Volunteering Stories: Part 3

Today was the first day of real volunteering at Milford's. My job, as I said previously, was to work in endoscopy, but it turns out that I'm working in both endoscopy and colonoscopy as well. How did it go? you ask. It actually went pretty well! My role in the endo unit was to wheel the patients coming out of either the endoscopy or colonoscopy to their rides outside on the ground floor. I also helped out with setting up beds, stocking certain supplies, and cleaning various objects. Well, that doesn't sound fun. I know, nothing too exciting, but it actually wasn't bad at all. Fun, you could say. I don't know, I find enjoyment in those types of activities, tasks in the healthcare world. Helping other people is fun to me, even if the work itself isn't fun.

My volunteering started at 12 pm today, and for the next three hours, I learned from an elderly man. This man is super nice and sociable, interacting with every single person he saw. He's friends with everyone at the hospital, from the receptionist to the boss. He also has a great heart, helping in every aspect of the endoscopy unit as he could. As a volunteer, you're only supposed to wheel the patients, but with this man, you did all the tasks that I mentioned in the previous paragraph. That was just what the man did; he did so much minor things behind the scenes with the only goal of helping out a fellow nurse. Though he has a great heart, he also doesn't care about the rules too much. He does his own things, and that's ok sometimes. I actually liked it that way, seeing him do his own things. I personally believe that his heart outweighs his slight rebellion.

The work itself wasn't bad. Not one patient was rude in any way, and that made the experience so much better. At the dental office, you meet some bad patients, but surprisingly no bad ones came today. Wheeling patients went smoothly, as every nurse and worker were super nice and willing to help me (the new guy) out. It really helps to have great co-workers. Elevates the volunteer experience leaps and bounds. Last year, I worked with other great volunteers around my age, and I loved my time at Tufts. This year, I'm working with more professional people, including nurses and doctors who are much older than myself. But that's alright; no matter the age, you can still have a great time.