contents of my head: my opinion before and after do volunteering

At the last semester of lectures in university, university students in Indonesia usually ought to do volunteering or internship. Beside it is one of the passed requirements which must done before the students starting to make the final assignment, the purpose of volunteering or internship by university student is to get have a volunteering or internship experience before graduate. Certainly, volunteering or internship program will be counted in credits semester.

There are some universities in Indonesia which not implement the internship for the students, they change the program volunteering in rural area or village or isolated location which far from town during 1-3 months. Volunteering is a social program which conducted by knowledge university student. The program usually are educate people by making seminars, teach in elementary school, donate public facilities by build or renovate public facilities such as mosque, public toilet, and others infrastructure at the volunteering location. After finish the volunteering, the group of university students must make a report. Volunteering report have to do by the group of volunteer, not like internship report that have to do by individual.

When i was being a university student, my faculty encourage the students to do volunteering. At that moment i was wondering “ why they are not encourage the student to do internship in law firm or public notary or company? There is no benefit for me to get my dream job by do volunteering ”, because i want to do get internship experience at multinational company. Then, i asked my friends who have same opinion about volunteering and we sharing the advantages and disadvantages by do volunteering. After that, i know from them that many of our seniors in faculty also not agree with volunteering. We asked all of student in our major to make meeting with the lectures, we discussed with the lectures to change the requirement, we were hope volunteering become the internship, that should be do in company/law firm/public notary, so that after graduate from university we are ready for work and already have a worth experience. The lecture have a difference opinion why they choose volunteering as the requirement before making final assignment. The existing requirement will not be change and must be do by the university students.

Me and my friends could not bargain, like or dislike, must do volunteering step by step. It started from making a group with student from others faculties, choosing the volunteering location, survey the location, making programs, until requesting the sponsorship funding. One month left, programs and events done, the volunteering reports collected and the score was so great. What a great experience, until now i can remember how the laziness, the spirit, the conflict, the survive, the filthy, the tolerant, the exciting feel when twenty university students living in one house in one month. Twenty characters should adaptation for each other, to finish the programs in village,far from town, minim lighting, limited availability of water and we had to wash at river, and lived far far far from market.

Since all had been done, and since i graduated from university i want to make this essay, because i want to change what i am thinking about volunteering that there is no benefit after i graduated, because i am realize now that i used to wrong. In my opinion, there are 3 things that change my opinion about volunteering after do volunteering, the things are :

FIRST, it is challenge young people to make program which useful for the rural region and left behind with another region in Indonesia. there is no special class or training for university students to conducted the volunteering programs. University students have to search the step by step, programs, and how the process of volunteering by themselves. We search the information about the volunteering by asking to the senior who already done do volunteering, borrow the documents for knowing the program and sample of proposal program for funding sponsorship, survey and analyzing the location, make the program suitable with the problems in the location based on survey result. We share tasks with another member to make budget, make the organization structure and pic each programs. Not only that, we also requesting the sponsorship together to some ministries, companies, and donors who willing to give funding. The beginning prepare, implementation, until the all programs done is the precious experience. We got many lesson and knowledge which not necessarily we got from internship in company.

Second, volunteering in rural area/ isolate location which conducted by university students, will give many advantages for the people in rural location. It is because All programs involving the people there. for example, the programs like meeting with the people thru the seminar, after that the participant will be become know about about the issue/topic at that seminar. Besides that there are social program, such as build public facility. There are routine programs for one month too, like cleaning the area together with people, helping people to renovate the street, participating in tradition event, give free course after school to kindergarten and elementary student. That all will give people many positive advantages in location as the purpose of volunteering.

Last, one thing that can make me feel relief is i ever do volunteering. For me, how success are the people, if they are never have do something for society, their life is useless. Volunteering is just one of good thing to give in life, but its different when you plan, arrange and start from zero until finish all well.

So, those are three things that can change my opinion about volunteering, and it is should be experienced to every person in their life. Volunteering can give life lesson and make our life be worth. However, its not mean that volunteering is enough to do once in life, for the next time hopefully the alumnus can do volunteering again, it may be by living in social life or join to philanthropist organization.

by : Defi Satiatika

Pieces of the volunteering memory :

kegiatan seminar kesehatan dengan pembicara ahli