The Importance Of Volunteer Work

Volunteer work. Those two words are dreaded by millions of people. Some associate it with unpaid, free labor; after all, it has the word “work” attached to it. Those that do “enjoy” volunteer work tend to see it as a resume filler or as a compliment to their college application; they do not take too much out of the volunteering experience. Through the eyes of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), volunteering can be seen as so much more than dreaded labor or a resume buff- it can have an impact on the world. Moreover, volunteer work can be the change that fixes the inequalities in this world. On the surface, it may not seem like volunteering is going to affect someone, much less change the world. But even volunteering just an hour can impact the life

It is an after-school program for kids ranging from kindergarten up to fifth grade that went from three to five in the afternoon, Monday through Friday. Each day was structured the same way: kids would come in and either read or work on homework, then had snack time, then a learning assignment, concluding with game time. I was tasked to help keep the kids on schedule and to make sure that the kids stayed focused on their assigned task. When the learning assignment came, you could hear the kids sighing as it was everyone’s least favorite part of the afternoon. For the younger kids (kindergarten and first grade), they were tasked handwriting exercises (tracing letters which teaches them how to write). The teacher asked if I could lend a hand and specifically watch over Quincy. The teacher told me that he struggles with handwriting exercises. This was a hassle for both me and Quincy. He could barely hold the pencil, let alone trace the letters. I tried grabbing his hand and going through the motion with him, but he was not comprehending. After a couple of minutes, it felt a bit hopeless but we eventually came to the point where he could draw, although it was terrible penmanship, the letter B. After that, he then proceeded to take a nap, in which I wish I could be napping too as this exercise drained both of us of our energy. Despite our progress, there is absolutely no doubt that Quincy is behind the other students his age. Realistically, there is a chance that he’ll continue to struggle throughout his education without additional help. And this is not just an issue with one student. Thousands of students are in the same situation as Quincy, where they are falling behind in school. That is where the importance of volunteering comes into play. Without volunteers, the teacher cannot help each individual