The life of a volunteer
A volunteer is not a potato, a volunteer is not an animal, and yet not quite human in all respects. But, jokes aside, a volunteer doth not protest too much. And ladies and gentlemen, that in fact, was a joke. While you’re trying to live as a volunteer in a myriad of situations where you “can’t no more” as one of my fellow volunteers likes to say, it is a blessing to have small quiet moments where you get to recollect and to reposition your perspective. Sounds like something you can do on any given Sunday, anyway you might happen to be. If you happen to be out of your natural environment, it won’t be quite the same, this repositioning. EVS volunteering seems to be a self-improvement program for young people, and as such, I can’t say it is as much of a failure as I thought it would be.
Your life here will be divided into three segments, your activities and events, your private life, and the lingering ghost of your life back home. You might be sufficiently challenged by your activities and grow into yourself in the truest manner possible, by expanding your comfort zone, and even learning to forget it. I don’t think I was terribly challenged in the professional aspects of my EVS, but in the private ones, I found out irrevocable patterns in my character. If a volunteer pays attention, a volunteer will find out how they really want to spend their days. And isn’t that a rare thing indeed, to know exactly how you want to spend the rest of your days. It is a most true way to ascertain one’s own proclivities. Of course, you have to jump out of your comfort zone, in a private or professional aspect, or a change will not happen. To be honest, I lied. Doing events with NGO’s and fellow volunteers, and raising awareness, working with kids, and with kids with a handful of disabilities, is not my forte. I have spent a sizeable amount of my time outside my professional and private comfort zones. I doubt I will stay in this outer zone for much longer, but now I know where I’m going next, and if nothing else, this EVS has created a “quest marker” (look it up) for the rest of my life. Isn’t that a precious thing, to suppress and subdue your anxiety, and to longer float about, but steer yourself on your own terms.
