Why Volunteering Matters

If you're like me, you know that working and getting paid is important, but the thrill of giving something away to a cause you love far surpasses the feeling of seeing your paycheck roll in month after month.I felt so excited to begin volunteering with Community Design Services (CDS), and I wanted to write down my thoughts ahead of our next meeting, coming up this Thursday (https://cds2020kickoff.splashthat.com/). CDS is a non-profit that provides reduced-cost design services to other nonprofits. I'd like to talk about why I started volunteering with CDS and the impact that it has had on my life. I hope it helps you!

In my spare time I am pursing a Master of Arts in Management degree at DBU, and service learning is a requirement for some of my classes. My assignments usually ask me to volunteer 5 hours in a semester and write about what I've learned. So my involvement with CDS has developed my leadership skills and have pushed me to apply what I'm learning in school, but I think it has also caused me to take responsibility in ways that I would not have done otherwise. I am still working in my normal job while all of this transpires, and I have felt much more engaged and thankful for our paying clients. Sometimes full time work can feel mundane, and it's easy to lose motivation. I know this may sound silly but it's true: I care more about work because I know that I'm making a difference in my volunteer work. And I hope my coworkers agree that I've been more fun to be around!

Another example: I became the Young Member Coordinator for the local Structural Engineers Association of Texas (SEAoT ), where I create meaningful ways for engineers to engage in local engineering and community planning needs. I realized that I didn't want to pursue this venture alone, and that other engineers may want to join me and see the needs of our community be met. This step has also connected me with more mentors and advisers who have experience with these types of projects; I am able to strike up a new conversation with them and go in new directions because of my volunteer position.

I am humbled by the chance to create innovative environments where disillusioned engineers like myself can be mentored while they find purpose in serving communities like Bonton. One of the projects I got to work on is a barn that will be built at Bonton Farm's extension site. My boss agreed to be the structural designer of record for this, and we got to work with an awesome volunteer architect and make steps towards helping this amazing nonprofit to develop their farm site.

In closing, this volunteering has helped me realize who I am. I will continue to use my management and engineering education to develop leaders in the workplace and to advocate for holistic business practices that restore cities and bring resiliency to the vulnerable. I will encourage people and build relational bridges in the DFW, and I am thankful for the ways that giving of my time has enabled me to gain wisdom and to grow in understanding of what our city needs.

note: this article originally appeared on LinkedIn

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