Additional Educational Experience
Volunteering at Starnes Jewelers
Little did I know, it would blossom into something I continued to do up until they closed the store. I also worked with my friend Ava. We would set up jewelry in the cases in the morning and then go upstairs. We would file paperwork, shred old work, and organize anything that was out of place. It was definitely a lot of work. We would also relay information and create tags for jewelry. We did everything and then some. I found myself volunteering on school holidays and even now when I have a free weekday, Ava and I go to help. We both have made connections with all the employees and I would not trade it for the world. I was able to communicate with the employees to transfer ideas, do work when they needed us to, and help organize and clean up the place. During this past summer, we would help almost three days every week. Now, after almost 4 years, we know the place inside out. This experience definitely helped me open up. I had to step out of my comfort zone to communicate with the employees to get everything completed to the best of my ability. These days, I am close with all of the employees and we often eat lunch together when Ava and I help out. It helped me get a sense of what it would be like to work in a formal setting. I am forever thankful for the opportunity and will always remember my experience.
Volunteering with my High School
At my high school, if you have 100 hours of community service by graduation, you can get a medal recognizing your achievement. It is not necessary, but in order to provide all students with a fair chance to achieve this, they provided events that we could volunteer at. I took advantage of this opportunity. One specific area of events are among my favorites. Every year before school opens, we would hold something called an open house. An open house is where all the students can come to get their schedule and go around to meet their teachers if necessary. I volunteered at this event twice. I would have done more if COVID did not come around. Here, other students and I would serve as helpers for anybody who needed it. You would come up to us, show us your schedule, and we would take you where you needed to go. We would answer any questions parents/students had for us. The other event the school held was very similar. Rising freshmen could come to our school to tour it to see if it was the correct fit for their choice of high school. I volunteered twice here also! COVID held me back from doing more. This was a personal favorite. We would help the families and potential students learn everything about our school. We would take them on a tour and tell them all about what goes down. This includes the location of places, class changing schedule, bus riders versus car riders, students driving cars, the combination of the college environment, and so much more. This event definitely helped me come out of my shell when it came to talking to new people. I had to be able to answer their questions off the top of my head. I would do it again and again if I could. Events such as these two made my love for my school grow tremendously. Plus, if they did decide to come to our school, they could always come to me on campus and ask me questions if needed! I always made sure that they knew they could come to me, because as a freshman, teachers and other authority figures can be a little scary. I definitely plan on seeking out the opportunity to do this for my college when I go there and get the hang of things.