Hi there! My name is Sophia, I’m 14-years-old and I live with my mother and grandmother in a very quiet town where usually nothing ever happens. Unfortunately, one night, something terrible did happen. Two classrooms at the local primary school burned down. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the fourth and fifth graders had to start having classes outside.

I go to my grandmother’s place every Sunday. It's not my favourite thing in the world, but it gives me something to do, especially during the school holidays. One day, her neighbour told us that a big construction company from the city had heard about the classrooms on the radio and donated materials to rebuild them. Now, the community needed volunteers to help build the classrooms.

I felt really sorry for the students and wanted to help. But honestly, I was really nervous about volunteering because I’m not really good at most things and I know nothing about building! But I decided to give it try, since I had so much free time during the holidays.

They put me in the administration team, and our job was to make sure that the materials we had were being efficiently used by the volunteers. We’d be in big trouble if we ran out of cement before the classrooms were complete! Everyday I had to write down the quantity of materials we gave to the volunteers and how much was left. It was a big responsibility and at first I made some mistakes. But I kept patient, and remained focused, and over time I got better and better at it.

It took us four weekends to complete the buildings, and by the end of it I was really proud of myself. Come to think of it, I’ve always been good at planning things. For example, my mum always make me plan the meals for holiday celebrations. However, it took helping other people for me to realise my talent and that I was actually good at something! Why don’t you give it a go? You never know what hidden talent volunteering might help you to uncover!

For me, uncovering a hidden talent that also helps others made me realise that I am important and I should be confident in myself and abilities. Even better – it has made me feel brave enough to try out even more new things!