Volunteer

I was writing a paper until 4 a.m., last night. I'm absolutely delirious right now, so I'm going to cut this short.

Yesterday, my bowling instructor asked us to fill out a survey for some research that physical ed professors are doing on campus. The survey basically wanted to know how willing we are to participate in volunteer events, whether they're fundraisers for charities, health expos, etc.

The question that stuck out to me the most was this:

How many hours each month do you you volunteer?

My own answer shocked me. 50 hours. I volunteer over 50 hours of my time each month. Whoa.

I've never considered myself a volunteer. If you had asked me in high school if I volunteered, I would have told you that I didn't, despite the fact that I was in a million different clubs and gave time to my school every day. All throughout college, I've never thought about what I do as volunteer work. I don't work at the soup kitchen on a regular basis or sing songs to nursing home residents. But with the introduction of this question, suddenly I realized that I am a volunteer.

Every week, I volunteer to help the newspaper that I intern with. I volunteer within my church in many different leadership roles. I volunteer my time to my friends when they need a ride home or help studying. I volunteer myself to my family by putting them first, even when I want to put myself first.

I am a volunteer.

While I don't frequent the soup kitchens or give yearly to national charities, I am a volunteer. I don't hesitate to give up my time for a cause that I feel is important, whether it's journalism, unity, friendship or love.

I am a volunteer.

Are you?