Elise McLelland

Elise

Name: Elise McLelland

Age: 17 in January.

I first found out about Interchange when Volunteer Coordinators Emma, Rachael & Kim visited our school and told us about all the fun and adventure to be had on activities and camps as a vollie. It sounded like great fun and I have been volunteering for about a year now.

I’m very sporty and always looking for adventure! When I’m not volunteering, I like to battle it out on the basketball courts, kick around a soccer ball, go climbing in the trees, canoeing, bike riding, and many more exhilarating activities! I’ll pretty much give anything a go, just for the thrill seeking excitement! I love to laugh and smile, and make the most out of life! Every time you see me, I can guarantee that I will either be laughing at the top of my lungs, or smiling so big that my jaws begin to hurt!

Volunteering with Interchange has opened my eyes to the world of disability. It's allowed me to see another side of life. Very often you return from a camp or even a day activity absolutely exhausted! It makes you realise how exhausted parents and carers would be, looking after their kids for 24 hours! The parents are over the moon, for you just spending one day with their child. Its times like these when you gain so much more respect for families!

Being an Interchange Volunteer has given me a sense of achievement knowing that I’m not only making a positive difference in my own life, but also to the lives of others! I love sharing the funniest memories with all the other vollies!! In just 1 year, I have made so many friends through Interchange who I know always will be life long friends. We can spend a whole day, weekend or even a week together on activities, come back home and still spend hours talking and reminiscing.

What is a funny story from camp? Well, on my very first camp with Interchange, I met the sibling of a girl who went to my school. Not realizing they were sisters, I simply said to her “you know, you look a lot like a girl who goes to my school”, she said “yeah, that’s because she’s my sister!” and everyone then laughed hysterically at me. To everyone this has become one of the funny stories associated with that camp.

Interchange has changed my direction in life. My dream is to become a kindergarten teacher, and I still want to continue on with this dream, but volunteering through Interchange has widened my options to maybe becoming an early childhood teacher for children with disabilities.

I would really recommend other people volunteer with Interchange, because it’s a great achievement in life. For me, it gave me a sense of happiness knowing that I wasn’t only making a positive difference in my own life, but also to the lives of others.

Final Words: I can’t express to you enough, how thrilling it is to volunteer with Interchange. You should sign up, because it could change your whole life, like it did mine.