College applications can be a daunting task for any high school student. You may feel anxious about the state of your applications even before your graduating year. However, there is no need to worry. Choosing where you will gain volunteering hours is simple, and can be done if you use the following guiding principles that will help you make the most of your community service. If you are unsure of how to approach the topic, consider asking an academic coach for help.

Choose an Activity That Mirrors Your Professional Ambitions

By the time you reach your final year in high school, you will have, at the least, a general idea of what you want to do with your life. If you are unsure, that’s normal too. However, not all of our dreams are realistic. The odds of making it as a famous musician is next to nil. If you are a teenager with a more grounded outlook on their life, community service can help you determine whether or not your ambitions are realistic. Of course, if you require additional assistance, a student coach is ready to help you find volunteer placements that will help you grow.

If a teenager has the ambition to enrol in pre-med so they can become a doctor later on, they should inquire with local hospitals, hospices, and clinics when deciding where to volunteer. By the end of the first day, they will know whether they can handle the pressure and responsibilities a medical environment requires of its staff members, and whether the medical profession is for them.

For teenagers who may want to work in social welfare or social work, for instance, community service can be a great experience for them. Shadowing a psychiatrist, social worker, or mental health worker for a few days to a week can be instrumental in determining whether they have the patience, ability, and understanding to work in the field. Academic coaches can also offer guidance to becoming involved in specific industries, like social work.

You also do not have to fulfill all your community service obligations in one institution. You can move around and try new things. If you have multiple career goals, divide your community service hours around them, and try out a bunch of different things. High school is the best time to do this.

The last thing you want to experience is burn out after your first or second year of college education, realizing you made a huge mistake and wasted thousands of dollars to prepare for a profession you really do not want to do. Volunteering is an easy way to dip your feet and get familiar with any potential careers you are considering.

Choose an Activity That You Enjoy

Some teenagers do not wish to spend their free time volunteering. They would rather spend it on the soccer field or at the mall. Luckily, they can do both. If you are like these teenagers, you should find an institution or organization that offers volunteer hours that you would enjoy taking part in.

If, for instance, you would rather spend all your time out of school playing soccer, you can always volunteer to play soccer with disenfranchised youth. If you would rather spend all your time at the mall, you have the option of setting up a booth there and talking to mall-goers about a cause or social issue that is personal to you. If you need help choosing a place to volunteer, there are many resources available through your school, or you could consult with an academic coach.

You should consider choosing activities you would enjoy when volunteering. The reason for this is as follows. You may have to fulfill a large number of volunteer hours to graduate high school. Even if you do not need anymore volunteer hours for high school, you will probably want to add any volunteering experience you have to your resume for college and future relevant job applications.

Choose an Activity With Ambition

Since you will be spending a significant number of hours volunteering in your local community, regardless of whether you are volunteering for high school, college, or job purposes, you should volunteer ambitiously. Think of volunteering as free work. Although you may perceive such a perspective as negative and a waste of time, it can actually be a positive thing.

Volunteering allows you to experience working in industries and environments that would normally exclude high school students. If want to volunteer at a start up or organization, it is much easier to do so when you applying as a high school student looking for volunteer experience, rather than a young professional who needs a degree and a high GPA to apply.

Your volunteering experience, wherever you choose it to take place, will serve your interests and ambitions as you enter college, and after you obtain your degree when you work in your desired field. To help match your ambitions with your volunteering interests, consider making an appointment to see an academic coach.

#Volunteer #CommunityService #CollegeApplications #Resume