Volunteering is very common in many countries and major cities around the world, with students making up a significant proportion. Accumulating volunteer hours has always been a plus for students applying to schools, and is of tremendous help in showcasing extracurricular activities. Now, how can you find the volunteer project that is right for you?

 

Each volunteer organization has its unique focus. For example, volunteers at the library concentrate on document organization and book arrangement, while volunteers educating children in rural primary schools emphasize developing teaching skills and contribution as well as support to underprivileged communities. In this article, we will recommend volunteer projects based on different academic fields, so students are able to learn relevant knowledge while contributing to society and gaining experience in their respective areas.

 

 

Firstly, if you're a student interested in pursuing a career in STEM fields such as engineering, physics, mathematics, chemistry, or biology, you might consider volunteering with the following organizations:

 

• Taipei Astronomical Museum
• National Taiwan Science Education Center
• National Museum of Natural Science
• Taipei Zoo
• Taipei City Animal Protection Office
• Taiwan Rabbit Saving Association
• Rodents Care Association
• Help-Save-A-Pet Fund Taiwan
• Asia Animal Welfare Association
• Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• Green Streets Program (Improving Environmental Quality and Quality of Life through green and sustainable infrastructure.)

 

Participating in volunteering is more than making contributions to the society; it shows your passion in that field. Let’s say students volunteering with animal-related organizations might be interested in biology and environmental preservation—the experience may lay a foundation for future careers such as veterinary medicine.

If you are passionate about Health and Medicine, consider volunteering in hospitals, blood donation centers, or public health centers. In these environments, students are allowed to observe the interactions between medical professionals and patients up close and, if given the chance, participate in hospital-related activities. For instance, a student aspiring to attend medical school once organized a children’s medical summer camp and designed an activity—using tweezer to pick up beads—to improve hand stability, which was an interesting practice for children dream of becoming a surgeon.

Next, for students interested in Humanities—Culture, History, Linguistics, etc. volunteer opportunities are found at:

• Library
• Academia Historia Office
• National Museum of History
• Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
• Li Kwoh-ting’s Residence
• Hakka Affairs Bureau
• Parent-Child Center
• Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines
• Translators without Borders
• Missing Maps

 

Seizing and applying volunteer experiences around would lead to opportunities of drafting or editing articles. In particular, a student volunteering at a history museum might be responsible for introducing history works to visitors besides handling administrative tasks and being on-call at exhibitions. As a result, he had the chance to dive into the background of the history writers and gain knowledge in the history field.

 

In the field of Social Science, activities closely related to social work are more indispensable:

• Ministry of Examination
• Orphanage
• Taiwan Fund for Children and Families
• Child Welfare League Foundation
• Taiwan Long-Term Care Professional Association
• Step30 International Ministries
• Department of Social Welfare
• Charity Foundation
• Taiwan Press Photographer Association
• Micro Social Welfare Matching Platform
• Social Welfare Service Center
• Child Safety Foundation
• Infinitas
• YMCA
• Tarjimly
• SALT Kitchen
• Beyond Horizon
• TED Translators
• YAPA Kids Teach
• Parkinson Society
• Love for Our Elders
• Autism Today Foundation
• Settlement Workers In School
• Neighborhood Cleanup Programs
• Ripple Foundation – Wave Blog Contributor

 

The volunteer opportunities listed above are not limited to in-person service; many can be done online—including child education, serving the elderly, and assisting disadvantaged groups. Here’s a small suggestion: if you live or grew up in a non-metropolitan area, you might have more opportunities to engaßge with specific communities such as Indigenous groups. Taking advantage of these opportunities not only allows you to learn about different cultures and contribute to them but also enables you to include these experiences in your application essays. Especially when writing about diversity or community, describing how you learned from people of different backgrounds would make it more compelling to the admission officers that you possess the ability of adapting to the diversity of college. 

 

 

In addition to academic subjects, there are also volunteer services related to Arts. Here, we categorize arts-related volunteer services into Music and Fine Arts. If you are interested in music, you can consider volunteering with organizations like the Taipei Music Foundation for the Visually Impaired or Taipei Symphony Orchestra. These experiences can help you learn to assist others with different instruments or develop your skills in a particular instrument. For those interested in Fine Arts, volunteering at art museums or ceramic museums would provide opportunities to learn more about exhibition management and to interact with the public.

Finally, there are also relevant volunteer opportunities in the field of special talents. Given the variety of sports, here we talk about soccer academies, fencing summer camps, and basketball summer camps. For instance, a high school soccer team player once took charge of being a teaching assistant at a summer camp; a fencing athlete once served as a volunteer translator in an international competition. What’s more, students have also been known to organize the venue and guide fans to their seats at the P. League+ Taiwan, a men’s basketball league. These experiences not only provide a closer view of the games for the students but also provide the benefit of accumulating volunteer hours.

 

We list the above examples for your reference. In fact, there are many other unmentioned non-profit organizations waiting for students to explore. We hope by sharing this article, students will think about volunteer opportunities related to their future paths, utilize their strengths to give back to society, and make valuable choices.

 

閱讀中文版文章：志工服務參加指南：如何選擇適合你的志工項目

 

高中在校輔導＆申請大學輔導專案，歡迎洽詢 A. League 教育顧問

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