Well, you’ll find a lot of personal stories about volunteers and the experience they had during their project. It’s sure amazing basically because it 90% depends on you. No one will force you to go for voluntary service which makes 100% your responsibility to make it the best it possibly can be. Here are some tips you can insert to your mindset for ruining your project, well if you don’t want to do so, just try to avoid them by any chance.
Just wait until someone will give you a task.
You’re volunteering here, you just need to wait until they will need you. Don’t bother you with anything to create on your own. If they didn’t give you any task just chill and scroll your social media. If they’ll need your help they will let you know.
You’re already grown up and don’t have any responsibility to inform anyone.
Well it doesn;t matter that you’re under the program of Erasmus+, it doesn’t matter that your coordinating/hosting organization is responsible for your safety and your stay in another conutry. It absolutely doesn’t matter that you have responsibilities during your activities and work schedule. It doesn’t matter that people are trusting you, wanna travel during working days? Go! Don’t tell anyone. You’re grown up and if something is going to happen with you, well it’s your choice, your mentor is just a person somewhere, no one will get harmed if something will happen to you, right?
Fire alarm is just a test.
Oh c’mon, it’s not a real thing. Probably just some joke or some test. Don’t bother you to get out of the building. Don’t rush, it’s fine, take your time, put some makeup on, dress up, pick your headphones.
It’s okay to cheat.
Well it’s volunteering, you came by your own will, so you can skip one or two days right? You probably can be “sick”. So if you just feel sleepy, just skip a day or two, if no one will know, no one will say anything, right?
If you’re sick or can’t go to work just stay at home and don’t inform anyone.
Well you’re sick. Sick enough to not text a couple of words to your mentor, if they will ask, just say that you were sick, they should understand.
It’s your home, so if you can do whatever and whenever you want.
It doesn’t matter that you’re sharing it with others, wanna sing in the middle of night? Wanna smoke inside? Wanna leave your dishes dirty? Wanna put your stuff all around the house? Wanna occupy showe for two hours? Go ahead, it’s your home also! No one has the right to tell you no to do that.
You’re too important.
You didn’t come here for some small work. You can be only a leader. Everyone should do whatever you want to without discussion. They came to volunteer, so everyone should work on your ideas, because your ideas are the best, and everything others say it’s not to improve the ideas (because obviously they are perfect) they are just jealous of your mind. Take all the criticism as personal and avoid to think about that.
You’re too busy for everything.
You don’t have to help others with their projects. You already have a lot to think about and to do, so don’t waste your time to help other volunteers with their ideas. They should make everything on their own, it’s not your idea which means not your business.
If something is not the way you do it, it’s wrong.
You do everything in the right way, so you have a power to criticize people from other cultures and force them to do things only the way you do. Well everyone says that you should be open to new things and learn from each other, but you always keep in mind that it’s not true. Don’t listen to anyone, continue labeling people and judging.
Quitting is a nice option.
If you feel that something is wrong or not going the way you planned, always remember that you should quit if the first thing comes on your way. It doesn’t matter that you came here to try your best, to experiment, to overcome your fears and find something you’re good at, to experiment with your own abilities and challenge yourself. Just quit.
Well, I hope you caught the irony and sarcasm of these tips.
No one says that your voluntary service will be easy, just because mostly it depends on you. You’re the one who chooses to make a group activity or to watch tv shows all the evenings, you’re the one who decides to take the chance to make something, to learn, to improve, to travel, to explore the people around, to experiment or just sit and wait for a task. Go ahead, take your chance to improve yourself and be a hero in your own story. Don’t waste your time, remember: you can do EVS/ESC only once in a lifetime, so make it A-W-E-S-O-M-E !
