Student volunteers 2022

What are you studying at uni?
I’m a 4th year medical student based at Auckland City Hospital.

Which organisations do you volunteer for?
I’m part of the Student Volunteer Army, a volunteer group that was born out of the Christchurch Earthquakes to connect students with opportunities to help their community.  The University of Auckland club is only a year old but it’s growing fast, and connecting with other cool groups in Tamaki Makaurau has really helped us build some strong networks.  During the last year through SVA, I’ve been lucky enough to help out with other organisations – Sustainable Coastlines, Everybody Eats, Blind Low Vision New Zealand, Sunday Blessings, Counties Manukau DHB (for vaccination events) and many more.

How much time do you spend volunteering?
It varies week to week and around Omicron, but I spend a few hours a week on club leadership, meetings and admin, and 2-3 hours every week or two (when things are running as normal) being part of different volunteer events.  I like this level of balance, but most importantly it shows that there are plenty of ways to get involved that can work around a busy uni life.

How does volunteering help you give, grow and connect with others?
Volunteering of all different kinds builds your sense of empathy and also gives you skills you’ll probably never learn at university.  It’s helped me connect with some great and kind-hearted people from all backgrounds, and given me knowledge I can use as a medical student to really engage with people and help them without too much judgement or reservation.  Volunteering has a way of making people come out of their shell a bit, and realise that perfectionism isn’t all that important – it’s better to have a go, and make a difference where you can, than to do nothing at all.

What's been your proudest moment?
A bunch of community organisations have come together to make the Omicron Response Team, an initiative designed to fill some gaps in free meal provisions in Auckland CBD during the pandemic.  Helping to give out some kindly donated kai to some awesome but struggling people with Sunday Blessings was incredibly rewarding, and really showed me that there’s not much difference between those who are lucky enough to have food and shelter, and those who aren’t.

What are you studying at uni?
I am currently studying a conjoint degree in Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Mechatronics Engineering and Bachelor of Commerce in Economics and Finance.

Which organisations do you volunteer for?
I am currently involved with the English Language Enrichment Department as a local student volunteer for the ‘Let’s Talk to Locals’ programme. I am also a mentor for second-year students in the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering and club secretary for Project Wellbeing, a student-led wellbeing initiative in the Faculty of Engineering. Previously, I have volunteered with the UniGuide programme as a UniGuide Leader and UniGuide mentor.

How much time do you spend volunteering?
I currently spend around 3 hours a week, but the time spent does vary depending on the volunteering role.

How does volunteering help you give, grow and connect with others?
Volunteering is something that I always relish the chance to be part of, and it has been an enriching experience. As a volunteer, I have had the opportunity to get involved with our university community and contribute towards a positive difference. I have gained from my volunteering experience through developing my teamwork, soft skills and leadership. Volunteering has also enabled me to meet and connect with new people from diverse backgrounds. For example, my involvement with the ‘Let’s Talk to Locals’ programme has allowed me to connect with students from various disciplines and countries across the world. 

What's been your proudest moment?
A proud moment I have had as a volunteer is my involvement as a local student volunteer with the ‘Let’s Talk to Locals’ programme via Zoom in 2020 when New Zealand’s borders first closed. As a volunteer, I facilitate conversations with students who use English as an additional language to develop their English proficiency and assist them with assimilating to life in New Zealand. Many of the students who attended these sessions in 2020 were international students stuck overseas due to border restrictions, and our conversations through Zoom enabled these students to participate while overseas. While the pandemic had vastly reduced the number of opportunities for these students to interact with our university community, I was proud to have contributed to being part of an avenue for these students to stay connected and gain insight into life in New Zealand. Through volunteering, I was able to help these students through volunteering with staying engaged in our university community despite the geographical distance, which was particularly important during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

What are you studying at uni?
I’m currently in my third year of Chemical and Materials Engineering.

Which organisations do you volunteer for?
I volunteer for the UniGuide Programme and this is my second year (third semester) as a UniGuide. 

How much time do you spend volunteering?
The time that I’ve spent volunteering for the programme generally varies each semester depending on availability. For this semester, I’ve spent about 30-40 hours so far - which is split between training, orientation, events and helping the social media team. It may sound like a lot, but I’ve found that I’ve been wanting to give back more and more as time goes on, plus it's a break from my uni work and I get to interact with some amazing people.

How does volunteering help you give, grow and connect with others?
Especially in this type of role, I have seen first year students become more confident with and settle into life at university. I believe that even being a small part of that growth or development creates immense value. I've found this role has helped me to communicate better with people whilst also becoming a more approachable and friendlier person. I’ve managed my time better, splitting between watching lectures and working on coursework and coming to events hosted by the Programme or helping out with the social media team. Naturally through these events, UniGuides are also able to meet new people, not just first year students, which is something I’ve been wanting to happen since coming to university. I’ve met some incredible people, some of whom I now consider my closest or lifelong friends. I’ve gotten to know other UniGuides, the UniGuide Leaders and Danlu - the Student Engagement Coordinator, which has allowed me to create connections and open doors that I would never have thought possible. It helps that the Leaders and Danlu have put in tremendous effort into the programme which sets up everything really well so that anyone and everyone can have some fun.

What's been your proudest moment?
It’s hard to pinpoint just one moment which I would say is my proudest as a volunteer. One that springs to mind would be having one of my first year students become a UniGuide themselves as they were inspired by my UniGuide partner and I. But more so is that over the time of being part of this programme, is the people I have met. My first year was in 2020 - we had three weeks on campus before transitioning to online learning, which meant that there was not a great opportunity to have a university experience that year (or since then). But becoming a UniGuide meant that I could socialise with people who were in similar shoes as me, or even had started uni before me but we could relate because of online learning. Even after getting to know them, we found similar interests - which means that anytime I meet them, there’s always a connection in some way or another. This continues right the way through the semester if I talk to new people, we connect through online learning and find a connection elsewhere.

Since COVID-19 started, SVA has done what they always do - organising their network of volunteers to help.

In addition to over 5,000 deliveries to those unable to leave their house, SVA supported COVID-19 vaccination centres to guide people to where they need to go, so our medical professionals could vaccinate our communities. They have reinvested in SVA Kids in primary schools, the SVA Service Award programme in high schools to prepare the next generation of volunteers.

The University of Auckland SVA club is a brilliant example of one of six SVA clubs operating in tertiary institutions across Aotearoa. It's a lot of work, but it's work that matters.

If you want to join the SVA, check out the University of Auckland Student Volunteer Army.