Volunteering: A Gift You Give Yourself | Rosalie Ann Norton | TEDxRuakura
Summary
TLDRThe speaker reflects on their experiences volunteering from a young age, inspired by family members who always put others first. They recount moments spent helping at food banks, gift wrapping for charity, and becoming involved with a youth-focused organization. Volunteering helped the speaker overcome anxiety, build confidence, and develop meaningful relationships. The journey highlights how even small acts of kindness can lead to positive change, personal growth, and bring joy to others. The message encourages people to be kind, confident, and to take action in making a difference.
Takeaways
- 🤝 Volunteering is a central theme in the speaker's life, influenced by family members who are actively involved in community work.
- 👨👩👧 The speaker grew up in a family environment that values helping others, with their mother and grandmother as prime examples.
- 😲 The speaker was initially surprised to learn that people volunteer their time without expecting any payment.
- 🎄 The speaker's first solo volunteer experience was in 2019 at a local food bank, which proved to be rewarding and less intimidating than expected.
- 🍞 Volunteering at the food bank during lockdown taught the speaker the vital role of volunteers and donations in helping the community.
- 😌 The speaker struggles with anxiety but has pushed through those challenges by participating in public activities like singing, public speaking, and a TEDx talk.
- 🎁 For the past two years, the speaker and their family have volunteered by gift-wrapping at a mall to raise donations during the Christmas season.
- 💡 Volunteering has helped the speaker gain confidence and develop decision-making skills that extend beyond just following instructions.
- 🌱 The speaker has been involved with Seed Waikato, an organization supporting youth mental wellbeing, which has led to valuable mentoring and friendships.
- 🙌 Through volunteering, the speaker has learned that small acts of kindness can have a significant positive impact on others, bringing joy and confidence to both giver and receiver.
Q & A
What activities did the speaker engage in during their teenage years?
-The speaker spent a lot of their extra time volunteering and getting involved in their community.
How did the speaker's family influence their involvement in volunteering?
-The speaker's family members, including their mom and nana, were always volunteering, which inspired the speaker to do the same.
What was the speaker's first volunteering experience?
-The speaker's first volunteering experience was at a local food bank around Christmas in 2019.
How did the speaker feel during their first volunteering experience at the food bank?
-The speaker was initially nervous but was welcomed warmly and enjoyed the experience so much that they wanted to return the next day.
What was the atmosphere like when the speaker volunteered during the lockdown?
-During the lockdown, the atmosphere was different with only six volunteers present, as many were in high-risk categories and couldn't help.
How did volunteering at the food bank impact the speaker's understanding of its importance?
-Volunteering at the food bank made the speaker realize the importance of having workers and volunteers to keep the operation moving and the reliance on donations.
What challenges did the speaker face in their teenage years?
-The speaker suffered from bad anxiety that started affecting them more as they became a teenager, making it hard to socialize and talk to new people.
How did the speaker's involvement in volunteer gift wrapping help them gain confidence?
-Volunteering to gift wrap at a shopping mall helped the speaker gain inner confidence, learn to handle money, hold conversations, and make decisions.
What organization did the speaker become a part of and how did it help them?
-The speaker became a part of Seed Waikato, an organization focused on youth mental wellbeing, where they wrote blogs, helped set up events, and found a supportive community.
How did the speaker's nana's experience with volunteering in New Zealand differ from her initial expectations?
-The speaker's nana was initially shy but found that volunteering allowed her to experience the local lifestyle, make friends, and discover a love for knitting.
What lesson did the speaker learn about happiness and kindness through their volunteering experiences?
-The speaker learned that happiness doesn't have a price and that doing good deeds and acts of kindness can bring significant joy to others and oneself.
Outlines
🌟 Volunteering Experiences and Personal Growth
The speaker reflects on their early experiences with volunteering, influenced by their family's active participation in community service. They recount their initial surprise at the voluntary nature of such work and share their first solo volunteering experience at a local food bank during Christmas 2019. This experience was transformative, as it not only alleviated their anxiety but also instilled a sense of purpose and joy in helping others. The narrative continues with the speaker's involvement during a lockdown, where they and their sister contributed to the food bank amidst a reduced volunteer force. This period solidified their understanding of the critical role volunteers play in such institutions. The speaker also discusses overcoming personal challenges like anxiety through public speaking and other volunteer activities, culminating in a newfound confidence and self-awareness.
👫 The Impact of Volunteering on Personal and Community Well-being
In this paragraph, the speaker delves into the broader impacts of volunteering, both on a personal and community level. They highlight their grandmother's experience as an immigrant, using volunteering as a stepping stone to integrate into New Zealand society, make friends, and discover new hobbies like knitting. The speaker also emphasizes the personal benefits of volunteering, such as skill acquisition, building confidence, and the intrinsic satisfaction derived from acts of kindness. They conclude with an inspiring message, encouraging the audience to embrace volunteer work as a means to foster positive change and personal happiness, emphasizing that even small acts of kindness can have profound effects on others' lives.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Volunteering
💡Community Involvement
💡Anxiety
💡Confidence
💡Food Bank
💡Gift Wrapping
💡Seed Waikato
💡Acts of Kindness
💡Family Influence
💡Mental Well-Being
Highlights
Spent extra time volunteering and getting involved in the community.
Family members were always volunteering, setting an example.
Volunteered at a local food bank during Christmas 2019.
Experienced a welcoming and supportive environment at the food bank.
Helped create food parcels for families in need.
Volunteered during lockdown, understanding the importance of food bank workers.
Faced challenges with anxiety but found volunteering therapeutic.
Gained confidence through volunteer work, overcoming shyness.
Volunteered with Seed Waikato, focusing on youth mental wellbeing.
Started writing blogs for Seed Waikato at the age of 13.
Helped set up events and became a committee member for Seed Waikato.
Met empowering mentors and like-minded individuals through volunteering.
Nana's experience of overcoming shyness and making friends through volunteering.
Discovered the joy of knitting through volunteer groups.
Learned that happiness can come from doing good deeds and helping others.
Encourages small acts of kindness for significant impacts on others' lives.
Positive change starts with the individual.
Transcripts
what were you doing when you were 16
did you spend your weekends shopping and
watching movies with your friends at the
mall
did you go on long drives or spend your
hours
skating around your block for me
i like to spend a lot of my extra time
volunteering and getting involved in my
community
any way i can
growing up my family and the people
around me were always volunteering
my mom supervised swimming and helped
kids with their reading when i was in
primary school
while my nana spends many hours each
week
sorting through donated clothes for our
local op shop
i'm surrounded by family members who
take joy
and pride in putting other people before
themselves
i remember having fun pasting colorful
stickers on school books with mum
and doing what i thought was nicely
folding second-hand t-shirts with nana
as a kid or
a younger kid i never realized that what
my family did on a daily basis was
volunteer work
and was surprised to find out that
people would do this kind of work for
free
one of the first times i volunteered on
my own
was in 2019 around christmas
where i was a volunteer at a local food
bank
i remember turning up to the building
and being so nervous
hyping it up to be the scariest thing
ever
i built up the courage to open the door
and was welcomed in with open arms and
kind words
i spent the day putting cans and
packages onto shelves
putting cups of flour and sugar into
bags
and creating food parcels to then go
back to the families in need
the hours went by so fast
and by the time it was over i was so
pumped to go back
and help the next day
this year my younger sister and i were
asked to come in and help
as the country was moving into lockdown
walking in this time as you can imagine
the vibe and atmosphere was very
different
there was only six of us there as many
of the volunteers were in high risk
categories
and weren't able to help we worked there
four days a week all throughout level
three and four throughout my time there
i got to understand the real importance
of having workers at places like the
food bank
who rely on volunteers to keep it moving
and donations from kind people and
organizations
to provide the food we distribute
over the past few years starting high
school
becoming a teen and going out into the
world
i've been learning so much about myself
all my life i've suffered with bad
anxiety
but it has started really affecting me
in these past few years
i found it hard to talk to new people
and socialize with classmates and
teachers
me back then would never have imagined
going to events
singing and performing in front of an
audience
public speaking or doing a tedx talk for
that matter
would have been the scariest thing i
could have ever done
for the past two years my mum sister and
i
have done volunteer gift wrapping in
december
with volunteering waikato
we spent a few hours stationed at a
shopping mall
wrapping all sorts of christmas gifts in
exchange for donations
it is such an awesome experience
learning how to
handle money hold conversations
while also wrapping gifts that on
occasion were even bigger than me
after being put in this environment it
pushed me to gain an inner confidence
i never knew i had not only was i
able to follow directions but it also
allowed me
to think for myself and follow my gut
decisions
throughout my experiences i've been able
to meet some amazing people
like the team from seed waikato
an organization run by a group of young
people
focused on helping youth with their
mental wellbeing
here in the waikato i started writing
blogs for them when i was 13
then started helping them set up events
and now have become a member of the
committee
through my time with seed i've been able
to make some very empowering mentors
and have found a group of like-minded
people who share similar interests
and aspirations and give me the open
space to just be myself
when my nana first came to new zealand
from vanuatu
she was quite shy and reserved but
really wanted to try new things when she
arrived
so she found that getting involved in a
few volunteer groups
allowed her to get a sense of the
lifestyle here from a back seat
without having to fully commit to a new
hobby
and through this she has made some
amazing friends
and discovered her love for knitting
volunteering has also helped me make new
friends
learn new skills and has helped me
incorporate those new skills
into things that make me happy
i learnt that a shy person like me
can not only speak up socialize and get
involved
but also overcome that shyness and feel
more confident in who i
am i learned that happiness doesn't have
a price
and that sometimes the best source of
happiness can come from doing good deeds
focused on bringing other people joy
there's nothing stopping you from doing
small acts of kindness
that could have the biggest impact in
someone else's life
so be kind be confident
and always remember that positive change
starts with you
[Applause]
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