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Ask HN: What kind of volunteer jobs have you done that have changed your life?

by xijuan on 7/31/13, 9:19 AM with 16 comments

• by antr on 7/31/13, 11:19 AM

  An eye opener for me was Junior Achievement (www.juniorachievement.org). I volunteered until recently for two years in a public school in a low-income neighbourhood. It's a program where volunteers go to primary and secondary/high schools to "...foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, and use experiential learning to inspire students to dream big and reach their potential."

  I had done volunteer work before, initiatives organised by my past employers, but these where one-day "lets paint an entire community centre/chapel/etc" initiatives, with no real exposure to people and issues. This was the first time I volunteered by my own initiative and the experience was nothing what I expected, for good and bad.

  All I can say is go for it.

• by mactunes on 7/31/13, 10:13 AM

  5 years ago I joined my local fire brigade. It has changed my life in multiple ways:

  - I met a lot of new people who I am mostly good friends with - you learn to trust people and understand their strengths and weaknesses - you feel better about yourself because you help others - my life got more balanced as I have an office job and operating heavy machinery is totally different. I also made my driver's license for trucks, trailers and the fire boat we have. - there is a lot of testosterone involved with fire fighters ;) so I learned to better deal with conflicts

  If you only have a couple of days/weeks this might not be for you as this volunteer job requires a lot of dedication. But it definitely has changed my life very much to the better!

• by antitrust on 7/31/13, 2:26 PM

  I regularly volunteer computer time to non-profit organizations who are doing good things in a non-partisan sense.

  Once you do one, you'll get calls for more. Often it's nothing more than a few hours on a weekend to set up a website, software package or network. These are generally small concerns who rely on staying small to be effective.

  I highly recommend this. I have met some of the most wonderful people.... they have found a purpose in life that transcends its disadvantages. I don't even know how to describe it. Not all are this way, but enough are to bring a smile to my face at the memory.

  You will feel like it's the last (insert string of expletives here) thing you want to do when the call comes. Computer work, for free? Just like a job but with none of the advantages, right? When you're done you'll feel differently, even though you will (most likely) be working with substandard hardware in suboptimal conditions around people who understand little of the technology.

  I don't really get an ego-boost from it and normally I wouldn't talk about it with people who know me. But I highly recommend it. Among other things, you get a sense of power over all the things you don't like about life, society, computing, etc. A chance to put things right and have people you respect notice.

  If you can find an outfit like this, do it:

  http://www.volunteerhouston.org/

  They are an index of volunteer opportunities, like a Google for volunteering. Once you find your first gig, others will find you.

• by gautamnarula on 7/31/13, 9:43 AM

  I'm not sure if this is strictly volunteering, but I worked as an unpaid intern for a human rights organization. The diversity there was incredible. I worked with people from five different continents, several different religious beliefs, and vastly different upbringings. Even though I went to a fairly diverse school (racially speaking, at least), growing up in the suburbs tends to have a homogenizing effect on the people you meet.

  The work itself really opened my eyes too. I came in with the idea that human rights was basically stuff like no torture, no war crimes, freedom of religion/expression, etc. But when I worked there I learned about the idea of social and economic rights, which in a nutshell is the idea that the human rights abuses I mentioned above are often linked to a lack of social or economic progress among certain groups, and that poverty was in a way a form of economic repression that paved the way for other human rights abuses. I'm still not sure to what extent I believe all of that is true, but I never would have thought about it if I hadn't worked there.

• by hashtree on 7/31/13, 2:05 PM

  Avid volunteer here, and I would say that it is one of the best gifts you can get yourself. Seriously. Get out of the echo-chamber(s) that make up life, help your community, and observe real issues/hardship.

  My staples are a food bank, nursing home, and a local NPR station. The first two are by far much more eye opening and rewarding. Lots of "one-off" volunteering as well, though these are not as good IMO. Hospital health drives, community bike races, libraries, eco-related stuff.

  The more personal and reoccurring volunteering is what will likely impact you (and others) most. I find a couple times a month helps to keep me centered and remind me of how silly some problems are in life.

• by muyueh on 7/31/13, 12:15 PM

  I am not sure whether this counts or not, but last year I started a TEDx event. My own motivation was that after graduation, it was so difficult to make new geek friends.

  - Inviting people to TEDx has been a great excuse to reach total stranger, and to ask them about their work. - Organizing event is to "get things done in the real world", (which I believe to be) the same skill set for a startup. - Working with people really helps me to get to know them. I have since found my future business partner.

• by clockwork_189 on 8/5/13, 10:08 PM

  Hm, nothing as life changing as most of the commenters below, however I volunteered with my local dragon boat team. Helped them with coaching, their site development and marketing.

  It helped me exercise what I learn and at the same time learn to become a better leader. It also helped me get out of my shell as I am a bit of an introvert :P

• by japhyr on 7/31/13, 3:05 PM

  I volunteer for a mountain rescue team. Holy heck, sitting at a computer dealing with bugs and other such "stressful" issues is pretty easy after working on the side of a mountain when someone has got themselves stuck or injured in a precarious situation. The people I get to work with are just amazing.

• by rdouble on 7/31/13, 3:08 PM

  In high school I worked in a summer school program for the children of migrant farm workers. I used to be a math tutor at an after school program for Somali immigrants. There are a lot of volunteer tutoring programs.

• by GI on 7/31/13, 10:43 AM

  I volunteered at a homeless shelter for a few weeks. Totally changed my outlook on life. I am much slower to judge, I am very careful not to waste and moan a lot less. I'd recommend it to anyone.

• by mildavw on 8/1/13, 12:09 AM

  Hospice - helping people navigate their own impending death gave me some perspective. I did it for a few years in my early 30s and had both elderly patients and some younger than I. Pretty intense but the training was great, I was highly valued by the patients and their families, and it really made me think about not wasting the time I have on the planet, however long that should last.

  I was a musician at the time and, like you, thought, "I should do something with my days since I have so much free time."

• by jgrahamc on 7/31/13, 9:59 AM

  After university I volunteered at a social centre for the blind in the UK. I had a great time helping people who were blind and being part of their social circle.

• by timhargis on 7/31/13, 11:43 PM

  Teach music to 3rd grade students once a week...I love music but never wanted to do it professionally. It's super rewarding when a few of the kids pick up an instrument and actually learn to play over the course of the school year.

• by superconductor on 7/31/13, 11:28 AM

  Canadian Mental Health Association, because I had so much in common with the people there, and the local food bank, because a year later I ended up needing the service myself. It saved my life.