Volunteering is a requirement for students who are members of the National Honor Society, and for good reason too.

Although volunteering may seem like a cumbersome task and finding ways to get in the mandatory hours can be difficult, students can learn a lot about their community and about themselves through doing such work.

Students help out in various ways throughout the community. Some ways students volunteer are through blood drives, working through their church, working community events, collecting goods for charity, performing piano for people in rehab or nursing homes, helping out at school events, doing trail service and maintenance, helping out at soup kitchens or food drives, and other endless options.

NHS Secretary, Senior Quinn Barret, says that running his church choir for volunteer work has “been such a learning experience, and [he has] always had a love for music,” and that helping out running the choir “has let [him] progress with that.”

Through volunteer work, many other students like Barret learn to explore and expand upon their interests and figure out what kind of atmospheres they enjoy working in. Volunteering teaches students how to work with people as well, and just how rewarding working with others in the community can be.

As Senior Sophie Tsai, also a member of NHS, says, “Helping people, in general, can be really gratifying… I guess it’s [about] how much the little things I can do for people mean.”

In one instance, while Sophie was playing piano at a nursing home, she was playing for an elderly man who used to be a musician but was old enough that he couldn’t really play anymore. “[They] talked a couple times about music; he seemed happy talking about something he likes, which made [her] pretty happy too.”

Along with Tsai’s experience, Junior Victor Wu says that he was playing piano this summer when “a lady came up [after a performance] and gave [him] $5 even though it was volunteering, and insisted [he] take it because the piano was so good.”

These experiences stuck with Tsai and Wu, which shows how great volunteer work and helping other people really can make students feel.

Through volunteer work, the Camas chapter of the National Honor Society helps spread bucketloads of happiness, gratitude, care, and overall good throughout the community.