Volunteering is free work, so why would anyone do it?

While in high school, I felt like volunteering had no point. My experience with volunteering was standing around, waiting for people to tell me what to do.

Volunteering sucks, high school me thought, Let’s just get it over with so (my friends/my father/my club) will shut up about it.

I changed my mind after I graduated high school. I volunteer at least once a week now, early mornings and late nights. On-campus and off-campus. In formal wear and in a random hoodie with a koala on it.

My interest in volunteering grew gradually. We all start somewhere; I started on Labor Day in Waterbury.

The day before, I signed up to volunteer. I called an Uber to go to Waterbury, where the very kind workers did not know that I had signed up.

The head chef was confused why I would volunteer on a Monday.

“On Mondays, it’s so… dead,” said the head chef at the Waterbury Salvation Army.

She, and the other people who work at the Waterbury Salvation Army, did not know why I traveled miles just to volunteer at a place that had small turnouts on Mondays.

I helped peel potatoes, cut onions, and taste-test food. I watched the banter between the head chef and another worker. I was shown a little garden with spices and tiny green tomatoes, and I drank black coffee to the horror of the head chef.

The other chef did not even know how to cook when he was hired. He disliked using a phone for anything but calling, and he liked making verbal jabs at his coworker. I talked with him about several different topics as we waited for the pizza to bake.

Volunteering was relaxing. It feels good to work without worrying about getting fired, promoted, demoted or judged. Volunteering exposed me to unfamiliar environments and new people.

I saw when Erica, who works at the Loaves & Fishes pantry, used magic to make an elephant stuffed animal appear out of thin air (aka, a shelf) and gave it to a little kid who ran around happily afterwards.

I saw people take everything from elegant suit jackets to clothes for toddlers from the pantry, free of charge. Days later, when I volunteered to help stock the clothes pantry, I felt motivated to work hard, even though I was working in the back on a day the pantry was closed.

I played Jenga with a kid who has down syndrome. We built the tower together, and I silently guided her on which direction to place the blocks. The kid had much more focus and emotion than people typically expect from toddlers.

After the tower fell, the kid squealed in surprise. I tried to remember if I liked Jenga that much at her age, too.

I made interesting phone calls asking if people would support my political party. Only a few phone calls apart, I talked to a young, staunch Republican who called Democrats “those crazy woke people,” and a busy teacher with kids who was very interested in getting a Harris-Walz yard sign from the Democratic HQ.

I talked to professional audio editor Johnny DelToro once, who praised my audio editing skills. His compliment made me feel bad, because I had only halved the background noise and did not have a raw audio to give him because of my lack of experience.

(Obviously, these events happened on separate days, in different locations. I like to lead an adventurous life, but I am not the main character of a teen drama.)

A year ago, I would tell you with confidence that people are born evil and they do everything in self-interest.

After stepping out of my bubble, no matter how clumsy those first steps were, I learned how I was missing out. Through the people I met while volunteering, I built upon my skill to withhold judgment. While I helped others, I built faith in the goodness of people.

Go work for nothing.