Using Your Degree To Volunteer Abroad

Thu, 01/19/2012 - 08:00 | Brittany Edwardes

Students always think about how a top online college degree can provide them with job opportunities. However, opportunities with non-profits and NGOs can be just as valuable. Getting a degree online isn’t just about collecting a piece of paper. The degree should be the first step toward using your talents to create a better world.

While we know that volunteering can be great for projects in need of helping hands, personal growth, your health, and even your career, it can also serve as an extension of your academic life. In fact, many volunteer programs and projects are focusing more on recruiting specialized volunteers willing to use their degrees or specializations to benefit service projects. So, as you choose a project or program, you might want to start with your degree!

Since volunteering projects can vary so widely, there are options for just about every specialization—and volunteering within your major or specialization will also provide you with valuable experience that will help your career.

So, what's your specialty?

>>If Your Specialty is Business:

Business majors make wonderful volunteers! As many programs need help with their financial records and with the more technical sides of things, they are happy to take on volunteers who can help out. You may also consider volunteering for business development, which helps small communities become financially sustainable.

Although this might not feel as hands-on as other types of service, volunteer programs could not survive without such help. While almost any project is happy to take someone who can help with the financial side of their operations, a few programs worth mentioning include:

>>If Your Specialty is Health Care:

Health care majors—from physical therapists to health science majors—will find that many projects dealing with healthcare and HIV/AIDS are more than happy to take on skilled professionals. Although many full-time professionals have devoted their lives to working in needed areas, there is still a large deficit of healthcare workers in many parts of the world. Even if you are only administering shots or handing out information packages, your support will be invaluable to the project that you are with.

Make sure, though, that you do not get in over your head, but are honest with your skill levels and abilities. There are many different types of healthcare projects, ranging from dentistry to health education, so be sure to find the one that suits you best. Projects that you might want to consider are:

>>If Your Specialty is Liberal Arts:

There is a great range of projects for someone who has studied in the liberal arts, from teaching, to activism, to staff support. Just as the liberal arts degree can vary, so can the work you do. I would recommend finding a volunteer project as close to your specialty as possible—for example, English majors may consider teaching, sociology majors may consider social work, and history majors might want to look into restoration or conservation work.

Many projects are always on the lookout for good writers and people to rally the troops for activism or community development, so you might want to look into that too! Some programs that you might want to consider are:

>>If Your Specialty is Science:

If you are a science-minded person, you will quickly find that there are many projects that are in great need of aspiring and practicing scientists. These projects range from working with animals, plants, and conservation and include many different options that will surely interest you.

As with the other options above, look for something most closely related to what you want to continue your career in. Volunteering with science can give you valuable research and experience skills that would be difficult to get otherwise. It also might be a good idea to look for specific internships in your area that relate to volunteering. After all, what better way to learn about marine conservation than to spend the summer SCUBA diving in the Galapagos? So, go for it! Here's some projects that you might be interested in:

So, what are you waiting for?

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