What will volunteer work do for me? I’ve always asked myself that question when people ask me to volunteer. I never really knew why I volunteered until I started at NVC. I never really realized how this could benefit me. Of course I volunteer out of the good of my heart, but now there are many more reasons I would be the first to say yes!

If you are a student at NVC, did you know that you can get a certificate for volunteering? Of course there are some qualifications, but is it worth it? Yes! It’s called the Presidents Volunteer Service Award. To receive this award, you must volunteer 100 hours in a 12-month period. To learn more about qualifications for this award, click on the link: http://www.alamo.edu/nvc/students/activities/leadership_pv.htm

Receiving this award could benefit you in many ways. First off, you can add it to your resume. When you decide to leave NVC to go to a university, they look at things like this. They want people who volunteer for their community. Scholarship committees like to see this type of work on your application. Some of the jobs you apply for may even look at your volunteer work.

Volunteering may sound boring, but if you do the research there are hundreds and hundreds of opportunities out there that will interest you. For example, I volunteer as a mentor for Communities in Schools. I get to mentor students at Justice Juvenile Academy just by spending time with them and helping them out with their homework or play games. It’s nice for them to have someone to talk to other than their teachers or their case workers. My career goal is to work at a juvenile detention center, so this will help me when I go on interviews in the future. So what are you waiting for? Click on this link to find your perfect match: http://volunteersa.org/

– Elizabeth Torres