Once I came across the saying, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Later I found out that this wise quote belongs to Confucius, and my respect to him grew. It was very difficult for me to choose a profession, as I really wanted to follow the statement of that great Chinese philosopher. Further, when I did decide to enter the Tech, I thought it would be totally an unbearable checkout, with days spent in lecture halls and nights spent with my nose stuck in dull thick academic books, with no time left for entertainment and communication. Can you imagine how surprised I was to know that each activity would be such an exciting piece of experience? Each lecture with plenty of amazing information I never heard before and each assignment I was to prepare assured me that I had made a right choice. Each game I played with my team and each evening spent at student parties filled me with joy and enthusiasm as they provided me with so many new contacts, new skills and terrific impressions. Each excursion we took together with my group and each picnic we spent together made me feel a full-value part of all this student life inscribed so well into the contemporary cultural context. But the thing I surprisingly enjoyed most of all was volunteer work. As I have learnt, volunteer work is one of the best ways for one to know what he is really worth of and to taste life in its best sense.
In fact, volunteer work opened itself for me in different aspects. I never thought I would be so altruistic to help other, unknown to me people without any obvious gain for myself. But one of my neighbors in the dormitory, a very nice girl, encouraged me to sign volunteer papers saying that participation provides rich education benefits. Frankly speaking, my first motive was to make my grades better and it took time for me to make my self take part. But then I was finally initiated. That was a social action for deaf children. With the assistance of a couple of chocolate factories we gathered a huge amount of sweets, cookies, candies, lollipops and other tasty things for deaf children living in the nursing homes and having parents to care about them.
I felt confused originally, as it was absolutely uncomfortably for me to knock on people’s doors and beg for something. Then we went on promoting the action in the streets and largest supermarkets of the city. There was a lot I knew about other people and what is more about myself. I learnt that it is rather easy to do something good even when people do not react. However, most of them did react properly; they surprised me displaying so much involvedness and attraction. And I felt I was excited as if those were my own children, and I couldn’t stay indifferent. I was full like a balloon ready to fly to the sky when people donated, and furthermore, I truly got a lot of pleasure communicating with other participants. Some of them were already well grounded in volunteering and they told me a lot of fascinating stories on how one partial heart could change critical situation to the opposite.
Very soon I also became a regular participant to care about elderly people, to organize a hike for disabled children, to collect costs for hungry habitants of some Asian or African country, and to vote for some youth rights as well. Moreover, there were a lot of actions connected with environmental problems, and I became really moved by some of them.
Still, there was another aspect of volunteering I turned to know. That was something like a practice for further employment, and I have already enjoyed several chances. I was taken to the local radio station where I prepared several news issues and even wrote an outline for author program. Besides, there was an excursion to the printing house on the outskirts of the city, and were allowed to take part in printing some outlets. Actually, there was a lot of work we were not paid for, but we received great experience and have become more oriented in what we are going to become in a few years.
In this way, during one semester only my life and worldview have changed cardinally. I have discovered how important it is to think not only about yourself and your profit, and how it is uncanny and thrilling to feel yourself a part of some big machine working for making our society and our world on the whole a little bit better. As I was really sold on it, I came to the conclusion that volunteer work is in anyway advantageous for everyone while it helps you to develop many new qualities, skills and habits which you will surely benefit from in future.