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Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

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Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#71

Post by sandworm101 »

Formal volunteering is for resumes and networking. I recently stepped down from four years "volunteering" to run a group within the ABA. I call that work without pay ... same too for the legal clinics i ran during law school.

It is only true volunteering when your name isnt on paper. Once things become formal, once power structures develop, then different mental states take over. Watch for "volunteers" who are only there for thier ego. They may get the job done, but are not growing in any good way. (See wikipedia and most f/oss efforts.) Watch for this within yourself whenever you volunteer your time. You may be helping, but not always growing as a person.

The best volunteer work is done anonymously and totally without power structures. Pick up some trash on occassion. Babysit so a stressed-out young parent can get some sleep. Dont organize something so a crowd will clap for you.

Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#72

Post by thaumaturgy »

I'm a search and rescue volunteer for Nevada County, near Tahoe, and I love the shit out of it. I've been fairly active in my community in one way or another, mostly because it's a good way to meet good people and to offset the regular disheartening misery of online interaction, but search and rescue people are some of the best folks I've ever met.

Nevada County does an excellent job of training its SAR members and is generally well-equipped, especially for a rural county, and respected, so I'm fortunate that that's my first exposure to SAR.

Whether it's 3 a.m. Wednesday morning or 10 p.m. Saturday night or 6 a.m. some other morning, in town or 30 miles into the woods, a bunch of people will show up with smiles and coffee and bright uniforms and do whatever needs to be done to get the job done.

I spent three of the last five days putting down a pile of miles by snowshoe, searching for a missing aircraft. We had air national guard, civil air patrol, CalOES, and SAR crews from counties around the state (and one from out-of-state).

There's all the usual stuff that I benefit directly from -- I've received a lot of training, including medical and specialized skills but also in incident command, and SAR in our area pretty well checks off my "regular physical exercise" box -- but the greatest benefit to me by far is the time I've spent with those good folks. It's the perfect counter to all of the shitty cynicism that's so rampant everywhere these days.

Bringing the lost, sick, and injured back home, locating evidence in difficult cases, and even retrieving the deceased are all rewarding of course too.

Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#73

Post by [deleted] »

CalRobert wrote: post #63
awjr wrote: post #25

I’d accidentally ridden into a Critical Mass Cycle protest ride in London around 2010. Ended up setting one up in Bath, that ran for a bit and started attending the local cycle campaigning group. A respect ride held in honour of a young man that was killed in a hit and run however became something bigger than a Friday night protest ride, and I was the main speaker at a large ride held in his honour. It was rather hum…

That's fantastic! I recently joined the Dublin Cycling Campaign and we want to do things like this - as you mention, the map at https://cyclebath.org.uk/map/ is an inspiration.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#75

Post by awjr »

awjr wrote: post #68
CalRobert wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's fantastic! I recently joined the Dublin Cycling Campaign and we want to do things like this - as you mention, the map at https://cyclebath.org.uk/map/ is an inspiration.

The tutorial is really useful http://www.cyclinguk.org/guide/make-tube-map-cycle-network but it does use the colour scheme before I switched to something that matches IAN 195 http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/ha/standards/ians/pdfs... You won't believe the amount of time it took to get the wording right on the legend :D Spent hours with Jonathan from GMCC and Cycle Nation coming to the right wording. Colours are…

Oh one other thing. Currently working on a simplified Bath map focused on Travel Time comparing bicycle to eBike. https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1ZH9cEOlb9BcYADH3SSf6X2lo...

Going to be released as part of an article I am writing for the local paper on the impact buying an eBike has had on my life. TL;DR Was able to go from a two car family to one, no longer use buses or taxis.

Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#76

Post by ensignavenger »

Not something just anyone can do, but I was a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for two years. I became much more outgoing during this time, and developed a greater love for other people and a greater understanding of those in different situations and with different viewpoints. My appreciation and admiration for diversity was increased.

I was in Utah and southern Idaho, a place that as it turns out is very different from where I grew up in Southwest Missouri. I interacted and discussed religion regularly with former Mormons, preachers in other Churches, atheists, and others. I tried to find ways to serve and help them, we would frequently see someone moving or working in their yard and just stop and ask if we could help out.

I was also involved with coordination of efforts across many different groups and areas. This was a great experience for someone as young as I was to learn about leadership and working together with many people of different backgrounds to accomplish a larger goal.

Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#77

Post by jacquesm »

The first five years of my career could be called volunteering. I worked like a demon, got paid peanuts and in return learned lots and made a couple of people very rich. The work I liked most was working with artists on installations. But that paid $0.

Retrospectively, I probably learned more than I would have if I had enrolled in CS at the time and met a lot of interesting and capable people (quite a few of those I'm still in contact with).

Even if a good part of this was probably better termed as abusive relationships instead of volunteering there are few ways in which I could have gotten the exposure to technology that I did. And even if I only supplied the brains they still had to get me the toys to do the work with and those I would not have been able to afford for at least another decade.

So, from an income perspective this was wasted time, but from a learning perspective it was fantastic.

Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#78

Post by jacquesm »

awjr wrote: post #25

I’d accidentally ridden into a Critical Mass Cycle protest ride in London around 2010. Ended up setting one up in Bath, that ran for a bit and started attending the local cycle campaigning group. A respect ride held in honour of a young man that was killed in a hit and run however became something bigger than a Friday night protest ride, and I was the main speaker at a large ride held in his honour. It was rather hum…

That's a fantastic story. Life is full of little coincidences like that, it is rare that you can trace the outcome so precisely to a single event, this was one fortunate accident, but I'm still really sorry that someone died in order to put that protest ride in your path. Even the darkest of clouds can have silver linings.

Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#79

Post by feralmoan »

I volunteer at the local park with events, gardening, maintenance and cleanup and generally try to be useful. I'm there 3 times a day walking my dogs anyway so its pretty much my back yard and a good way to show my appreciation for it because it really changed my experience of New York for the better.

The best part is I've had to deal with a lot of people from all walks of life, especially during large events and it's helped me become a much better and present communicator. I've never had a knack for small-talk but this has really changed since forcing myself into situations where I have to get out from behind my computer, chat with people and build a rapport with the community. This has translated into professional benefits too and I've become much more comfortable giving presentations and speaking to audiences - something I couldn't have imagined a couple of years ago!

I'm also part of a dog rescue organization and am regularly trying to find forever homes for abused, neglected or death-row dogs. Animals don't have a voice of their own and i'm very particular about placement so its been fulfilling to know these doggos have ended up in a better situation after often cruel starts by human hands.

Re: Ask HN: How has volunteering helped you grow?

#80

Post by BjoernKW »

I used to volunteer as a paramedic.

I learned a lot about medicine and I got to see quite a few, mostly not so happy facets of life. It definitely was a worthwhile experience and a fulfilling task. It also still pays off in everyday life. Medical emergencies in public are surprisingly common and it's good to be able to help.

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