By Rachel Goldsworthy, Coordinator, Centre for Social and Sustainable Innovation
Why would anyone volunteer to prepare income tax forms for strangers during final exams?
Three Gustavson students tell us it’s the right thing to do for a whole bunch of reasons – and none of them mentioned their CVs.
Yolande Asamoah and Sylvia Huang, both fourth-year BCom students, signed on as project managers for the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, an initiative of the Canada Revenue Agency to help people with modest incomes and simple tax situations. Coordinated by Gustavson’s experiential learning team, Yolande, Sylvia and 33 other students signed up to help bring the program to Gustavson, where they offered their tax services Saturday mornings and Monday evenings from March 10 to April 21.
Like Sylvia, most of the volunteers are thinking about becoming accountants when they graduate. Yolande, though, has a background in hospitality, so she knew she brought other skills to the table.
“We made it very customer-centred and made it a goal to create an ambiance of safety,” she explains. “We told the clients that this is a learning experience for the volunteers, and they all felt comfortable.”
“We had to problem solve a lot and every day we got better and better,” says Graham Elder, a third-year BCom student volunteer. “The volunteers would deal with new situations, then say, ‘That was challenging and I learned something.’”
“The willingness, the energy, the atmosphere was great,” Yolande says.
“Some volunteers even asked for more shifts,” Sylvia adds.
The people they helped were mostly students, many of them international, but there were some surprises.
“They came from all across UVic,” Sylvia explains, “and also Royal Roads and Camosun!”
Clients from the broader community were often seniors; Sylvia’s oldest client was in her 70s.
The takeaways could be surprising too.
“I knew I had the tax and accounting knowledge,” says Sylvia, who was part of the team that did the hiring as well as designing and delivering the training. “Until I did this, I didn’t know I had the skills to teach and present.”
Yolande says, “I really enjoyed knowing that the volunteers had a great experience. Seeing that vibrant learning experience – that was my happiest moment.”
“My favourite part was when I finished [a tax form] and I could sense that the client genuinely appreciated what we had done for them,” says Graham. “I’m still not entirely sure what I want to do after I graduate, but whatever I choose, I want to be able to help people and make an impact throughout my career. The tax clinic was a great opportunity to do that.”
Sylvia agrees wholeheartedly. “I feel I made a contribution to my community.”
Pictured (left to right): Yolande Asamoah, Gabe Ho, Sylvia Huang, Amy Chen, and Jacob Colley
