Role Played by Volunteering and Extra-Curricular Activities - Admission/Application Essay Example

My engagement in volunteering programs and extra-curriculum activities were pertinent in my skill development, especially in gaining confidence in dealing with people.  My initial experience of community leadership derived from my involvement within a local Buddhist temple in managing outreach activities for a youth organization.  During my stay in Sri Lanka, I managed to implement two annual outreach events to aid the needy and the poor in society. Some of the activities included organizing food drives to feed the homeless, as well as clothing drive, which constituted the distribution of clothes to the poor living in rural conflict-prone areas of Sri Lanka. 

Last year, we were able to feed close to 300 people and cloth more than 50 families living in four different villages.  Some of the Lion Club activities included providing law clinics to displaced citizens seeking justice to get their land back, after the massive displacement occasioned by the 2004 Tsunami.  Furthermore, being the President Scout in Sri Lanka (equivalent to Queen’s Scout in Canada) has provided me with opportunities to forge multi-dimensional partnerships and travel widely across the world as a representative of the Sri Lanka contingent.  Presently, I have found a new fondness for recreational soccer, whereby last summer I engaged in Reach Forth Ministry Soccer League in Hamilton, Ontario. My involvement in volunteering and extra-curricular activities was pertinent in the sense that they yielded to life skills development, especially leadership skills.

Critical Reading Abilities

My engagement in the family business has helped to shape my critical analysis of text material. During work, I read performance reports, finance reports, analysis reports, and improvement reports, which helped to shape critical reading capabilities.  My volunteering activities and family business were highly descriptive activities.  Volunteering requires some form of valuable skill and even making decisions on which activities to take up requires some reading and critical thinking skills in which one is required to take large complex problems and break them into tangible, concrete steps (Masters, Wallace, & Harwood, 2011).

Effective Communication and Listening Abilities

When running the family business, I conducted formal presentations to business partners, as well as community members in my volunteer engagement.  During my business trips, I developed listening capabilities out of the realization that effective communication is tied to listening capabilities.

General Research Skills

At University, I was able to establish the capability of problem-based learning in which I honed my skills in research. Similarly, my engagement with the family business provided me with the opportunity to undertake research on new clients, market research, and quality reports.  The research skills have also been pertinent in my volunteer mediation work which requires effective research on law.

Task Organization and Management Skill

The assimilation of large amounts of information necessitates high skills in task organization and management.  My volunteer work has necessitated that I effectively delegate tasks in order to meet deadlines. In my volunteering engagement, I foster teamwork and keep the group motivated to execute the tasks at hand.  This necessitates the development of task organization and management skills.

In-depth understanding of human institutions and values

My engagement in the Law clinic has provided me with an opportunity to understand human institutions and values. For instance, the endeavor to help communities reclaim their land back has necessitated that I study the role of the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation to gain an understanding of national policy for land reclamation.  The time that I spent conducting law clinic motivated me to do something to address the inherent defects in this Act. Most of my initiatives towards this end involved petitions, raising community awareness, writing a letter to the government authorities in an effort to push concerns for the affected parties.  Similarly, my involvement in the Lions Club also gave me an appreciation of human institutions and values (Masters, Wallace, & Harwood, 2011).

Maintain balance in life

The need to juggle many responsibilities including running the family business, schooling, volunteering, recreation sports, and maintaining close family relationships, especially in a period when my father was diagnosed with prostate disease, demanded that I maintain a balance in life.  I can attribute my success in the attainment of life balance to proper time management and scheduling of activities, being flexible.  Participating in extracurricular activities has helped me to learn life skills, which are essential in academic and professional careers. These experiences have provided a perfect platform to gain experience and practical skills, which strengthen transferable skills, develop initiative, and prepare for leadership roles.  My engagement in volunteering and extracurricular activities have helped me to demonstrate maturity, leadership, and motivation while at the same time gaining and improving skills pertinent to a career path and imperative to job success.