Standing at just barely 5 feet tall, Jessica Vu is a force to be reckoned with. A grade 11 student at Lester B Pearson high school, she is currently the female with the most YVC hours in Calgary, and recently received the World Changer Award, for having volunteered 1000 (or more) hours with Youth Volunteer Corps.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with Jessica and talk about this achievement. But first, who is Jessica?
At only 16 years old, Jessica is a woman of many accomplishments. Apart from this award, she was Youth Central’s September 2015 volunteer of the month, and has received Youth Volunteer Corps 100-1, and Ethics of Service awards. She also co-leads her school’s YVC club, and recently became a senior volunteer! Outside of Youth Central, she also volunteers with the food bank, Habitat for Humanity, Calgary Public Library, City of Calgary parks + recreation, Peter Lougheed Hospital, and is an ambassador for CPA and Goodwall. Truly a seasoned volunteer!
Some of her (many) other awards + accomplishments include being on principal’s list / honour roll grades 7 through 9, grade 10 honour roll (both semesters), Duke of Edinburgh silver award (in progress), Rotary East Award (given for community service), and completion of the LEAD program with City of Calgary recreation + parks. Phew!
Witty, yet genuine, Jessica’s friends describe her as a very motivated, and goal oriented. A natural leader, she’s assertive, yet extremely conscientious, and considerate.
In terms of pop-tarts, her favourite flavour is white chocolate ice cream, an exotic flavour she once saw in America, perhaps showing her constant desire to try new, exciting things.
Despite this impressive accomplishment, volunteering isn’t Jessica’s whole life. In her spare time, she enjoys reading fantasy and young adult novels, watching anime (she describes herself as an otaku), and ever since starting Duke of Edinburgh award, she’s also picked up knitting and going to the fitness center.
But let’s go back a little bit. Jessica’s gone so far in her volunteering career. But how did she start?
“At my school, around the beginning of spring, we had ‘Diversity Day’, and there were activities all day, so we got to learn about different things indigenous people, different aspects of culture, and non-profit organizations, and we had one about volunteering, where Cailean (former school program director) presented, and gave us sign up sheets. It wasn’t until the end of May that I had signed up, and started volunteering. I was super nervous, I remember my first two projects were super labour intensive, and I was a little hesitant, but I had fun, and I liked it enough to continue volunteering, and I haven’t looked back since!”
1000 hours in just over a year is a huge accomplishment (in juxtaposition, I have just under 350 in the same time-frame), and I’m sure you’re wondering why Jessica decided to set such a huge goal.
“It was around September, when I had not even 100 hours yet, that I met Leo (Youth Central’s other World Changer Award recipient) who had around 900 hours at the time, and I was amazed, so I really started to pick up my volunteering in October, and I had so much fun with it, so I just kept going at it. That was also when I found out about the 1000 hour award, so I thought ‘Why not make it a goal?’, because I had started to really love volunteering, I made some really great friends, who I would only really ever see at volunteer projects, so I was looking forward to seeing their faces.”
Of course, Jessica loves all the projects she does, but her favourites include the Daraja fundraiser, Legend Has It, and the Cinderella Project.
Jessica has learned so many important skills and competencies through volunteering. She says that she’s become alot better at time management, and procrastinating less (something we can all learn!), and she’s gained alot of experience with odd jobs and such that go great on her résumé! She’s also learned to be more sociable, and has made some of her closest friends through volunteering. The best lesson that she’s learned through volunteering is really to just keep swimming.
“I’ve encountered some very weird people while volunteering, and I’ve learned to just smile, nod, wave, then appoint them to your fellow volunteers so that you can just push it off, and they can deal with it” (So very sneaky of you, Jessica)
She really appreciates that volunteering, and the 1000 hour goal has given her something to work towards, and she’s come to learn that volunteering is extremely important.
“I think it’s very important to help other people, because some people don’t necessarily have anyone else, and if it wasn’t for volunteers, and donors, their already poor situations could be worse. Especially during times like right now, when the recession is going on, when the food bank has already seen so many people needing their services, without volunteers helping out, it really wouldn’t be possible. A great example is the Fort McMurray fire, where so many people were left homeless, yet so many people let these people into their homes, even when they didn’t have homes themselves, and there were so many donations, that it times it almost seemed like too much, and no-one knew what to do with it. The fact that so many people were willing to help, and in such a short time, is a really great thing, and that’s why I find it so important.”
After this award, Jessica definitely plans to stay with Youth Central, although she has started to branch off into other organizations that she hopes to continue volunteering with after she turns 18. She aims to volunteer until she graduates, and she’s kicked out, and aspires to leave behind a positive legacy.
So congrats to Jessica for 1000 hours, and here’s to many more!
(featured image : Jessica with Penny Hume, Youth Central Executive Director. Photo courtesy of Ros)