My experience in the incubator program has been thoroughly enjoyed and I have learnt so much, Being able to speak to like-minded people about where and how we can create change has been a mind-blowing experience!
Submitted
6/25/2008
By
TanR16
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738
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0
Updated
6/25/2008
Action Reflection
Okay, so times pretty much up for the Incubator program and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time, Its been fantastic to get together with other young people and discuss the issues and see what is most important to them, some of the things that other people were interested in and passionate about really did make me stop and think! I have learnt so much through the program and looked at so many different issues affecting everyday young people, I have also been challenged to look at other areas/issues that I normally wouldn’t have been drawn to which has really inspired me to get onboard and find out even more, and possibly even act now!
At the start of my action my main concern was to get out there and volunteer, but as the program progressed I realized that it isn’t all about just getting out there and doing it, yes that’s a huge part, but understanding why and how was probably more of an issue in itself. I spent a lot of time researching and trying to understand- There are soo many organizations out there screaming for volunteers and at first it all seemed really overwhelming! One thing that I definitely learnt though was that because there are so many organizations out there searching for volunteers I felt it was important to choose an organization that was close to heart and also of high interest, I wanted to have fun while I was volunteering and so it made sense to do a lot of research to find out exactly where it was I am most passionate about. I found http://www.govolunteer.com.au/ to be a fantastic site for finding volunteering opportunities and would recommend it to anybody out there who would like to get involved. I decided for me it was probably fairer to commit myself to once off events rather than an ongoing post simply because of work and family commitments but if you can get involved in an ongoing position I would seriously recommend it because I think it would be really rewarding. So I spent a lot of time speaking to people at work and also friends and family about what they thought would be good and what they thought also wouldn’t be too overwhelming with all my other commitments and so I started contacting people.
So at the moment I am trying to get a small group together to volunteer as a group at an event, I haven’t fully narrowed it down yet and am still waiting on a few people to get back to me but I am on their case regularly (although trying not to be too pushy!!) so that we can get going! I would really like to get the group together to help out at the annual city to surf event, 30,000 people will run, wheel or walk to raise funds for Activ and they are counting on the help of over 700 volunteers for the event to go smoothly. (To find out more you can visit www.citytosurf.activ.asn.au). I will be sure to post up again after the actual event!!!
I would really like to do the city to surf as a group as part of my mission of getting other people involved but I have also been looking at volunteering some of my time at either the RSPCA or local Cat haven as I have really been inspired by the digital story some of my fellow incubators put together on animal cruelty, the digital story was so inspiring and literally sent chills down my spine! Fantastic work guys!
So all in all I have really enjoyed the program and was actually quite shocked at how much I have learnt! I would recommend the program to any other young people because it really is a once in a lifetime experience that I will never ever forget and will take with me along my journey, together when we Actnow we really can create change! We’ve proved that!
