你当过志愿者吗？做志愿者的10大好处

If you’re the kind of person that has a hard time putting yourself in social situations, volunteering can help. Of course it’s far from an instant fix, but it can be a useful tool in your battle. A permanent excuse to talk to people and try to get along.
如果你在社交场合觉得很难，志愿活动能帮上你的忙。当然，这不会立刻见效，但是它可以成为你战斗中的一项有用的工具。这样你永远有机会和别人交谈并可以试着和别人相处。

7. Can Be Relevant Work Experience
可以成为相关的工作经验

Something that seems to stop many, is that experience often seems to be a prerequisite to get a job. With some professions, volunteering can actually help you get the experience you need to get your foot in the door. There’s many a budding journalist that got his or her start volunteering for a college or university paper, and that’s not at all the only profession this applies to.
现在很多工作都要求有工作经验，光这条就把很多人拒之门外。对某些专业而言，志愿工作实际上能让你拥有工作经验，帮你得到工作的敲门砖。很多崭露头角的记者刚开始时都为大学做志愿者写文章，通过志愿服务得到工作经验并不仅仅适用于这一职业。

8. Can Teach You What Truly Matters
能教给你什么才是真正重要的

It’s a great way to find new perspectives on life. When you’ve been at it for a while, you just might find yourself re-evaluating your priorities, or even deciding on a completely new path to take in life. One of my friends went from wanting to be a lawyer, to discovering a true passion for teaching.
这是寻找生活新视角的一个好方法。当你做了一段时间后，你可能会发现自己会重新评估事情的优先级别，甚至在生活中去走完全不同的一条新路。我的一个朋友原来想做律师，后来却发现自己真正有激情的事业是教学事业。

9. Helps You Make New Friends
帮你结交新朋友

Maybe not so surprising, but what might surprise you, is how genuine these friends are. Some of my long term friends are people I’ve met through volunteering.
这一点儿也许不会让你吃惊，但可能让你吃惊的是，这些朋友会有多么真诚。我很多长期联系的朋友都是通过志愿服务认识的。

10. Helps You Expand Your Network
帮你扩展人际网络

One of the great things with volunteering, is that you meet a very wide variety of people. Instead of looking at it in a negative light of meeting people you don’t have a lot in common with, think of it as expanding your network. You’re getting to know people involved in many different walks in life that you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. I’m not the kind of guy that makes friends purely for connections, but sometimes it’s very convenient to have a broad network.
志愿服务的一大好处是，你会接触到很多人。从负面的角度看，你遇到了很多没多少共同之处的人，但不如换个角度来看，把它看成是在扩展你的人脉。你会认识各行各业的人，要是不参加志愿服务你根本就没有机遇和这些人相逢。我不是那种为了联系而去交朋友的人， 但有时有广泛的人脉网络是非常方便的。

11. Helps You Grow
帮你成长

Summed up in one line: Volunteering helps you grow. Not only as a person, but as we’ve covered, it can help you develop your skill set as well. The only real downside is how hard it is to leave when circumstances make it difficult for you to continue.
总结一下：志愿服务能帮你成长。就像我们刚介绍的那样，它不仅能让你在人格方面成长，也能让你在技能方面进步。真正的缺点是当环境不允许你继续下去时，你却发现自己舍不得离开。

So if you’ve ever considered volunteering, what are you waiting for?
所以如果你曾考虑过志愿服务，那还在等什么呢？