To Volunteer is to Learn

One summer day last year, I was thrilled to hear that my table tennis coach had granted my volunteer request!

I, a 15-year-old, intermediate level player, would assist my coach by helping beginner level kids (ages from 7 to 10) to learn. I was very excited about it, not only because I could put into good use of what I’d learned in the past three years at Bridgeport Table Tennis Club in Richmond, but also because this was my very first volunteer job! I couldn’t help but start imagining how I would begin a session with a bunch of novice kids.

At first, I thought it was going to be fun. But it turned out that it wasn’t. The little kids needed me to feed the ball to the same spot every time, or else they would not be able to return it. Sometimes even when I fed the ball to the preferable spot, they would still miss! I couldn’t help but criticizing them, but they didn’t seem to understand! This was not the kind of volunteer job that I had expected. And it was really testing my patience.

After a few classes, I was bored and grumpy. Before long, the situation was getting out of control. I started the class with an attitude and left the class with an even worse attitude. What’s wrong with the kids? What’s wrong with me?

One day, during a break, I asked my coach Mrs. Tian, once a professional player in China and a seasoned coach in Bridgeport Table Tennis Club: “How should I deal with the small kids? They seem too slow to get it.”

She smiled: “Star, don’t you remember how you were handling the racquet when you came for your first class three years ago? Look at how well you play now.”

“Learning is a process; it comes slow in the beginning,” she added.

“Then what should I do with them?” I asked.

Her answer was surprisingly simple: “Patience.”

Later that day, I thought about what my coach had said. I realized that she must have plenty of patience. She taught a lot of pupils and many of them (like me) could barely hold a racquet properly when they started.

She taught me from the very basics to some advanced techniques. When I was a beginner, every time I hit a ball, she praised me, and every time I missed a ball, she encouraged me.

With her patience and encouragement, I turned out to be a decent player. Now, if I could do the same to the small kids that I volunteered to help，they would improve a lot as well.

Yes, I need first to change my attitude for the kids were already a bit scared of me. I decided to start with a positive attitude - to acknowledge their improvement rather than to focus on their flaws. I encouraged them when they won a game by high-fiving them.

I demonstrated to them how awkward a player I was when I started playing three years ago. They were laughing out loud. But they were encouraged!

Every class now seems fun and action-packed and everyone is making good process, including me. I am not just helping coaching; I am learning important lessons myself.

I have learned that being a coach helper is a hard-but-rewarding job. It is hard because it requires a lot of patience in dealing with students who start from square one. Now I understand the quote: “The expert at anything was once a beginner.”

It is also rewarding as I witness the novice kids making amazing progresses!