10 Incredible Benefits of volunteering while studying abroad !
Are you thinking about studying abroad? While you are experiencing the journey of a lifetime, you should consider spending some of your time volunteering.
According to DoSomething.org, 93% of young people want to volunteer. However, only a fraction of them end up doing it.
This is unfortunate as there are so many benefits to offering up your time for volunteering. These range from improving your physical and mental health, and your work experience, to making new friends for life!
Sure, you want to know more about these benefits since these are not the only ones.
Below, we've listed 10 incredible reasons to volunteer while you study abroad.
1. You Can Give Back to the Community You're Visiting
One of the main benefits of volunteering is being able to give back to the local community you're staying in. A study done by The John Hopkins Center for Civil Studies in 2011 found that yearly, global volunteering does the work of 20.8 million full-time jobs. Furthermore, this free work contributes approximately 400 billion dollars to the global economy. By offering your time even for just a few hours a week, you can provide so much to the community you're studying in!
2. It Gives You a Sense of Purpose
It's not only the local community who benefits from volunteering, you do as well! Volunteering, especially for a cause you're passionate about, can give you a sense of purpose.
As a young person, you may still be trying to figure out your direction in life. Despite this, you're bound to have something you have strong feelings towards. These may be issues such as social justice, environmentalism, or ending global poverty.
By volunteering, you can help make a difference in the specific areas your passion lies.
3. You Can Make Friends for Life
Yet another great reason why you should volunteer is to expand your social network.
When studying abroad, you may find yourself getting lonely. This is a completely normal feeling that affects many young people who travel overseas by themselves. By taking time to volunteer your services, you can make new friends that can last a lifetime!
4. Volunteering Increases Your Overall Happiness
Surprisingly, by helping out others, you can help improve your happiness levels! The London School of Economics discovered through a study on American adults that the more they volunteered, the happier they became.
This is due to the release of the happiness trifecta which is a group of three feel-good chemicals that our body rewards us with when we do something that helps others.
Therefore, our bodies are hard-wired to help others. This is another good enough reason why you should do something for the community you live in.
5. Volunteering Can Improve Your Self-Esteem
Volunteering abroad doesn't just make you happier, it can lift your self-esteem!
Low self-esteem is a major issue affecting many young people, with about 20% of teens experiencing depression before reaching adulthood. When you volunteer overseas, you gain a new perspective on life. After all, you don't realize how much you've got until you've seen the world from another point of view.
6. Helping Others Reduces Your Stress and Anxiety Levels
The American Psychological Society has found that stress is very common among young people, especially teenagers. Prolonged stress can lead to more detrimental mental issues such as anxiety and depression and even physical issues such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
Studies have shown that volunteering can improve mental health as it allows us to use our time more meaningfully. After all, what sounds better - sitting at home doing nothing, or making new friends and helping out others?
7. Volunteering Keeps You Physically Fit
Along with mental benefits, there are several physical reasons to volunteer while studying overseas.
Obesity in young people is a major problem that can cause future issues later in life, such as heart attacks. By volunteering, you're getting up and moving about. This could include anything from moving boxes, planting in a garden, or even helping to build something.
8. Volunteering Can Improve Your Longevity
If you start volunteering now and continue to do it into the future, you'll improve your longevity greatly. An American report has discovered that people over the age of 70 who volunteer over 100 hours a year are much healthier than their non-volunteering counterparts.
Volunteering can also reduce the risk of dementia. This is because the social interaction required for volunteering maintains the brain's connective tissue, slowing the breakdown caused by the deteriorating disease.
If these are the benefits of volunteering as a senior, imagine how much good it can do for you if you begin now!
9. You Can Learn New Skills While Volunteering
Yet another one of the many reasons to volunteer is that you can learn all sorts of new skills.
This can be anything from practical skills like cooking and cleaning to learning a whole new language or construction techniques. Real-world experience you gain from just a few hours a week of volunteering abroad can have great benefits for you in the future, especially in your career as you will learn below.
10. Volunteering Helps with Future Job Prospects
Volunteering now as a young person can lead to amazing opportunities in your future.
Employers love to hire potential employees who have worked at volunteer organizations. This is because volunteering is a choice you've made, so it gives your potential employer the impression you are hardworking and dedicated to your cause.
If the job you're applying for is similar to the volunteering organization you worked for, this will only make you seem more suitable. For example, if you want to work as a teacher and you've done previous volunteering work as an English teacher overseas, you'll be more appealing to your employers.
Volunteering can also lead to full-time work with volunteer organizations as well. After all, they need workers behind the scenes in a variety of roles.
There are so many reasons to Volunteer, get started today!
From making a difference to improving your physical and mental health, there are lots of reasons to volunteer whilst studying abroad!
So what's stopping you?
All you need to do is to reach us out at Nacel. We are a reputable organization that has been offering students a chance to not only study abroad but also volunteer. At the same time, we guarantee an unforgettable experience that is worthwhile.
We have many programs that can help you combine studying abroad and volunteering. Take a look:
If you want more information or you wish to contact us about this opportunity of a lifetime, click here and get started.