Tell us about your volunteer experience and how travel has influenced your desire to volunteer

So...I am trying to get this $5000 grant from travelocity that would allow me to go to Russia- they would set me up with orphanage work, a plane ticket, board, food, everything. The grant is a lengthly application asking for 4 essays. I have finished one. Three to go....


I have traveled to many places and volunteered at home. My first volunteer experience was in my preteens when I would sit with shelter dogs on adoption day. I found joy in helping dogs find a second home full of love. It later led to becoming a camp leader for a 6th grade outdoor education camp when I was in high school. As a camp leader I was responsible for being a good role model to younger kids, bring them to meals, campfire, and other camp activities. As a camp leader volunteer I proved I could be energetic and upbeat with younger kids. I was interested in experiencing nature with children and watching them learn new things. After my volunteer experience in high school I became a student teacher volunteer in college. As a student teacher volunteer I would spend time in a 5th grade classroom and help the teacher with group activities, classroom management, and I would help with basic classroom maintenance tasks. For example, one day when the kids were playing outside at recess I took the time to clean the slides from the microscopes. I sat outside in the sun and cleaned each individual slide. While doing so a curious child came up to me and asked me what I was doing. The child was not from the class I was volunteering in (he was younger) I told him what a microscope was and what the slides did. In this moment I realized teaching children can happen at any moment- not just in the classroom as a paid teacher. Through my volunteer experiences I realized volunteering allows you to feel like you have a purpose. It is a moment when you can connect to children or animals or adults in a way that no other position allows it. People in need open their worlds to volunteers and volunteers that are willing to help will learn so much about humanity and cultures that make us who we are.

I’ve been traveling through my imagination before I could actually leave the house. I understood from an early age that travel was something that made us better people. You learn about life through new experiences in unfamiliar surroundings. I have been to over thirty of the fifty states, traveled to Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, France, and Russia. It didn’t seem to matter where I was- in a new state or a different country; but I knew that more than the touristy things I was interested and drawn to the people, the culture, and the stories of these places. Whenever planning for a trip I searched for lodging and activities “off the beaten path” and found excitement in taking things as they came. Touristy things don’t appeal to me. As a tourist you miss out on so much each country and its people have to offer. Traveling has made me aware of how much we learn about life through our experiences with different cultures. I could be in Costa Rica feeding street dogs or having lunch and conversation with a local named Junior in a small town with only dirt roads. Or I could be trying to decipher the Cyrillic alphabet in the Russian metro or traveling to a small Russian village and spending the day wearing a borrowed cultural skirt in a monastery. It didn’t matter where I was, but I knew when I traveled I needed to stay longer, immerse myself, take chances, and become part of the culture. I wanted to understand these people and the places they call home.

The last two trips in my life have had the most impact on my urge to volunteer. I am someone who is curious about small towns and culture and the people that live there. A few years ago when my grandparents, parents, and friends came together to give me a trip to someplace, the first thing I did was go on google and searched the phrase: small towns off the beaten path. I found Cahuita, Costa Rica and convinced my family to come with me to the small town in Southern Costa Rica. I trusted people I couldn’t exchange more than a few sentences with to drive us to the small village with only dirt roads and no street names. In Cahuita I chipped my front tooth and experienced a robbery by gun point. These experiences, as much as they were scarier, brought me closer to the country. It was through these life changing experiences that I started to think about the situations and pressures people are faced with and how this can lead them to do the desperate things they do in life. Instead of become scared of the uncertainty of travel, I came home to Davis and tried to think of ways I could help people who needed it most.

While in Russia this past September my family drove me out to the countryside. We winded past small wooden villages and children selling apples on the side of the road. I watched through the window and imagined being on the other side- in the village, with those kids and families. I didn’t want to be a bystander or tourist. I wanted to be part of the village and a part of the community. I feel that an experience of living within a country or small town will allow me to have an impact on my life and the life of others. Working for money gets you the paycheck that allows you to take those touristy trips, but working for people as a volunteer allows you to become part of the country. I feel as a volunteer I will be working from the kindness of my heart. This is what I want to do. I want to volunteer my time to help others and learn about the world.