7-13 August is National Student Volunteer Week 2023 (#NSVW23), a great opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate student volunteers, and promote volunteering to students and young people across Australia.
The theme for NSVW23 is Give. Grow. Belong, reflecting the commitment of students around Australia who want to get involved with causes they believe in and contribute to positive change.
Give: share your time, skill or talent in any way you can.
Grow: realise that personal wellbeing comes from giving to others.
Belong: doing something together forges deep connection.
The Raine Study is proud to partner with Western Australia’s universities to provide internship and other volunteer opportunities to undergraduate and postgraduate students. In the last 3 years, the Raine Study has hosted over 20 students through the work integrated learning programs offered by each university. They have come from a range of disciplines including Science, Engineering, Arts, Business and Commerce.
During their time at the Raine Study they have provided nearly 2,000 hours of support to activities ranging from social media content and video editing to data management. Current student volunteer projects include biosamples auditing and management, statistical analysis, and event project management.
Thalia Ching is studying for their Bachelor of Commerce at the Universtity of Western Australia with a double major in Marketing + Media and Communication Studies, and recently completed a 100-hour internship with the Raine Study. Reflecting on their experience, they said: “My time as the Raine Study’s science communications intern has been extremely valuable. Coming from a non-science background, I didn’t know what to expect. However, the team at the Raine Study welcomed me with open arms and I quickly learnt how to apply my marketing background to a science communicator role. I learnt how to communicate the same information to different stakeholders effectively, applying various depths of information using different language.”
Gary Wong is studying for a Master of Project Management at Edith Cowan University. He has just commenced a volunteer project providing project management support for the Raine Study’s upcoming stakeholder events, including the Raine Study’s signature annual Symposium event for researchers and research participants. As a registered social worker with an established career at the Hong Kong Family Welfare Centre, he was drawn to the Raine Study as an opportunity to learn more about the impact of long-term health outcomes on social welfare issues.
Rebecca Musie completed an 80 hour internship with the Raine Study as a Bachelor of Biomedical Science student majoring in Neuroscience in November 2022, and has since commenced part-time employment with the Raine Study as a research assistant for the Generations follow-up study.
She said: “I was very excited when I saw there was an opportunity through my degree to intern at the Raine Study. Through my internship, I acquired a variety of skills and was amazed at the impact of the data collected through the research published. I’m happy I was able to give my time to somewhere committed to positive change and I’m glad I can continue my journey at the Raine Study.”
The Raine Study’s Communications Manager Kate Rowlands has worked closely with many of the students who have volunteered at the Raine Study. She says she is very impressed by the level of passion and the expertise from their different areas of study that they have brought to the Raine Study, and says that the Raine Study is a better place for their involvement.
“Volunteers are the core of the Raine Study. Our 6,000 research participants all take part in the Raine Study on a voluntary basis, which makes it even more meaningful that we have so many students giving their time and energy for free to help tell their story and keep the operations of the Raine Study running smoothly.”
The Raine Study looks forward to continuing to work with student volunteers. To register your interest in volunteering at the Raine Study, email raineadmin@uwa.edu.au