How Will Volunteering Opportunities Benefit Teens?
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Volunteering is sometimes considered as a selfless act without any benefits to ourselves.
This is far from true!
It comes with a multitude of benefits and has the potential to lead teens onto a fulfilling long-term career path.
Volunteering is a fantastic way for teens to make new friends, learn a new language, see the world, experience a different culture and give back to the society.
By helping those in need they learn to empathize with others, express gratitude for what they have and become well-rounded adults.
Let us look at the benefits teens can gain from volunteering.
Boost one’s self-esteem and self-confidence
Having a good self-esteem is very important for teens. It helps them try new things, take risks and solve problems better. They learn to act independently, take pride in their accomplishments, and display positivity.
Through volunteer work, teens are exposed to real-world problems. They see the efforts of their actions play a direct role in making others’ lives better. And this knowledge can do a lot to boost the self-esteem and confidence of teens during their formative years.
By improving someone else’s life, teens will see they are valued. And realize that they are capable of so much more than they imagined.
Helps to identify a career path early in life
Volunteering can help teens narrow down on a career path and find out where their interest lies. Through volunteer work, one will have hands-on knowledge of what people do in a particular job and the working conditions. It allows an individual to have an inside look into how an industry works and helps discover what they like to do.
By volunteering, teens can paint a better picture of themselves. For example, one may find out how well they work in teams or if they have good leadership skills.
How can teens find new career opportunities?
- If you’re volunteering to read to senior citizens or help in the rehabilitation of lives, you can find yourself a career in the human services field. You will have the first-hand experience and can take up a college course in the said field to advance your career.
- Volunteering to organize and set up events can help you discover the organizer in you. Having the skills and interest in planning events can lead you onto a career in event management.
- Volunteering at food depositories or helping the homeless can help you develop an interest in public policy or social work. Through this, you can use your talents for social good. You can work as a policy analyst and bring changes to the existing policies.
- If you has an interest in medicine or just caring for people, volunteering at a hospital is a good place to start. It will help you figure out if the medicine is what you want to do and what it would be like to work in that field.
Looks good on the resume
Volunteering gives teens an added advantage to their CV and sets them apart from other applicants for employment or college. It tells employers or graduate schools that the individual is ambitious, cares about the society, and will work towards it.
Volunteering work not only gives them valuable experience but also makes them eligible for certain scholarships or financial aid.
When teens are dedicated to helping improve the society, it shows they are committed to their work and has not taken up the activity to strengthen their CV. Rather, they are passionate about it. This acts as a testament to their character. And will be valued both by employers and college admission boards.
Expand their Social Circle
Volunteering gives teens an opportunity to meet mentors, network with people and expand their social circle beyond the walls of the school. It brings like-minded people together and forges lifelong friendships.
Working alongside people who feel strongly about supporting a particular cause creates a path to developing strong relationships with others. Interacting with people outside their normal social circles gives them the opportunity to expand their connections and build networking skills.
Fellows volunteers will teach them something new and how to interact with others from different backgrounds. Volunteering will give teens a life-changing experience in which they will learn things about themselves, boost their self-esteem, and learn things they don’t in classrooms. Best of all, they will meet new people and will have a lot of fun doing it.
If you are looking for a meaningful program and wish to be a teen volunteer abroad, then you can simply write to us at [email protected] and our Program Advisors will get back to you!
Author’s Bio: Jasmine is a content creator & social media marketer at CallHub a cloud telephony company building voice and text outreach tools for political campaigns, organizations, and businesses. She spends part of her days wondering how to combine her two loves, reading classic literature and partying. The rest of her time she spends writing or Instagramming.
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