• No School - Spring Break - Mar.14 - Mar.18
  • No School - Spring Vacation Day - April 15
  • HS Theatre Spring Show - April 8-9
  • End of 3rd Quarter - Mar. 31
  • HS One Act Plays- April 13 at 7pm
  • No School - Prof. Development Day - April 25
The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

Psychology of volunteering: altruism

Altruism is working on helping the world. Altruism is also known as The Feel Good Do Good Feeling.
Altruism is defined by an unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others. Volunteering is categorized under altruism. Altruism will help repair a sometimes crazy world. Photo courtesy of AltaVista.

Doing well when already in a good mood is the Feel Good, Do Good phenomenon. It is what stimulates the good feeling when volunteering. AP Psychology teaches this and other aspects of the human brain.

“It is a great class, and many people sign up,” said Mrs. Valerie Nimeskern, U.S. History AP and World History Accelerated teacher. She also has taught AP Psychology for two years.

“It is a yearlong course as a social studies elective which is the equivalent to the first year in college credit. Psychology is the study of the human mind and behavior, human development—emotionally and socially,” said Mrs. Laura Miniard, AP Psychology teacher.

This is the eighth year the class has been offered.

Story continues below advertisement

One of their many vocabulary terms learned is altruism. Altruism is defined by doing something nice for someone else because the person feels good.

“My favorite part of volunteering is that smile you get from the person you helped and the warm feeling you get when you know you helped improve someone else’s life just by donating your time ,” said Megan Crone, 12.

However, there could also be a negative side effect to seeing lives struggle.

“The volunteer could get upset but the benefits outweigh the negative,” said Miniard.

No matter what, volunteering has the potential to make you feel good.

More to Discover
About the Contributor
Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
Hi! My name is Lauren Kurtzer and I am a senior here at SHS; thus making it my fourth year in convergence journalism. Looking back on everything I learned and done in room 115, I can not believe it went by that quickly. Being on the staff of The Leaf I have picked up many skills on writing, design, and leadership that I can take to the future. I learned many of those skills through leadership positions of feature chief sophomore year; associate editor junior year, where I made sure articles are up to AP Style; creative projects director this year, I am part of a team that works on the major cover stories like the crazy election. I have written and designed for all four of our platforms. For the past three years, I have also written a sports column on every issue; I cover the morale issues of the NFL and my teams the Reds, Bengals and Buckeyes. Outside of room 115, I am the co-captain of the dance team I have been on for four years, the Flyerettes. I am also heavily involved in the Jewish community. I am the Programming Vice President for my temple’s youth group, which is a part of NFTY Ohio Valley, and the Social Action Programmer for Young Judaea Midwest youth movement. On Sundays, I am a madricha or assistant teacher at my Religious School.
Activate Search
Psychology of volunteering: altruism