Whether you’re cleaning up trash in your neighborhood or volunteering at a soup kitchen, community services are an opportunity to help people in need. They can also teach you a lot of things about life and yourself.
Volunteering is a great way to get out of your comfort zone and make new friends. It can also help you learn new skills and build a more diversified network.
Improves Your Social Skills
Community service is an excellent way to meet new people and make friends. It can also be a great way for introverts to practice socializing in unfamiliar environments.
Additionally, volunteering often involves working in a group setting, so it’s easy to make connections with other volunteers and those you are helping. These relationships can lead to long-term friendships and professional networks that help you throughout your life.
Studies have shown that students who participate in critical service learning show improved academic performance and fewer negative behaviors. This is because social skills learning helps improve a student’s attitude toward school and their overall well-being. It also increases their sense of belonging. These benefits are crucial for a person’s successful transition to adulthood and career. This is especially important for youth in low-income communities that are susceptible to violence, drug and alcohol abuse, truancy, and depression.
Gets You Out of Your Comfort Zone
A comfort zone is a mental state of familiarity and security, where people feel safe, relaxed and confident. Typically, the best way to grow is to push outside of your comfort zone and experience new challenges. This is why community service is so important; it helps you learn and grow by stepping outside your normal boundaries.
In addition, community service helps you meet new people and make friends. This is because it often involves working in groups, such as cleaning up parks or feeding animals at a shelter. Meeting people with whom you share a common goal is the easiest way to start a conversation and build new relationships. You might even make lifelong friends. This is why many schools and groups encourage students to get involved in community service.
Helps You Make Friends
If you’re new to a city, community service is a great way to meet people. Look for volunteer opportunities through your school, place of worship or local non-profit organizations. You can also find opportunities by checking out the events calendar at your neighborhood coffee shop or juice bar, participating in a local fitness center’s group exercise classes or enrolling in a cooking or language class to meet people with shared interests.
Volunteering alongside people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives teaches you how to work well with others, even when you don’t agree on everything. This is an essential skill for a healthy and thriving society. It helps you break down barriers that can be formed by quick judgments and prejudices. It can also help you learn to recognize and combat stereotypes that may hinder your success in the workplace.
Helps You Learn New Skills
Taking on community service can help you learn new skills that can benefit your future career. For instance, volunteering at an animal shelter can teach you more about what it takes to work with animals, or working at a hospital can give you insight into the medical profession.
Moreover, if you volunteer to advocate for social causes, you will learn how to effectively communicate the benefits of your cause to others. This can be a valuable skill in your future career, particularly if you plan to pursue a job in marketing or public relations.
Indirect community service also helps you learn about the issues that affect your local area, such as planning and organizing a fundraising event. This knowledge is important for careers in law, government, or activism.
Helps You Develop a Better Worldview
Whether it’s cleaning up the environment or helping kids at a local school, community service helps you develop a better worldview. You start to understand how people from different backgrounds live and work together, fostering empathy and connection. You also learn to avoid stereotypes and realize that everyone has a unique personality and background.
Moreover, your efforts can affect the entire community. Volunteering can help you create lasting change and make the world a more sustainable place to live. For instance, community organizations like Distress Centre help individuals in need and provide support to vulnerable populations, which can reduce the mortality rate.
Many schools and non-profits incorporate community service in their programs. This allows students to explore their academic interests through a real-world lens, such as when they learn about environmental issues while picking up trash on the highway or learn about human rights and equality while volunteering at a food bank.