It’s National Volunteer Week, and today is Volunteer Recognition Day. The Vancouver Maritime Museum has an amazing volunteer community, and we’re grateful for every one of our dedicated volunteers. A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to interview one of the newest and youngest VMM volunteers. Colin, who is 24, became a VMM volunteer in November 2019.
Colin was looking for opportunities to gain experience teaching children when he remembered the Maritime Museum programs he had attended as a child. In elementary school he had participated in our Pirates program. He remembers making pirate hats and learning about the Jolly Roger flag. Colin was seeking experience working with children because he was applying for Bachelor of Education programs and wanted to include some real-world experience on his application. He found us online and applied to volunteer, and we sure are glad he did.
Colin volunteers in our school programs four or five times a month as a program guide. He has guided students through the Arctic Explorers and the Mountie Sailors programs, leading children through various parts of the museum and sharing information with them.
Colin’s love of history and his passion for teaching make him a great fit for the Vancouver Maritime Museum. He gets to enjoy his volunteer work and the kids he works with benefit from his enthusiasm for the topics.
When Colin is not volunteering for the museum, he might be found practicing Jiu-Jitsu, drawing or singing. We miss seeing Colin at the museum, but we hope he’s taking advantage of this unplanned downtime to pursue his dream of writing a graphic novel—or maybe he’s levelling up in his favourite video game.
In his interview Colin shared his approach to life, which is to “listen always to learn always to grow always. Treat others how you want to be treated. Be smart, be sensible, have fun.” We’d all benefit from following this advice, especially now.
Thank you Colin, and thank you to all the volunteers who help make VMM a wonderful place to be. We can’t wait to see you in the museum again.