Imagine it’s your first day at Brandeis.
You’ve arrived on campus and you see a plethora of booths for clubs and activities offered by the Brandeis International Business School Student Association, the Graduate Student Association and many more organizations. There are so many worthwhile extracurricular activities at Brandeis, but not to be overlooked is the Department of Community Service.
I know volunteering isn’t the most conventional activity for graduate students, but why not? I joined the Language Empowering Action Project (LEAP), an organization that helps immigrants improve their English language skills all the way from beginner to advanced level.
There are different types of volunteer work within LEAP — you can be a teacher or a “conversation hour” volunteer or organize movie nights. Since I have some experience in teaching and appreciate the profession, I signed up to be a tutor.
As graduate students, we’re inundated with school projects, part-time jobs and endless Zoom sessions, but LEAP didn’t take too much of my time. I dedicated about one hour a week to teaching the class and another hour to prepare for it.
I can assure you that my experience with LEAP was truly rewarding. Students who were struggling with forming sentences at the start were able to speak with much more fluency by the end of the semester. It felt great knowing that I may have helped someone do better at school or at their job because they learned how to pronounce a word correctly and in the right context.
There are many other wonderful volunteer clubs in Brandeis’ Waltham Community Group. I invite you to browse through the website and learn how you can help out the community. It will be a rewarding experience you’ll never forget.
Student Insights features blog posts and videos produced by current students and recent graduates of Brandeis International Business School. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here belong solely to the author.
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