My volunteer work helps me grow up. It has made me more aware of the difficulties other people go through and made me appreciate the simple things we have in life. It enables me, as an adult, to become more confident and to realize the difference I can make. I now have new career aspirations and the confidence to take forward these new ideas, since I started mentoring at the Open University and gained experience of working with young students. I'll go on to do a teaching assistant course and looking to go into volunteering teaching or youth work in the future. My research project will be to build a spatial web application. It was inspired by the volunteering I do for another not-for-profit organization.My volunteering at an animal shelter is neither connected to my studies nor to my career interests. I do it purely for pleasure, satisfaction and the feeling that I can help somebody. It's made me a happier person, and I wouldn't have got this far at university without it.