Volunteering makes you learn countless life lessons. Immersing yourself in a culture so different from yours, meeting people from other parts of the world, walking through unimaginable places and impacting a country completely different from where you come from is a magical sensation. They are small details or big anecdotes that have made you “be you”. They are one of those stories that can only happen there and that will last a lifetime:
- Don’t miss an opportunity
Everything in the world is opportunities. Don’t miss an opportunity because you are afraid. All good things always start with fear, desire and passion. Volunteering away from home, alone or with friends, is one of the opportunities of your life. Squeeze it and live it to the fullest. Accept challenges, get better, get ahead. So you will be the best version of yourself.
- Happiness moves the world
Wherever you are from, wherever you come from, what unites us and what we all seek is happiness. Happiness with ourselves, with ours, with what surrounds us. Live by and for happiness.
- Appreciate what and who you have by your side
One of the easiest lessons to say but hardest to feel. We are used to living like this, to having “everything”. Understanding that there are other realities, other ways of living makes you appreciate how YOU live it. Who you normally have by your side, who is new and with whom you can learn. Because as the phrase says: “The people you love become ghosts inside of you and like this you keep them alive.” -Robert Montgomery
- There are a thousand realities in the world
In volunteering, many things surprised me. Each reality and country adapts and lives at its own pace. But at the same time, there are customs that are the same even when they are millions of kilometers apart. And that is always summed up with a basic concept: respect.
Living one of these experiences is much more than life lessons. It is people, cultures and understanding the world we live in. If you dare to live such an experience and experience a huge personal change, go to: aiesec.org.es/global-volunteer . The world is waiting for you!