Gap Year by Joseph O'Shea

Author:Joseph O'Shea
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 2014-04-04T04:00:00+00:00

Future Volunteering

Many people also felt that their gap year had influenced their perspectives and intentions about volunteering. Many said that they were more motivated to volunteer and do charitable work by their experiences with poverty, deeper ability to empathize, new appreciation of community life, and increased self-efficacy. Matt, a teacher in a rural village in Guyana, said: “Before my year I used to think about what I can get from society, but now I think about what I can give to society.” Another gap year participant said: “I want to do charitable work; I want to make changes and improve the lives of others, but on the grassroots level and in other sectors.”

Laura, a volunteer in Chile, said she now understood poverty on a more personal level:

After this year, I now feel a lot closer to the poverty we see on television. Although I always knew it was not just an image, they suddenly become a lot more of a reality to me when I saw it with my own eyes and have known people from such backgrounds. I have got to know places that I would have never visited on a holiday and through this I have met many people who are very special and unique in their ways of life. I am much more enthusiastic about helping others in need and a lot more understanding towards their situations and difficulties.

For Leah, a year in Namibia “personalized the third world.” She explained: “You have friends there and you have relationships there, so it strikes you in a real way when you see it on the news. You lived amongst that … I want to work more for poverty; I want to raise awareness and inspire others.” Another volunteer said that after his year he “can see a greater link” between the poor in the United Kingdom and himself, and as a result he said he is “more likely to help in UK.”

Sometimes a growing recognition of “injustice” or a feeling of “social responsibility” provided the motivation to volunteer. Kara, a volunteer in Chile, said that over the year: “I learned about the injustice in society; people should learn more how to share in life, by giving and gaining.” Becky, who was in South Africa, said: “I think I feel more socially responsible, which I think is why I’m keen to keep volunteering in the future. Politically I think I’ve had a sense of responsibility for quite a few years, but I think my year reinforced the importance of that, especially on international issues.”

For Susan, a volunteer in Honduras, it was an increased self-efficacy and sense of community that made her feel more able and motivated to help others:

I am more aware of the importance of community, and now that I’m back I see my home place as a community and I am much more likely to get involved in kids’ groups; scouts. There are so many things you can get involved with. I want to do more volunteering in my community; I know I have the skills now.

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