Over the summer, the Multimedia Academy invited students to a volunteer clean-up hosted by Film Mare Island. The academy students were able to help clean an area in Vallejo.

Volunteering was something that Jalia Her wanted to do so she took advantage of the opportunity. “I wanted to help people clean up an area they see daily so they could see that people actually cared,” she said. “I would do it again. It’s a good experience to get and it feels nice to help our community.”

Not only was it an opportunity to help the community, but volunteering also helped Her know more people in the community. Connections like this can help volunteers in many ways.

The strangest thing is that Her wasn’t supposed to be part of the cleaning, but filming the event. Still, she decided to get involved. “Even though I was supposed to be filming, I wanted to help clean up and paint over graffiti,” she said.

The clean-up involved several tasks that the volunteers needed to do and Her enjoyed getting involved for a fun experience. “When I was volunteering, my favorite parts were painting over the graffiti, getting to know my peers, and seeing how much change the before and after was.” she said

The experience taught her a lot. “If you’re volunteering to clean up, you can find things that you may or may not want to see, so be prepared for anything” she said.

Volunteering and building bonds was enjoyable, so it was a win-win situation. “I enjoyed getting the chance to get to know my community better, since I don’t often meet new people so it was nice seeing a lot of people come together and clean up for the community” she said.