Kajal moved to the United States in February 2017. Having previously volunteered for two years as an assistant yoga teacher in her home country, Kajal was enthusiastic about volunteering and began looking for volunteer opportunities that match her interests on VolunteerMatch. "I enjoy volunteering and it's a way to make an impact in my new community," says Kajal.
Kajal was drawn to a volunteer opportunity with the Meridian International Center to review applications on behalf of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI). Kajal had previous experience, and the position also afforded her the opportunity to work remotely. After connecting with the opportunity on VolunteerMatch and successfully completing the application process, Kajal got to work. Her role involved reviewing applications from potential candidates for a four-week fellowship in the U.S. She was responsible for describing the business ideas presented by these candidates, assessing the social impact of their businesses, and determining the strength of candidates to carry out their plans.
With almost 4,000 applicants in 2017, Meridian International Center considers volunteers like Kajal to be integral (必要的) members of the team. With help from volunteers, 250 candidates have now been selected to take part in the program and will travel to the U.S. this fall.
Kajal says that this volunteer opportunity super-charged her existing skills, while helping her build new ones such as time management, business analysis, decision-making, planning, and presenting.
She is now looking for her next volunteer opportunity and reflects positively on her experience with Meridian International Center, "A new country brings in a lot of new experiences and volunteering helped me to settle into a new environment," adds Kajal. "By helping others, I felt needed in society. Not only did it improve my self-esteem (自尊), other people benefited too. Volunteering is a great opportunity to improve yourself, others, and the whole society".
