Volunteering can change a life. It’s a way to give back to one’s community.

Volunteering daily, Senior Salma Mohamud helps as much as she can. Over the past few years, Mohamud has collected around 500 hours of community service.

“I started volunteering because I was really into the community and I started helping by being a really good part of it [the community],” Mohamud said.

Volunteering is something that makes Mohamud feel an unexplainable feeling. She gets a joyous feeling because she is able to give back to the community.

“Volunteering has affected my life because I got to meet new people, learn new stuff and got to interact with the community and learn new things,” Mohamud said.

Ever since she got her first taste of volunteering in sixth grade for safety patrol, Mohamud has volunteered everywhere she can. She helps the community by showing what she can do. She shows different characteristics like being reliable, respectfulness and leadership.

“I am being a part of the community as much as I can by showing my point of view and helping others,” Mohamud said.

Due to being involved in different organizations like Bearclusity, Student Council, and National Honor Society at school, Mohamud volunteers at the events that these organizations host.

Outside of school, Mohamud is part of the Somali Girls a part of Girl’s Inc. and Bergan Mercy’s Teen Volunteer Program where she volunteers alongside other students. Mohamud can’t stop volunteering and loves the delight of it.

Mohamud helps at Bergan Mercy a lot. She volunteers at least twice a week there. She helps train other students on how to complete their task because she has volunteered there for around two years.

Mohamud wants to go into the medical field and thinks that getting to shadow nurses and doctors is really going to help her.

“Start early, do something you like not what someone forces you to do, and do something that you would commit too,” Mohamud said.