The Best Way To Volunteer

On November 19th, a handful of the UHS freshman decided to go to the local animal shelter and volunteer there together in order to get our required service hours. In doing so, I got in my collo service hours and stress relief at the same time. There were quite a few people already volunteering at the animal shelter the day we went, so the people there had no specific duties they wanted us to do. Our job was to merely love these animals since they don't receive the constant affection a pet would. To begin the day, I started with the cats. I fell in love with a few of them right away, but one in particular was my favorite. I then explored the animal shelter and discovered the exotic animals room to which I was greatly disappointed. It contained animals like hamsters, rabbits, a guinea pig, and a mouse. Those are not exotic animals. Or not to me at least, but I didn't let this put a damper on my volunteering experience. I then went to play with the dogs and even took one outside for a walk. While taking a look at all the dogs in the shelter, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the pig they housed as well. Though the dogs and pig were great, I finished my volunteer hours by returning to the cats. There's something stress relieving about holding and petting a kitten. I even found a few I wouldn't have minded taking home with me, but I didn't think it would be a very good surprise to give my family when I came home for Thanksgiving.