Tuesday I came out of hiding (holidays) to fulfill my duties as a Murdoch University Volunteer Ambassador. The event was a gathering at the Kwinana Youth Zone to speak about the variety of ways youth can get involved in volunteering. The age group was teenagers from 12 years to 17 years. A small collective of us Murdoch Ambassadors met at The Hub (Murdoch University’s volunteer center). We brainstormed some ideas and built our own ‘lesson plan’ strategy on how and what we were going to do.
As well as this we also caught up on our lives, since we have developed quite a nice relationship through our roles. A few hours of chatting and project management later our roles and individual ‘speeches’ have been agreed on, as well as some fun activities and prizes.
Wednesday, I met with ‘Our Fearless Leader’ Nico and we drove down to meet the rest of the ambassador crew at the Darius Wells Library and Recreation Centre. By the time everyone else had shown up my shoulders had relaxed and I wasn’t feeling completely glum about the whole situation. The setting up at The Youth Zone next door took little to no time, other than technical difficulties. Half an hour later the somewhat enthusiastic young fellows began to show up. They were typical teenagers, interested in friendships, loved playing computer games and wanting to be meaningfully engaged in a new topic that was just the right level of challenging.
We identified quickly how best to communicate, what language and stories about volunteering they would respond to most and how to ‘reel them in’ as potential youth volunteers. And we nailed it! After our conversations, activities and workshop we were pulled aside for some very positive enquiries into how they can get started, what kind of organisations would take on ‘minors’ and what benefits and employment opportunities they can gain from unpaid work.
What more could you ask for?
A quiet night with your mother, that’s what!
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