Clara Landes is a third-year European & International Social and Political Studies (ESPS) student and has been volunteering with Zooniverse. Have a read through her story below to see what it's like being part of cutting edge research, how she is helping her community with various projects, and how she is able to continue volunteering during COVID-19.
Tell us a little about your volunteering
I started volunteering for Zooniverse, it's a platform where you can find many projects that need help from volunteers. I volunteer there a few days a week, it's very flexible you can give any amount of time you like.
How did you find out about the role?
I found out about the role through UCL's volunteering service newsletter.
Why did you want to become a volunteer?
I wanted to be able to give some of my free time to help out people or associations reach their goals. It gives me a sense of doing something that is immediately useful. Not earning money from a job sometimes adds value to it.
What difference do you feel you’ve made by volunteering?
Zooniverse is a big platform with many volunteers so I don't necessarily feel like I'm making a big impact. But it's very satisfying seeing how the projects are advancing.
What impact has volunteering had on you?
Volunteering has really helped me consider my time differently by reducing the stress I attached to it. Although some tasks might seem a bit boring, the fact that I'm completing them for someone else makes them useful and valuable. It makes me feel like I can help and be useful from home, by just giving some of my free time.
What’s the best thing about volunteering?
Having this feeling that you can help. And working for projects that are very meaningful and positive.
And the most challenging? How did you overcome the challenges?
At Zooniverse, you can challenge yourself however much you want. Some projects require more complex tasks than others, it's nice to diversify. For example, there's one that needs transcribing American soldiers' burial cards from World War 1, and another for which they need help to count penguins in photos! You can find many different things to do.
The positive aspect of this whole situation is that it has shown me that there are much more opportunities for volunteering that can be done remotely than I thought.
Would you recommend volunteering? If so, why?
I would definitely recommend volunteering. It's a great way of using your time and just generally a thing that makes people happy, by feeling that you're giving something back to the community, that you're doing something meaningful.
How has COVID-19 impacted your volunteering and how has it changed what you do?
With the COVID-19 it became hard to do any volunteering that wouldn't be done remotely from home. Fortunately, many volunteering projects adapted their propositions so they could be done from home. This wasn't a problem for Zooniverse as all you need is a computer and Internet connection. The positive aspect of this whole situation is that it has shown me that there are much more opportunities for volunteering that can be done remotely than I thought.
If you want to make a difference through volunteering like Clara, browse the opportunities on our volunteering directory to see what you can get involved in.