Name: Joaquin Martinez Sabag
From: Bayport, New York
Votes: 1
Joaquin
Martinez Sabag
Since 10th grade I have volunteered in my church’s child care program. I
volunteer every other week, for about an hour. I began volunteering
because I wanted to be more involved in my church and because I like
spending time with little kids. Part of my responsibilities when I
volunteer is to take care of kids that are between 2 and 5 years old,
and to help teach the lesson of the day.
I really enjoy doing this because religion is something very important
for me, so being able to spend time with them and help them learn
about God makes it more significant. I always look forward to
volunteering because spending time with them brightens the rest of my
day. The children’s innocence and care-free attitude helps me relax
and have fun with them.
Volunteering with kids has challenges but it also has taught me important lessons.
Working with children can be a challenge because each kid has a
unique personality and characteristics that I have to be able to
understand. Working through these challenges has taught me a lot.
Volunteering at my church has taught me to be more patient and
to empathize with other people. The kids I work with sometimes are
not very verbal, but I still have to understand them and to be able
to get their message, so I can do my job well. On the other side, a
lot of kids simply chose not to listen when I tell them to do
something, so I have to learn to be patient and still find a way to
make them listen to me, without losing my temper and yelling.
I believe that volunteering at my church could have a great impact for
the future. Although it is not related to my intended career, since I
want to study mechanical Engineering, I plan to keep volunteering in
the future. This is something that I have a passion for, so I would
like to be able to keep helping young kids. In my opinion something
that is forward looking, is something that is done that will improve
or benefit the future in some way. I consider my volunteering as
forward looking as I help with little kids, and hopefully I will have
an impact on their lives and the way they are, not just now but in
the future as well. Some of them may not have the best environments
at home but I would like to show them that there are people that care
for them, and create a cycle of peace and caring, instead of anger
and hatred. It would be hard to know the impact that I make with
these kids, if any, because I lose contact with them when they move
up, but I hope that I can actually make a difference in someone’s
lives and help them grow.
