When You Volunteer Everyone Wins, and You too
Volunteering is not exploitation of free labor. Volunteering is individuals who spontaneously undertake to do something in their community without expecting any reward or benefit. Well, have you ever thought about what kind of contribution even a small act of yours can make to you, someone else, the environment or an animal?
Kamilla Sultanova, speaker at the Tedx talk I watched titled Volunteering: empowering others, empowering yourself, said that volunteering can be a way to build ourselves. When I thought of a few volunteering jobs I did myself, I realized that there was actually a component that helped me build my identity. The concept of volunteering also helps us to understand ourselves and find a purpose for our lives. With volunteering, we not only touch the lives of others or benefit them, but also contribute to our own building and development. In the speech, it was mentioned that volunteering is not only a nice thing but also a necessary thing. Volunteering is necessary for all of us because when you volunteer passionately and willingly for something, everyone wins. Volunteering is a very popular concept these times, but sometimes people use volunteering for different purposes. We should not look at the popularity of this concept and act on it in the same way. If we want to volunteer, we must have passion and intention for a situation.
Volunteering about something contributes more to making our voices louder and raising awareness. At the same time, volunteering can enable us to stand together for a single purpose despite your differences in a common area. Regardless of the place of residence, educational background, gender and race, you walk the same path for the same purpose without expecting any allowance for a single purpose. On the other hand, Speaker Kamilla Sultanova said that nowadays young people need to take initiative. It can be difficult to know who we are, or we may not know what we want or where to make a difference. However, everyone volunteers even if they are small can change something. I believe that we, especially young people, can raise awareness with the volunteering work we do in every field. We have to take action for this.
In my life, I have been volunteering even if it is a small one. My first volunteering job was thanks to my teacher. We used to collect the garbage found in the school in certain groups every week. Apart from that, I and my cousins went to the animal shelter several times together. In that shelter, we cleaned the containers where the animals eat and the areas where they live. At the same time, we put food in each. Although these are all small jobs, they mean a lot to me. This is all part of my identity. Components that make me like this now.
Finally, volunteering does not only benefit people, animals or plants. They are also important to ourselves. If we are doing the voluntary work, we must be passionate and willing to do so, and not just look at the popularity of this concept. A little volunteering work we do may create a big difference. We must take the initiative and volunteer. If we volunteer, everyone wins.
