s/o of volunteer/internship thread--success stories, please

[plansrme]

The thread on volunteering at a vet's office, and the helpful (seriously--not being snarky here) response that, "Volunteers are worse than useless," have me wondering what volunteer opportunities there are for high schoolers where they are appreciated.

 

So if you are in charge of or have experience from the volunteeree's (recipient's) side, or if your child has volunteered or done a service project where it was appreciated and/or proved worthwhile, especially if it contributed to a successful college application process, please share. I am just looking for success stories that might help those of us with future high schoolers.

 

Terri

[JennW in SoCal]

Both my kids have had volunteer jobs that have proven worthwhile to them and to the people they are working with. Your teens do ultimately have to treat the volunteer work as a job, but as a parent you can network informally among friends to find out what is out there. For instance, I'm constantly asking acquaintances at church about their work -- what they do, how they got there -- and if it is something I know my ds is intersted in, I'll talk more about it. We've gotten a tour of a cool physics research lab and a tour of a collection at a local marine research institute simply based on these discussions. I don't waste their time -- it is only if my ds has a strong interest that I pursue it. He doesn't treat these opportunities as a bored teen, but is actively engaged in the tours and I have him write thank you notes.

 

My oldest learned all about lighting design and basic sound tech by volunteering at our church for years. He became the go-to guy for all things lighting, and expanded his knowledge to theater lighting. He did a senior project for a community youth theater which was to write a manual for teen stage managers. By the time he graduated he was being hired by schools and other community groups to light theater productions.

 

My youngest is currently working once a week or so in the lab of an electrical engineer friend. He helps test circuit boards, helps build new circuit boards and last time got to learn how to solder. This situation developed from our family friendship - this friend had helped restore a PlayStation console and talked me through installing new memory on a computer. His dd never had an interest in these things and he thinks it is great to "geek out" with my ds. My ds is going to get a "career exploration" credit from this lab experience.

 

We're finding that the vets and the local zoo and museums really don't want teen volunteers. There used to be a wonderful teen docent program at our Natural History Museum, but I'm guessing they don't have the funding for it anymore.

[Nan in Mass]

In our case, initially it has always been the adult who approached my child and asked if he would help. And then after that, the child was well-known to the adult, so when the child wanted to do further work, the child (or we) could approach the adult and ask for more work, or could ask that adult to speak on their behalf to another adult. It has been through personal relationships, with someone to vouch for them, or at the instigation of the adult. In one case, the child did a project with me, initially, and then after that was welcome in the organization on his own. This isn't very helpful, probably. Perhaps the vet would be willing to take you and your daughter together?

-Nan

[mooooom]

originally being a vet, now she is leaning towards being an animal behaviorist, has multiple volunteer jobs. She volunteers at a horse farm, during lesson hours, and this has been a wonderful experience as she is now receiving free riding lessons. She goes once a week for 3-4 hours, grooms, feeds and waters horses, helps the little kids with their horses, etc. She had no large animal experience beforehand.

 

We have volunteered with the local animal shelter (in home fostering) for years. We did start volunteering at another (physical location) shelter, but got kind of creeped out (they had ringworm going around and wanted all volunteers to have rabies vaccines) but do volunteer with fund raising projects for them.

 

She does go to our vets once a week in the summer, but she mostly observes as opposed to DOING, she watches surgery and helps out with little things. She was offered this by our vet who has known her for years. We are hoping when she gets older this might turn into a part time job. We are also hoping he might be able to know a "farm" vet that she might be able to go around with in the summer, she will be asking him about this soon.

 

She also, through her 4H Dog Club, visits a nursing home with her dog once a month. She, also through 4H, has raised and trained a puppy, and shows him at the fairs all summer.

 

And she is looking into raising a service dog as a senior project; we are having a little trouble finding an organization that works in our area at the moment.

 

I don't know if any of this will be successful, but no one will ever be able to say she doesn't have enough animal experience.

[Guest]

My daughter, aged 13, was asked to do a kind of work-study, helping out with horses at the stable where she rides, after the teachers got to know her and recognized her ability to bond with animals. She helps out with everything from shoveling sawdust to exercising horses to mixing feed to helping little kids learn how to tack up, and leading them and their ponies around the arena.

 

At first she was so tentative and hesitant that she probably needed as much help as she gave. But it didn't take long before she became quite independent and they are asking her to give as much time as she's got now! She earns lessons and extra riding time; we don't own or lease a horse, which you usually have to do in order to show, but because of her work she is loaned a horse for three or four shows a year, which she adores.

[FloridaLisa]

My oldest three dc have had wonderful volunteer experiences so far, including:

 

*volunteering at Mayo Clinic. Mayo only posts volunteer positions after its departments have a demonstrated need. Ds had the option of working in several areas and chose transporting patients (into, out of, and department-to-department). The transport department was completely staffed by volunteers.

 

*volunteering as county coordinator for a campaign to pass a state consitutional amendment. Dd was referred by a good friend who truly depended on her as one of his statewide coordinators. She contacted media outlets, organized phone banks, distributed info, etc.

 

*volunteering at a local nursing home. Dd chose this venue this year and loves it.

 

*volunteerings as as a sports league ref. Ds2 filled a critical need for referees for our church's Upwards program. And he loved every minute of it.

 

Other great volunteer experience included leadership in some of the orgranizations they are involved in (youth group, choir, debate/speech). Ds1 was awarded the largest scholarship available at one of his schools because of his community involvement/leadership. So, yeah! It's paying off. Though our primary goal was always to allow them to puruse a vocation/avocation interest while serving.

 

Ds1 did have one volunteer experience that was ho-hum. It was one that ds had sought out, and I truly thought would be a great experience and great help to the organization. But the guy overseeing him didn't provide much real work, so his experience was not so great.

 

HTH,

Lisa

[plansrme]

Thanks, ladies, for the input. Just to clarify, my daughter is not looking for animal-related opportunities (she could take or leave animals), but I appreciate the variety of paths you all have described.

 

Terri

[Rebecca VA]

My son (now a college freshman) helped out with the filming of a Christian movie a few years ago. He had already made some little home movies with Playmobils and stuffed animals, as well as a few short live-action films with friends, and he's very technically-oriented, so he did well. This led to an internship with the director which has been going on for several years. The internship pays very little, but the experience is great.

 

He's also redesigning the website for the film company and our church. Everything he does for church is on an unpaid basis.

 

He may be giving a little too much of his time to his volunteer and intern jobs (especially right now when he has midterms coming up), but *he has skills people really want.* He's constantly getting calls from people asking for his help, which is very encouraging to him, and he has leads for a number of good summer jobs.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Rebecca VA

[Nan in Mass]

Just realized I only answered half the question:

 

My children's experiences were successful. And they are in college now. One certified a vernal pool for Audubon. That was definately helpful GRIN in a concrete way. He helped with various festivals at the sactuary. He could have (but chose not to) helped with the sugaring. Audubon is well-organized when dealing with volunteers and has people working for them whose job it is to deal with them, so it was easy enough truly to be helpful, even as a teenager. It took time for the naturalist to show my son what to do to certify the pool and check over the application, but once he was shown, he spent a spring visiting the pool weekly, legwork that was definately useful. My son looks at that pool every time he drives by it and is happy. You asked for the positive - this was definately positive, hard work but positive. The same son did an internship for a plumber. He was useful, if nothing else as an extra set of hands to pass and hold tools, but he took alot of minding and training. In that case, it was an investment the employer was willing to make because the employer intended to hire my son when he graduated. We saw enormous personal growth during that month and led to the job he had for several years. It definately helped him get into the engineering technology program he is in now, and has helped him with his classwork greatly.

 

My middle son volunteered for Audubon by helping at the festivals, doing things which required no training, or minimal group training. He was younger than the normal volunteer but by then they knew our family and weren't worried about that. They just gave him simple jobs. He also peacewalked. I'm not sure if you would call that an internship in political activism or a service project. It involved both. He spent a few days roofing a house after Katrina and spoke in senators' offices and many other things. He was definately a bother - he got lost and had to be reminded to brush his teeth and comforted when he was homesick, and they had to give some thought to educating him. On the other hand, he was a source of hope for the adult peacewalkers, a close-at-hand representation of exactly why they were working so hard to build a better world. His youth was his contribution, and they were well aware of that. And because he learned very quickly to be self-sufficient, he managed to be worth the bother. They would have sent him home if they had thought he wasn't contributing in a positive way or was a danger, either to himself or to others. Adults who get up at 5 to pray, then walk 15 miles, then doing community activities until 9 or 10 at night, and then spending another hour on business don't have a lot of extra energy. They just made sure they didn't leave him behind in the bathroom (well - mostly - that did happen to the youngest once in NYC). By the time he graduated from high school, he has spent about a year peacewalking in the US, Japan, and Europe, and with Native Americans. It changed many things about him, from his table manners to his accent, from his morals to his global outlook. He is much more flexible, tolerent, and independent-thinking than he would have been if he hadn't peacwalked. It was a major part of his education and he is a very different person than he would have been if he hadn't gone, a much better person. I have no idea if it helped him to get into college, but I suspect it did because what he is studying requires travel and an ability to get along with other people in a small space.

 

It is rather scary how much my childrens' internships influenced how they grew and who they became. I think you need to take internships very seriously. I'm sure it is possible to do an internship and have it not change your child greatly because I was a candystriper for a year (my friend was doing it) and all it did was make me a little less shy and convince me that I was unsuited to be a doctor or nurse, but the potential for an internship to have a lifelong influence on your child is great. Your child is right at the end of childhood and the internship may well be what pushes them into being an adult and determine, at least in some part, what sort of adult they will be, since people tend to keep on as they have begun. It probably is a good idea to keep that possibility in mind when you choose what sort of internship to do. They are much, much more than a way to make oneself attractive to colleges. (That last bit isn't a criticism of you, Terri. Working with a vet is obviously a very good idea if one is considering becoming a vet, for multiple reasons. I'm just trying to warn parents who want an internship for their child just to have it on their transcripts for college that they should consider which internship carefully because an internship is more far-reaching. I don't blame colleges for giving priority to the students who have done them.)

 

-Nan

 

Editting to add: Sorry if this sounds overly passionate. I'm sending my youngest off walking next week and thinking about how it will change him, for the better, but still...

Edited March 10, 2010 by Nan in Mass

[laughing lioness]

My oldest interned at Hope House in Romania for 7 mths her senior year. http://www.rmromania.org/dnn/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

My second dd spent 2 months interning for Above Rubies http://www.aboverubies.org/

There were pros and cons to both. They both worked their tails off and learned a TON.

2nding what Nan said. Caveat Emptor.

[lionfamily1999]

I volunteered at George Washington's Birthplace with my brother for about four years. I didn't use it for college, but my brother did. They always had volunteer appreciation celebrations and made it clear that without the volunteers they would be lost.

 

I've also given time to our local state park, nursing home, the Parks and Recreation Department, YMCA, and our local Extension office. All of those places welcomed volunteers, all of them had at least one or two payed workers that thought volunteers were worse than useless, and more payed workers that thought the volunteers were what kept everything going.

 

Ime, the opportunities for volunteering are vast. There will always be people that think it's a waste of time or resources. More people will be grateful and glad for the help.

[plansrme]

Nan, thank you for that thoughtful post. And no offense taken about the college remark. I truly am looking for something not to help them get into college but to help them figure out what they want to do when they get there and/or round out their personalities. I want them to have done something meaningful and grown-up before they go to college.

 

L. Lioness, the 7 months in an orphanage is interesting, as that is kind of what I have in mind for my oldest. I expect her to have plenty of HS credits (if we homeschool through HS) to graduate early, giving her time for, for example, an extended tour in China (she is studying Mandarin) during which she could go to school, volunteer, teach or whatever else we can figure out when the time comes.

 

And it sounds like developing useful skills is important. We're working on that!

 

Terri