Volunteering

Being fairly new in town, I decided I would do some volunteering to give me another avenue to get to know people. I figured the hospital would be the best place for me, since my past life was in kinesiology. So I sent in my application with all my academic qualifications listed. Due to busy lives and the H1N1 virus, it was several months before I got to meet the volunteer coordinator, but I finally got an e-mail asking if I was interested in playing music at the nursing home/long-term care area of the hospital once a month.

It wasn't what I expected to be doing as volunteer work, but the scheduling was right, so I said yes.

I just had my first performance and it was a great experience! I play a lot of gigs where I leave feeling worse than when I came in, and some where I feel energized. This was definitely an energizing one. Even though a few people fell asleep in their wheelchairs, I knew that most people really appreciated it, and I felt great afterward, knowing that I was giving something back to my community.