Now that we are in college many of us are getting ready to start our future careers, we are applying to jobs and trying to gain experience to put on our future resumes. Being a college student and graduating at the end of the year, I know that this can be a very stressful time in our lives, whether applying for jobs or grad school. When applying for jobs and grad school, everyone should have a resume, on your resume you include your past job experiences and any clubs or organizations that you have been a part of, you should have your school experience on your resume and the last thing you should have on your resume is any volunteer experiences. Today I will tell you the important reasons why you should volunteer and how it can help with your future career and benefit your health.

There are many pros when it comes to volunteering as a college student, I would first like to discuss how volunteering can improve your mental health and well-being. College students can be very stressful especially when it comes to working on assignments, studying for tests, having a social life, being involved in on-campus organizations, and having a job. As students, we are told to find ways to help reduce our stress and one way that has helped me reduce my stress is by volunteering. There are many positive side effects when it comes to volunteering: it helps reduce anxiety, anger, depression, and substance abuse problems. Volunteering can also make you happier as well by releasing dopamine that can give you positive and relaxed feelings, which is a very important thing that college students need. Not only can volunteering improve your mental health but it can also improve your physical health as well. Some positive side effects that it has on your physical health are it can lower your blood pressure and increase your physical activity.

Another pro when it comes to volunteering is it can help you with your future career, showing that you have volunteering experience on your resume can make you stand out among other people who are applying for the same job. It can also help your resume because it shows that you are resourceful, have good collaboration skills, and that you can take initiative. These are all very important skills that employers look for when looking for the right candidate. Volunteering can help you be resourceful as it allows you to solve problems in the real world and it helps you to be creative as well. Volunteering can help you with your collaboration skills as it shows that you can keep a commitment, you have empathy, and that you have good communication and teamwork skills which many employers will look for in their candidates. The last skill that volunteering can help you with is taking the initiative. It shows that you are motivated and that you are trying to improve your skills. As you can see volunteering can help you be a better candidate for your future job applications.

Whitewater offers many opportunities for college students to volunteer on-campus and off-campus as well. Some of the places that college students call to volunteer at are the food pantry on campus, you can volunteer at the Nursing Home Visitation Program (NHVP), and Jitters, also the campus has a community service website where you can fill out a form and they will get back to of places that you can go and volunteer at. An off-campus place where students can volunteer is Fairhaven in Whitewater, many of the resident’s love having college students come and visit them. As you can see there are many opportunities for college students to go and volunteer. College students must volunteer because it can help with their mental and physical health, and it can help you build your resumes. When you are volunteering not only are you helping yourself, but you are also helping others around you and you are making a very big impact on their lives.

References

Chandra, S. (2021, November 25). Benefits of volunteering for college students. Campus Groups. https://blog.campusgroups.com/campusgroups/2021/5/25/benefits-of-volunteering-for-college-students

Angela Thoreson, L. I. C. S. W. (2023, August 1). 3 health benefits of volunteering. Mayo Clinic Health System. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health

Team, V. (2023, June 14). Volgistics – blog. Volgistics Blog. https://www.volgistics.com/blog/volunteering-good-for-health