Roisin McGrogan, our Civic Engagement Officer, addressed my first lecture and had kept me up to date with volunteering opportunities ever since. As Civic Engagement Officer, Roisin promotes, supports and facilities volunteering opportunities in TCD. So far this year, the opportunities have ranged from helping in homeless shelters, to trips abroad to volunteer this summer. Opportunities to go abroad to Chennai, India (habitat for humanity), Western China (DUFEM), and Moldova (ORM) exist, to name but a few. These opportunities are undoubtedly quite incredible for students who want to take a hands-on approach to making a difference. However, initially volunteers can feel slightly threatened by long-term commitments in volunteering, which with changing timetables and undecided summer plans students can’t afford to commit to. TCD students are lucky enough to have countless numbers of opportunities which involved a lesser commitment, which may be interesting to those just beginning to volunteer.
So why get involved? Last year, the civic engagement office asked students why they volunteered- the results show that their primary motivations were (1) To make a difference, (2) To give something back, (3) For fun, (4) To learn new skills, and (5) As a challenge. Everybody volunteers for their own different reasons- as well as all those already stated, people may want to volunteer for the obvious reason of wanting an impressive CV, or to complete their Role of Honour or Gaisce applications. After doing some volunteer work, the benefits of it become obvious- the study already mentioned, also showed that volunteers gain just as much as they give- after volunteering, students felt that they had made a contribution (89%), built confidence and self esteem (75%), Improved social and communication skills (74%), improved job- related skills (55%) were more open to trying new things (71%), developed a greater ability for teamwork (66%) and leadership (65%). Although there are many different reasons to volunteer, we all have one- if you would like more information on why you should get involved, the website www.tcd.ie/Community/students/volunteering/#why offers plenty of insight as to why you should get involved.
Finally the most important question- how to get involved? As already mentioned, there are dozens of different opportunities for students who want to get involved in volunteering. To begin, take a look at http://www.tcd.ie/Community/students/volunteering/ which offers all of the information you need to begin volunteering, or http://www.tcd.ie/Community/opportunities/ which identifies all of the current volunteering opportunities. Alternatively you can email Rosin McGrogan at [email protected] with “subscribe” in the subject line to subscribe to her monthly update on volunteering opportunities. With volunteering made this simple, it is impossible to find a reason not to get involved. Even if it is for a few hours once a month, or even less, you can make a difference as a volunteer.
