Exchange Student Brightens Future by Volunteering Now
By Serhiy Rokachov, a FLEX student and Greenheart Club member
Serhiy in New York City
When I came to America, I didn’t really want to volunteer and deemed it boring. But because it’s the requirement of CCI for grant students and because my local coordinator nagged me about it in every single email she sent me, I originally decided to do just 40 hours of community service as CCI required. The first organization I volunteered for was Youth Court of Jefferson County in New York. I was astonished at how interesting it was: I participated in a real court session and had training about the U.S. justice system in America thereby scrutinizing the US criminal laws. Through participation in the Youth Court I’ve acquired an immense experience which definitely will help me in my future profession. Apart from the valuable professional experience, I’ve received such important skills as public speaking and analytic thinking that help me so much at school. After Youth Court I understand that community service is actually very interesting. Moreover it gives a lot of advantages to me as a prospective college student because most universities consider volunteerism in making admission decisions. So, I’ve decided to do as many community service hours as possible to make a difference. I’ve been working for various organizations in my host community helping them to prepare for different events. One of my most memorable volunteer work experiences I had was wrapping Christmas presents. I could never believe that it takes so much time to wrap gifts (in total before the New Year I worked for about 30 hours just wrapping presents for events in different organizations). So, volunteer work as a Greenheart member became an integral part of my cultural experience in America as I’ve comprehended important features of the US culture and made a lot of friends.
Serhiy and his host family in Times Square
