Glorious summer is just around the corner! Some of us may choose to take a trip somewhere. Others may return to campus every morning to take summer school. And then, there are those of us who are lucky enough to stay at home all day with our tub of ice cream and our Netflix subscriptions. But that would get old pretty quickly. There are only so many games to play and shows to watch before the boredom begins to set in. Why not consider volunteering?

Volunteering is a great way to give back to society while participating in something enjoyable! During the school year, people are usually too caught up with school and their extracurricular activities to be able to fully dedicate themselves to a cause, but the summer months are a great opportunity to do so. Many colleges take volunteer work into consideration because they are interested in accepting well-rounded citizens, not just academically adept students. Committing your time, energy, and efforts to an organization or cause exhibits your dedication and perseverance, gives others an insight on your goals, gives you more experiences to pull upon when writing your college essay, and most importantly, it can give your life new meaning to know that you’re improving the world you live in.

But there are some finer points to volunteerism as well. With ever-increasing competition in admissions, what you choose to do with your spare time can either make or break your chances of getting into your dream college. You can’t just throw yourself at every volunteer opportunity because your time is limited. Instead, you should try to volunteer your efforts towards certain causes or organizations pertinent to you. However, if you do start volunteering, merely joining the organization or volunteering for the cause is sometimes not enough— you want to take initiative in whatever you are doing. If you’re presented with a youth position, take it! It’s best not to become a follower, but a pioneer in what you’re passionate about. Always be on the lookout to be a leader and stand out for what you believe in. If nothing in your community piques your interest, then start your own nonprofit or create a project where you can volunteer your time.

The volunteering group or groups that you align yourself with can speak volumes about what you care about. If you’re interested in S.T.E.M. subjects such as medicine, then you could look for volunteering opportunities in a hospital, at the Red Cross, or in a lab. Interested in animals? The Humane Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, your local shelters, as well as veterinarian hospitals have plenty of things for high schoolers to help with. Passionate about the environment? Why not volunteer with nonprofits that host events to clean up the ecosystem like the Sierra Club or the Nature Conservancy? These are just a few ideas; for more, you can browse websites like VolunteerMatch.org and Naviance.com. Make sure that you find out ahead of time if there are any age requirements and or prerequisites and prepare the necessary paperwork to secure your membership.

Hopefully, for those of you with some free time and a big heart, you get out there this summer and pitch in to your community! Have a good summer, and don’t forget to have fun!