A local Grade 12 student is making waves in the community through her tireless volunteer efforts.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we sat down with Amanda Collin, Grade 12 student at Jean Vanier Catholic High School and active volunteer.
Q: Have you always lived in Collingwood?
A: I live in Wasaga Beach, but I’ve lived here since I was born, and I was born here in Collingwood.
Q: Could you tell me about the different organizations with which you volunteer?
A: I volunteer with my school like Relay for Life. We just did our rally today. The past two Relay for Life (events), I’ve been on the committee.
I volunteer with my skating club. I have for seven years now. I coach the younger kids.
I also do a lot of volunteering at my trailer park in the summertime.
I took the leadership training program through the YMCA to be able to volunteer through the YMCA, like as a camp counsellor.
I volunteer with local food drives. Student leadership.
When I was in boy scouts, I used to volunteer. I went to meetings and represented our club.
Mainly working with kids.
At the trailer park, we do a haunted trail for the kids, and I organize that. That’s where a lot of my hours come from.
Q: What drives you to want to volunteer?
A: Mainly, the volunteering I do is with kids, and I love working with kids.
My dad volunteered a lot (when I was growing up), so technically I’ve been volunteering with him since I was one. I would go out staking trails for the snowmobile club with my dad.
Q: What is it about kids that makes you want to volunteer with them specifically?
A: I just really like kids. (laughs)
Since I was little, I’ve had so many great experiences through other people who have volunteered with me. So, I want to be able to help out and do the same thing for other younger kids.
Also, I’m an only child. So, it’s also a way for me to get out and socialize with other kids.
Q: Looking forward, do you think you’ll continue with volunteering?
A: I’m hopefully going to be able to go for my CanSkate coaching degree, which means I wouldn’t necessarily be volunteering anymore, but I’ll still be working with kids. I’m hoping to become a leader with Scouts one day, which would still be volunteering.
Even up at college when I go away, I’ve already been asking about student leadership (opportunities) there.
Q: What are your plans after high school is finished?
A: I’ve been accepted to Cambrian College up in Sudbury to get my registered practical nurse diploma. That will open up the doorway to become a pediatric nurse, working with kids.
The hope would be that I get to work with kids.
Q: The opportunities that you’ve had here, how much do you attribute them to growing up in the Collingwood area?
A: I feel like the environment that I’ve had here, it’s definitely made an impact.
If I had lived somewhere else, I don’t know if I would have had those opportunities, to meet the people I did to be able to get involved.
A lot of the causes I support, I have been connected with through (Jean Vanier).
Collingwood is such a friendly town to live in.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we’ll be speaking with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way. This feature will run on CollingwoodToday every Saturday. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
