A Humbling & Exciting Volunteer Opportunity

I am about three months into a year-long volunteer experience with LLI, and I already feel like I've grown more than I expected to before arriving. Personally, I am learning to be present and enthusiastically engage with people and circumstances totally different from those that I'm used to. And professionally, I am gaining so much from working with LLI! As the Teen Program Manager, I am developing my organizing skills, identifying and working to meet the needs of the community, and having the invaluable opportunity to work with a multi-cultural staff made up of people from various countries. The responsibility given to me could feel overwhelming, but since I've gotten here LLI has done a great job of finding the balance between giving me the space to make mistakes so that I can learn from them and support me along the way. I can't even imagine how much personal and professional growth I will have made after an entire year in this wonderful community with this exceptional NGO.