In this blog, we hear more about how Jasmin’s experience volunteering with ReachOut, a national mentoring and education charity, helped her gain valuable work experience that not only complimented what she was studying at LSE, but also helped guide her post-graduate career aspirations!
How volunteering complimented my degree and helped me to figure out my career aspirations!
In 2021 I had just completed my BSc. in ‘Politics and Sociology’ and had moved to London where I started studying for a Master’s in ‘Inequality and Social Science’ at LSE. Having written my undergraduate dissertation about the inequality of the student finance system and the unequal impacts this had on UK undergraduate students, I became really interested in ‘Educational Inequality’ more generally. Going into my Master’s I wanted to explore this topic more deeply, and took modules relating to social mobility, the myths of meritocracy and focused on the inequalities within education. Alongside this I also wanted find some work experience in this area to see if this was something I would also like to pursue a career in.
I began looking through the LSE SU website and soon came across ReachOut. ReachOut is a national mentoring and education charity that is rooted in local communities and runs projects in primary and secondary schools. What really drew me to ReachOut was their focus on building character and increasing social and academic confidence, with the young people being referred to ReachOut by their teachers.
Throughout the academic year I volunteered for 2 hours every Thursday afternoon at a Year 5/6 ReachOut project in North London. I was paired with a young person who I worked with on a 1:1 basis each week, and also took part in group activities with all of the young people and volunteer mentors on the project. One of the best things about volunteering with ReachOut was being able to see the positive impact that ReachOut has on the young people that they work with. Being paired with the same young person over the duration of the academic year means that you are able form a really good mentor-mentee relationship, and are able to support that young person to increase their confidence and build their character. For example, my mentee was quite shy at the beginning, and had quite low confidence especially with any English tasks. So, initially when there was an activity such as writing a speech and reading it out in front of the rest of the group, my mentee wouldn’t even want to begin writing and just refused to do it. By the end of the project, his confidence in English had really increased and in one of the last activities where they had to write a speech and read it out, he was eager to get started and even put his hand up to go first to read it out!
Seeing the positive impact that ReachOut has on young people, and the influence they have on helping to reduce some of the educational inequality we have in the UK today, helped me to realise that working in an education or youth related charity was something I was really interested in pursuing.
My Role at ReachOut now
Once I had graduated, I saw that Reac
hOut were recruiting for a Programme Assistant role and I quickly applied and gained a full-time position on the team! I am based in the Volunteer Team, and support with the recruitment and retention of all of the Volunteer Mentors across London, Manchester and Liverpool. Having been a mentor myself I am able to bring a lot of my own experience into helping support our current volunteers and in recruiting new mentors. Coming into ReachOut as my first graduate role has been amazing. ReachOut as an organisation are really supportive, and really encourage me to develop. I have been able to gain even more insight into what goes into supporting and helping young people, and have gained a fuller understanding of how a charity runs and operates.
Volunteering as a great way to gain experience related to your degree
During both my undergraduate degree, and my Master’s degree I had found it quite difficult to find internship opportunities, work placements or networking events related to what I might be interested in. Volunteering was therefore a great way to be able to do this. Volunteering allowed me to gain experience that linked to my degree, as well as giving me exposure to the charity sector in general. There were so many opportunities for me to meet the ReachOut team while I was a volunteer there, both at my project and at frequent volunteer socials. I got to understand what working there might involve as well as being able to ask the team questions about their experience working for ReachOut.
Even if you might not want to work in the charity sector, there are so many charities and organisations out there, that you are likely to find one that relates to your current studies or career interests. Volunteering can also help you to gain other opportunities. For example, at ReachOut we have a programme called ReachOut Futures that is available to all of our student volunteers. By volunteering with ReachOut as a student you will have access to a range of networking events, internship opportunities and can be paired up with a career mentor.
Volunteering with ReachOut during my studies was one of the best things that I did! Not only was it amazing to see the positive impact that you can have on the young people you are volunteering with, but I also found it really helped me to build the first steps in my career. It allowed me to find a way of gaining experience in the field that I was interested in, and confirmed that it was the direction that I would want to take my career in. If you are a current university student and are looking for some experience in your field of study, volunteering is a great way to do this! I would really recommend you to look into it! If you like the sound of ReachOut, we are always looking for volunteers to get involved as a mentor for the new academic year, you can find out more on the ReachOut website (https://www.reachoutuk.org/).
You can also read Jasmin’s blog about volunteering with ReachOut while she studied at LSE.
If Jasmin has inspired you to volunteer, check out one of our other ongoing opportunities or book a one-to-one with David Coles, the Volunteer Centre Manager if you have more questions. And why not follow us on Twitter, and Instagram to stay up-to-date with our events and opportunities and read our blog for more volunteering tips and stories.
