With the new year fully underway, you’re probably already feeling full to capacity with classes, jobs and a dwindling social life. But try fitting something new into your schedule: giving back. Volunteering time or money is shown by some studies to be just as important to your overall health as diet and exercise. Here are a few ways giving back can benefit both you and the people you’re helping:

**Combat boredom**: If you’ve ever known the horrors of being so completely and desperately bored that you wish you had homework to do, you can appreciate this tip. Volunteering your time is a great way to get out and do something with your day!

**Make new social connections**: Volunteering allows you to meet different kinds of people outside of school and the workplace and to involve yourself with aspects of the community apart from just campus life.

**Explore your interests**: You don’t have to donate time or money to arbitrary organizations that don’t reflect your personal hobbies. Your major will have several different service opportunities for you to contribute to (check your emails once in a while and you should see something offering these kinds of opportunities). Spending time in your field of interest is a great way to decide if you’re actually interested in it! In the same respect, volunteering for a field you don’t think you’re suited for might open up doors for you!

**Gain a new perspective**: Whether you’re spending time at a soup kitchen or tutoring underprivileged youth, working with people of different backgrounds and lifestyles will open your eyes to facets of empathy you didn’t know existed. Socially and mentally, it’s a very healthy thing to consider things from all sides and to develop a deep connection with others.

**Boost your self-confidence**: Everyone likes to feel needed sometimes. It is a huge ego boost to know that, even in the smallest of ways, you’re making an impact on someone’s day. Having a positive self-image can contribute as much to your health as your diet and exercise.

**Reduce stress and anxiety**: You’ll find that making a direct effect on someone’s life will make you feel incredibly light and content. Studies have shown that volunteering is linked to a lower rate of depression!

Keep in mind, if you’re really strapped for time, simply donating money is just as valid as donating your time. The next time you pass by a coin collector whose proceeds go to fighting childhood diabetes or are asked if you’d like to donate a dollar to cancer research, do your part and feel great about it.

There are tons of places on campus where you can get involved! Here are a few:

_Puppies with Purpose_: Help raise puppies to be trained service dogs! Not ready to commit to raising a puppy? You can babysit the dogs for their owners who need a short break!

_A Way with Words and Numbers_: Tutor elementary and middle school kids in math and English!

_Tiger Buddies_: Form a one-on-one bond with a person with disabilities in the Columbia area!