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Giving Back: The Joy of Helping Others

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04 Jul 2020

4 Min Read

Liew Kwan Jet (Guest Contributor)

IN THIS ARTICLE

To help others in need, to lend them a helping hand and to do your part in giving back to the community — that is what volunteering is all about. Since the day I got out of my comfort zone and developed the hunger to explore new experiences and opportunities, I dabbled in many volunteering activities and have no intentions of stopping anytime soon. In this article, I’ll be sharing my volunteering experience with all of you!

Picture of people gathered in a circle

Extracurricular Activities

Since joining Taylor’s during my Foundation year in January 2019, I’ve participated in many extracurricular activities, most of them were related to volunteering for an event or for an activity by a  non-profit organisation. Some of these include volunteering at PERTIWI Soup Kitchen, Taylor’s Community Program Keusahawanan, Taylor’s Community Fun Learning Class, and the Rotaract Club Multiple Sclerosis Walk 2020.

Collage of Kwan Jet and his friends during activities

Volunteering Journey

Because I enjoy volunteering a lot, the first and the only club I’ve officially signed up for was Taylor’s Community Service Initiatives Club (CSI

 

I first helped out CSI to operate a booth for their Lumiere’19 - Spreading the Light event in October 2019. It was an event that aimed to raise money for charitable organisations, with one of them being Generating Opportunities for Learning Disabled (GOLD), which aims to generate opportunities for the learning disabled. It felt really good and warmed my heart knowing that my efforts and time spent there helped those in need.  My drive to help others in need really kicked off after that event.

 

Since that day, I continuously participated in many voluntary activities every month. These include being a part of Taylor’s Open Days, raising funds for victims of multiple sclerosis, helping out at a childhood development workshop, distributing food at a soup kitchen, planting trees at Taman Botani Perdana, Kuala Lumpur, as well as being involved in a women empowerment event. As a matter of fact, from January 2020 to March 2020, I’ve volunteered in 9 different campaigns in total.

 

Some activities were relatively simple, such as the one at Pertiwi Soup Kitchen, as it only required me to serve drinks and help with the clean up at the end, while others were more challenging, such as the Animal Awareness Workshop for children where my team, from Taylor’s Community, and I had to plan the whole event ourselves, from designing, planning and executing the activities, and conducting the feedback sessions. One of the major problems we faced was finding transport to the centre, but thankfully, our supportive supervisor was kind enough to fetch us there. I planned to join more in April, however, due to the MCO, I was restricted from doing so.

Man showing a heart with his hands

Skills and Lessons Learned from Volunteering

Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg as there were plenty of other voluntary activities I participated in that I would love to share. But, the point here is that I love volunteering. I enjoy looking out for new experiences and I get to do just that through the various volunteering opportunities. I’ve gained many new and valuable skills and experiences such as leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, interpersonal skills, and many more that I’m sure will benefit me in the future.

 

Although most charitable activities will not offer you financial rewards for committing your time and energy, you’ll go home feeling satisfied knowing you’ve done something positive for a good cause. It makes you feel purposeful and that you can really make a difference to yourself and someone else’s life as well. The experiences I gained really helped boost my confidence and motivated me to join even more charitable events and be more sociable.

LED image saying "Do Something Great"

The Value of Volunteering to Society

Overall, volunteering is a really great activity that I believe everyone should try at least once and strive to make society a better place for everyone. After all, the more volunteers, the merrier it is for any voluntary services. This also helps many organisations to do their fair share of beneficial services for the society. I believe there is something about helping others that’s so addictive and fun, knowing that you’re giving back to the community.

 

It may not be for everyone but I believe if you’re passionate about helping others like me, you’d enjoy it.  I am positive the majority of you would feel the same if you give it a chance. I strongly encourage every one of you to be on the lookout and volunteer in any activity you can. I assure you that you’ll go home with many valuable life lessons aside from having fun. Lastly, thank you so much for reading this article and I hope to volunteer with you in the near future.

A student of Taylor’s Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Finance, Kwan Jet is a friendly and adventurous guy who's always up to explore new experiences.

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