What does it mean to volunteer? What is the best kind of volunteering?
Volunteering spans a wide array of fields including packaging food, serving the homeless, and caring for the sick. In the course of my college career, I have had the privilege to do all three. It has been an amazing experience that I have been able set aside time to donate to others. This past summer, for example, I volunteered doing the most simple of things....Playing with kids! I loved going to Texas Children's and volunteering two hours in the 9th floor cancer playroom. I would play with the kids and join them in their imaginary exploration to make a world of their own. Although these kids were sick, their spirits remained intact and strong. It seemed as if the kids were sometimes stronger than their parents. I encountered a family whose son Oscar was sick with Leukemia. They've been through a long journey and they were willing to share this with me.
I did not expect to encounter this when I first signed up. I thought volunteering would only take place in the confines of the hospital. After seeing this family a few more times, the father (a year older than me) told me how he hadn't had time for anything. He stopped working out and hadn't taken care of himself since his son got sick and I invited him to play basketball with me and some friends the next day before they left the hospital. The next day I we walked over, played basketball, and he thanked me later for inviting him and told me that it meant a lot to him.
It seems as if volunteering is something that is best when it's unexpected. You go with a general knowledge of what you're going to do, but you can't predict the feeling you get when you actually do it.
Next week I will be starting to volunteer at the Montrose Clinic, where I will be making packages and possibly interacting with gay community. I have never done this before and I don't know what to expect, but I love people and can't wait to learn from this experience.
