My Nonprofit Reviews

I am currently finishing my second academic year at Arizona State University and I am still an active volunteer at Teen Lifeline--a fact that makes a poignant statement. I have been volunteering at Teen Lifeline for four years and it has consistently remained a vital aspect of my life and an integral facet of my identity. I simply cannot imagine my life without Teen Lifeline.
Over the last four years at Teen Lifeline, I have answered countless calls from teens in crisis. I have helped a hopeless, suicidal 14-year-old male recognize the major negative influences in his life and identify healthy coping strategies to help him positively deal with his depression. I have informed teens of runaway laws and have helped girls deal with the difficult possibility of pregnancy. I have counseled substance abusers, alcohol abusers, and those abused, physically and emotionally, by family members and significant others who are sometimes abusers themselves. I have talked to teens in jail and to teens who want to be in jail (as opposed to where they are instead). I have spoken to parents, to parole officers, to police officers, and to educators. I have listened to calls of grief and mourning. I have been thanked.
Yet taking calls is not all I do at the hotline. I have had numerous opportunities to proudly represent Teen Lifeline on television and on the radio. I have aided in training adults in suicide prevention. I have spoken to large groups of teens and adults. During each Teen Suicide Prevention Week over the past three years, I have spoken to hundreds of students, explaining the many services this vital organization offers to the community.
Despite the grandiose publicity and the humbling chances to be on TV, my favorite role as a Peer Counselor will always be training and working with new volunteers. The success of Teen Lifeline truly comes from its volunteers, who noticeably grow and mature throughout training and the time they later spend volunteering. I absolutely love seeing those who initially struggled with training ultimately learn and succeed, becoming incredible peer counselors and positive members of society. It is too easy to forget that much of the benefit Teen Lifeline gives to society is through its volunteers. Every young adult Teen Lifeline trains will go on to uphold himself or herself in his or her community with dignity and strong respect of others, improving tenuous social construction at its roots. Peer counselors learn to be nonjudgmental and to empathize with those around them. Many volunteers go on to study psychology, but many others pursue other academic disciplines, instilling in their disparate subjects the same important ideals of treating others with the utmost kindness and respect, and truly understanding those around them.
What I do for Teen Lifeline may seem impressive, but to me it is nothing. I love and savor every moment I spend with my welcoming community of peer counselors and staff; Teen Lifeline is where I want to be. I want to answer the phone, I want to speak out in my community, and I want to help other volunteers to learn and grow--all because of what I have personally gained from volunteering at Teen Lifeline. No matter how much I give back to Teen Lifeline, I will never make up for what I have received. The enduring friendships, life skills, and opportunities Teen Lifeline has afforded me greet no rivals. Because of the community Teen Lifeline has created and maintained, I know that I will always have a friend to call and a place to go if I ever need support of any kind in my future. More importantly, I know that I am a part of that same community for many others who have benefited from the same, incredible organization. With Teen Lifeline in my life, I will never be alone.

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