As a new school year begins, students are on the lookout for new volunteer opportunities. Besides receiving Berkeley-related hours over the summer by volunteering at sports and fine arts camps, students are finding exciting ways to obtain community service hours during the school year.

One of the venues where students are volunteering is Big Brothers Big Sisters, a non-profit organization that pairs elementary students with local students in Tampa Bay and around the country. According to sophomore Catalina Cepero, who is applying to become a “Big Sister,”, “the venue is pretty unique because you get to personally work with children who need a sort of a role model in their lives.  I really like working with children and since I’m an only child, it would be really cool to have a ‘younger sister’.” Cepero believes that by volunteering for this organization she will make a positive difference in the lives of the elementary school children who will “look up to [her] and know [that] they have someone whom they can trust and feel safe with.”

Global Scholar students have also joined the search for unconventional volunteering venues in order to fulfill both Berkeley community service hours and international hours. Maria Rios, a sophomore at Berkeley, has already obtained some international hours in the local community. Over the summer, Rios volunteered at the “Carnaval de Verano,” which is Spanish for summer carnival, held by the organization San Jose Mission for the children of migrant workers. According to Rios, “It was a really great experience! Volunteering at the carnival, I saw all of the children of the migrant workers having a great time and lots of fun.”

Berkeley students have a variety of unique volunteering opportunities available to them. Therefore, it is up to students to go out and find new places where they can “make a positive difference.”