Volunteering: Who is pulling the load – and who is not?

I came for the books but stayed for the community

When I started my studies at SDU, I had my highlighter pens and ambitions at the ready. I thought that university was about reading, taking notes and preparing for exams. But I quickly discovered that something else also appealed to me: the community.

As chair of an association and later a member of the Department Council at the Department of Political Science and Public Management, I have learned that my volunteer work is not just a break from my studies, but in fact my most important activity on my curriculum. I learn to collaborate, find to solutions and to stand up for something bigger than myself. It is not extra work. It is democratic education in practice.

‘But I don’t have the time’

I often hear students say that they do not have time to volunteer. And I see their point. The schedule is tight, the SU is low, the exams are piling up. So let us turn the question upside down: can we afford not to? Because volunteering is time that infuses meaning into our studies. This is where we learn what is not in the books, where we meet people and opinions that we would never have met otherwise. It is not time wasted, but time invested.

Volunteering is not something you do for someone. It is something you do with someone. In the curriculum, we learn to understand theories and concepts. As volunteers, we learn to understand people and potentials. These are skills that we cannot do without, neither at the university nor in the society we are about to enter.

Lift us up so that we can lift others up

When I studied in the United States, I experienced that volunteering was a natural part of university life. Everybody planned events, participated in debates and lifted each other up. And it worked. The community was self-sustaining because everyone did their part.

Unfortunately, I see a different situation at SDU. Far too few students bother to be bartenders at the Friday bar or organise academic events. But we all share the responsibility. Those of us who are already engaged in volunteering must show others how meaningful it is. Volunteering must start at the grassroots level, but it requires support from higher up. Students turn ideas into action and strengthen the community – with no pay, no bonuses. But we need to be supported, not managed. When lecturers and staff talk about associations with respect, when student representatives are invited into decision-making spaces and when volunteers are allowed some flexibility in their everyday lives, it sends a clear message: what we do matters.

Small contributions, big impact

Ultimately, it is more than just knowledge that shapes us. It is the communities we enter; the relationships we build; the responsibility we dare to take – and have the opportunity to carry. It is not what we get but what we give that brings the university to life and prepares us to be part of something bigger.

If more people are to find both the courage and the desire to get involved, volunteering must be seen as something that shapes and changes people. In this way, SDU will educate not only graduates, but responsible citizens.