What has your volunteering or caring experience taught you about yourself?

I've volunteered at a youth club for children with additional needs every Saturday for two years¹.

It's shown me I'm patient in a way I didn't expect. One boy with autism would only join in if the routine was exactly the same each week, and for a while I found that frustrating. Over time I learned to plan around it — telling him about changes in advance, using the same phrases — and eventually he joined the group games. That taught me patience is less about waiting and more about adapting² to someone else's needs.

It also showed me a limitation: I find it hard not to take things personally³. When a parent once complained that I'd let their daughter get upset, I dwelled on it all week. Talking it through with the club leader helped me see that the parent was anxious rather than attacking me, and that it was useful feedback. I've since tried to separate the message from the emotion when I get criticism.

Both of those feel relevant to medicine, where you adapt to every patient and where you'll regularly get difficult feedback — sometimes from people who are frightened.