Why Do I Want To Become A Volunteer?

As you know, our School “Enjoy Russian” is based on following principles: effective Russian language learning process, staying in Russian families, immersion into Russian culture and communicating with native speakers. In our opinion, communicating is the key to progress in Russian language learning. 

For sure, it seems to be difficult to find people to communicate with you in an unknown country, especially if you’re a shy person. We have solved this problem. Our school has a team of volunteers, who communicate with our foreign students, help them to begin to feel at home in Russia and organize cultural activities for them such as excursions, parties, sport games etc. Our volunteers are active and initiative boys and girls. They all have different hobbies and interests: playing the guitar, piano, dancing, cooking, playing football, skating and many more. But there’s one thing that they have in common – they are eager to make friends with you and help you any time you need it.

Below Rita Stolyarova tells us why she has become a volunteer:

"I have never thought that I would get this wonderful chance to be involved in some kind of volunteering. My friend told me that I could become a volunteer if I wanted and my answer was: “Yes!” Her offer inspired me and now I know that everybody can join our organization, which consists of young, energetic, active, initiative, intelligent and talented people.

From my point of view, all of us had different reasons to take part in such activities and it is quite difficult to explain, what kind of reasons are the most important. I wanted to try something new and this desire was strong enough to make up my mind. It is very exciting to start doing something that you have never done in your life! I am fond of meeting new people. I think that communication plays one of the most important roles in modern society and I am sure that I will have various opportunities to improve my social skills, when I become a volunteer. It is so great that we communicate with different people here! Some of them are from Russia; some of them came from other countries. In my opinion, you can learn a lot and enlarge your scope of knowledge enormously. I am interested in foreign languages and I guess that it is very useful to have communicative practice with native speakers and it is even more useful to get to know other cultures and traditions, which seem to be unusual and strange at first sight. It is like meeting aliens but after a short period of time you realize that we have much in common and you are ready to accept another way of thinking. The art of being tolerant is the art of understanding yourself and other people and this art is a difficult one to learn. You should be open-minded, adaptable, cheerful, strong and sensitive at the same time. This road is a road of breathtaking adventures and pleasant discoveries and I am very happy because I have chosen it!

I feel that I am surrounded by friends and they are ready to help me. It is like being a part of a family! I hope that we will take part in many interesting projects together. I suppose that volunteering leads to self-realization and you get genuine pleasure out of it!
And here goes my poem about volunteering:
 

" There’s nothing like being a volunteer,
Take this chance to fulfill your dream!
And it seems so easy, and it is so clear,
When you become a part of the team!

Forget all your doubts, regrets and fears…
If you want to do it, just do it well!
Come to initiative volunteers,
Where everybody has something to tell!"

by Rita Stolyarova