very nervous. I assumed I was going to have to tell a bunch of parent in my second language. For one thing, I always assumed that the language barrier caused some of these Hispanic students to perform below their peers in school. What I have learned is that many of these kids perform at a much higher rate in school because a strong work ethic is such a big value to the Hispanic culture. With the Hispanic population growing at such a high rate, it is really encouraging to see that our country will have a bright future.

I went into my Pinewoods experience believing at the end of it, the children I tutored would learn something valuable from me. I hope they did, but on my end, I feel like I learned so much more. I have learned how the interaction of people from different backgrounds can be such a positive thing. Growing up, I attended a small private school in Atlanta and did not have the opportunity to be exposed to people coming from a different demographic base as me. Then, I pledge a fraternity with more people just like me. Working with these kids has inspired me to begin to get to know people from all different backgrounds. Diversity really does make us better as a culture and the more synergy we can create by working together, the better we will be a culture, a nation, and a country.

Lastly, overall I was able to see the value in giving up my time for the betterment of others. It sounds cliché, but you really do get so much out of serving other people. It was rewarding for me personally to give back to the Athens community that has given me so much as far as a strong education and a place I feel at home. I strongly encourage UGA students and anyone else that is part of the Athens community to give back, and I guarantee that you will get back ten-fold what you put it. From my experience, there are great opportunities at JJ Harris Elementary School and Pinewoods Library, as well as great opportunities mentioned elsewhere on this blog.