Serving with pride

Young volunteer finds a place in conservation pavilion

Welcome to the Expo 2010 Shanghai. World Expos have a long and profound influence internationally. They are a gathering of people from all over the world that share the uniqueness of their home countries.

After several years studying in a foreign country, I felt it was time to come back home and do something meaningful. So the idea of volunteering at the Shanghai Expo occurred to me last year and I immediately asked my dad to help me sign up.

I had the honor to be a part of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Pavilion volunteer team. I believe this to be a valuable opportunity that is very beneficial to me. As a volunteer at the Expo, I not only represented myself, but also the WWF Pavilion and the city of Shanghai. I definitely felt the pride of being part of a team.

Only two days after arriving in Shanghai, I began working as a volunteer at the WWF Pavilion at the Expo. So it was a very rushed introduction for me.

Fortunately, when I was in Canada, I had many volunteer experiences, so this helped me adjust. I was a volunteer computer instructor at a community center, a member of the Richmond Youth Leadership Organization and an ambassador of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. As all those volunteer experiences in Vancouver helped me cultivate solid communication skills, teamwork, organizational skills and so on. And I believed I was able to bring all these leadership qualities to the Shanghai Expo.

I was nervous the first time I entered the WWF Pavilion, wondering what my co-workers would be like, how hard my tasks would be and what the pavilion was going to be like. Surprisingly, I found I had no need to worry about all these things.

The first person I met was a long-term volunteer who just graduated from university. Since I was new to the pavilion, she showed me around and walked me through all the tasks. I asked her for help whenever I was stuck or had questions about my duties.

My shift is six hours long and I love working in the WWF Pavilion. My work usually consists of three parts: stamping visitors souvenir passports, helping take pictures for visitors and maintaining the discipline of the pavilion.

As a high school graduate, I love helping other people. I believe satisfaction comes from helping others. I truly feel how worthwhile it can be when it comes to helping others and I definitely feel productive and accomplished every time I help someone.

As my volunteer experience comes to an end, I think I have learned so much from the past days and I think this is one of the most memorable and valuable volunteer experiences I have ever had. I will definitely miss all those amazing people I have encountered and the tasks I have been doing in the WWF pavilion.

The author is a student at JN Burnett Secondary School, Vancouver, Canada

(China Daily 08/27/2010)