[dopeboy]

I've been volunteering since 2013 for a non-profit that teaches high school students in underserved areas how to code [0]. Here's what I've gotten out of it:

* I'm having an impact: there are people pursuing CS in university because of me. I (along with my coteachers) managed to make programming fun and rewarding for them so much that they saw it as a future. That feels good. Makes me feel like I'm making a difference.

* I'm a better communicator: distilling somewhat complex concepts into engaging lessons has made me a better talker. I'm more precise and efficient with my language - oral and written.

* I get to network: the non-profit I volunteer for is a magnet for all the kind of people I want to hang out. The volunteers that I get to serve with are talented developers & designers who care about the world around them. They work at awesome places and solve interesting problems. Most of all, they're just generally nice people.

* I'm a better programmer: teaching forces you to know your stuff. Even though I teach the basics of HTML, CSS, & JS, that foundation is a lot stronger for me.

[0] - https://scripted.org/