My SHARE with Schools Experience: Volunteer Blog Post – Aine Daly

I am very glad to have had the opportunity to help out at the Grangetown Careers Fair. This was my first time volunteering with SHARE with Schools, and I am currently a first-year undergraduate studying Ancient History and History. At the beginning of the event, we delivered a short PowerPoint presentation on the history of Trelai Park and provided an overview of the activities. This opportunity for controlled public speaking undoubtedly helped to improve my confidence. One of the activities involved using maps to track the development of Cardiff, around the park, over time. However, the activity in which I assisted in running, allowed students to handle historical artefacts and replicas. Although I was nervous at first, with guidance from the co-ordinators and as the event progressed, I gained confidence and was able to interact more comfortably with the students. The students asked thoughtful and engaging questions, showing particular interest in the artefacts; from replica swords to flint arrowheads. Later, all of the volunteers helped with a clay pot-making activity. This provided a great opportunity to talk to students about university while they completed their work. Overall, I am very grateful for this opportunity. It was a rewarding experience that helped me develop my confidence and communication skills, and I would highly recommend volunteering to anyone with an interest in outreach or history.