Why Volunteer?

 

People choose to volunteer for many reasons: some because they want to give something back to their community, others to make a difference within it. We decided to volunteer at the Center for Career Development as Career Peers because we wanted to become more involved on and off campus. Furthermore, we wanted to improve our job search skills. Not only did volunteering help us achieve our goals within the college, but we also got the chance to help a lot of students, as well as participate in many events and activities that made us grow. Before this opportunity, we lacked knowledge of resume composition, career exploration, interview skills, internship applications, dress codes for different occasions and general office duties. Now, after one year of hard work and consistency, we have improved our skills and learned so much. We want to be the example that can motivate other students like us to follow the same pattern we followed in our years in college.  Although volunteering doesn’t always guarantee a stipend, or a paycheck there are so many benefits and achievements that go well beyond the value of a wage. We were able to improve personal goals along this journey by developing skills in working as a team, problem solving and time management. We also got the chance to build a network of connections that helped us reach employers and companies outside the college to increase our chances to undertake our career paths now, while we are still in school. We hope that our fellow students will understand the importance of doing this experience so that like us, they can learn from it too.

-Francesco Polverazzi & Gerardo Battiante