Volunteering is mandatory! - Part II of "Extracurricular Activities in Vancouver" Trilogy

This passage was originally published in Heaven on Earth in July 2016 and republished as Part II of "Extracurricular Activities in Vancouver" Trilogy in Journeys of Other Kinds in July 2026.

During the past three months, I had been volunteering at various community events and celebrations. I have had many opportunities to talk and work with high school and post-secondary students. Because I don't have any children, I am not clued into the latest development in BC high school curriculum. I learned a few things from these youths.

When I asked a Grade 8 student one Sunday afternoon in early June the reason for his volunteering, he replied that he already had two detentions in the last week because he has not fulfilled the requirements of thirty hours in volunteering per school year. He had to complete thirty hours of volunteering before his summer holidays could start in three weeks' time. This young man was driven by his father to the relatively remote site where the event was held. His father stayed on site the entire four hours while his son volunteered. Too bad the event organizer only acknowledged four hours.

I spoke to a first year university student the following week. He was in an International Baccalaureate program when he was studying in senior high school. He would have to complete 150 volunteering hours before he could graduate from high school. He also added that he hated most the part about having to fill out a feedback form each time he volunteered. He had to make up some stories to say how great the experience was. He was doing volunteer work this summer to better his chance of getting into a med school.

Vancouver has many international students who came specifically to learn English. I met about a dozen of them during my volunteering stints. A Japanese girl told me that she wanted to practise what she learned in the past nine months before returning home by volunteering at a community event. Then there was a group of four Korean students who would be taking group pictures and tweeting every half hour or so. A couple of Chinese students would arrive with large messenger bags. They were at the community event to collect freebies from the event organizers.

Even though I was not required to volunteer, I volunteered for other self-centered motives. Prior to retirement, I seldom got time to explore my hometown, Vancouver. I chose events at locations that I have not visited before or have not visited for a long time. I also had preference for ethnic celebrations so that I could post enticing pictures on social media promoting the cultural diversity in my hometown. I also collected small toys, pens and souvenirs which I can give out to deprived children on my next journey.

I had a blog titled "To Date Or Not To Date" a couple months ago. Now only if we could make it mandatory for these lonely souls to volunteer on the weekends, these singles would be paired off in no time at all. LOL