During my sophomore and junior years, I volunteered at 826 Valencia, in the Mission. I would enter the clubhouse after school and was greeted by all the little kids who were about to begin their homework. I would be paired with a student, and would assist them translating their homework or reading with them. The kids would always be excited to see me which was really meaningful.
Hey Saski, I completely understand that meaningful feeling. Seeing how you play a positive role in somebody's life is really gratifying, especially knowing that your work may benefit them in such a positive way. That feeling in my opinion really is unmatched.
When I was younger I volunteered a few years in a row at the Bay Area Women and Children's Center in the Tenderloin with my mom. I was fairly young so I don't remember everything about it, but I think that was my introduction to volunteering and I remember it being super fun. I would help my mom run some of the games for the kids and I remember them always being super happy which was very rewarding.
It is so cool that you were exposed to volunteering at a young age!! I think it is very important to get young kids involved as soon as possible.
Cool, how did the experience of beginning to volunteer when you were young affect your view on service today? How has the experience impacted you moving forward?
I have become more aware that to be able to volunteer I have to make time for it because it is very rewarding. I plan to volunteer there again once I am able to coordinate with the person who manages the organization.
At the end of junior year, throughout the summer and during beginning of Senior year, I volunteered at CPMC Hospital. It meant a lot to me because I was getting first hand experience in the medical field but as I started to connect with the patients on my floor, it became much more important to me. While learning about patient care and medicine, caring for patients and listening to them as they struggled to recover or suffered through a lot of pain was one of the most important parts of the job. I made a lot of meaningful connections and it meant a lot when patients asked for me to take them on a walk or bring them things they needed. The most gratifying thing was helping patients, that I had been caring for for a while, get discharged and finally go home healthier then when they came.
I worked with a lot of post surgery patients, stroke patients and some patients recovering from drug overdoses or drug addiction.
When I was in 8th grade, I helped tutor kids and assisted with homework at the Asian Women's Resource Center in Chinatown. Although I initially volunteered there for my required volunteer hours and wasn't very involved, my experiences there have influenced my involvement with various tutoring and mentoring programs in the last few years.
What other tutoring programs have you partaken in recently?
How was your experience volunteering in Chinatown? Were there any challenges during your volunteering experience?
Last summer I volunteered at the SF Marin food bank for an amount of time. Although the experience was initially very tedious packing food and carry bags all around the place, I eventually saw a big wall quoting the stories of people who benefit from the SF Marin food bank. It was a very heartwarming experience that i get to help these people not worry too much about money but helping their kids have a better life.
Hey Kevin, I have also had this experience of volunteering at the SF-Marin Food Bank, but while I found it to be beneficial I didn't feel a strong connection to it, or at least not as strong as other volunteering experiences where I was doing something meaningful to me. Did you find the experience of packing food to be something you connected with deeply? Why or why not?
I've also worked at food banks, it is always rewarding to see and interact with the people you are serving afterward!
The summer before my freshman year I volunteered at the Tenderloin community center. I spent the majority of my time working with the kids there, leading them in activities, and just trying to give them the best summer possible. Listening to them tell their parents about what a great day they had during pick up was my favorite part of the day. I am grateful to have been a positive factor in their lives.
Did you apply to volunteer there? What were the steps to applying?
Every summer I volunteer at a preschool on mission street called Holy Family Day Home. I have volunteered as a teacher in several of the classrooms from ages 1-4. I have worked with the same group of kids for almost five summers and its been a really meaningful experience because I've had the opportunity to watch them grow up and become such amazing kids.
Do you have a personal connection to the preschool? How did you get started there?
Do you have any plans to keep volunteering with the school after you graduate from Lick? How has developing a relationship with that particular group of students impacted your volunteer experience?
What sorts of things did you do teaching?
When I was in 9th and 10th grade I volunteered to mentor for Saint Gabriel's robotics team. I was a part of their robotics program when I went to school there, so I wanted to give back to that community. I also wanted to help out the teacher who facilitated the program, Mr. Fair, because I figured it was a lot of work and by mentoring I could help keep the team and spirit alive. I enjoyed the experience because it allowed me to reunite with a lot of the friends I'd made in the robotics program, as many of the others came back as mentors as well.
Did you go to Saint Gabriel?
The most meaningful volunteer experience I have took part in was volunteering with a program called "American Scores" as a part of my sophomore PPP credit last year. I found it meaningful because the organization brings opportunities to play soccer to underprivileged youth, paired with learning and writing poetry. Soccer has been a big part of my life growing up, and I found it very meaningful to be able to see children enjoy it just as I was so lucky to have been able to.
Could you see yourself volunteering there in the future? How did you find out about this organization?