It’s Nightline Awareness Week, a week dedicated to a service supporting students through difficult times.
Out of hours, when no one else is listening anymore, our Nightline volunteers are there to listen to you, to give you the space you need if you want to talk, to share your deepest thoughts anonymously with someone who won’t judge you. If you are stressed, feel alone, something has happened that you don’t want to talk about with anyone you know.
Nightline is hugely important and we know that not every student who might need our service is aware of it. November is coming to an end, it’s getting colder and darker and the deadlines are coming closer… It’s a time during which it is important to remember that we, Nightline, are there for you.
While Nightline Awareness Week is a time when we reach out to people, to callers, to everyone really, to make them aware that we are there for them, it is equally important to make sure that we as Nightline volunteers are heard too. That we get a voice, can share our experiences and let others know how it is to be part of this student service.
To start off Nightline Awareness Week, I would like to share my story. I’ve been with SCNightline for over a year now and it has definitely been one of the most challenging but also one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. To be honest, it is tough to jump up in the middle of the night to the sound of an unpleasantly loudly ringing phone, knowing that the person on the other end is probably calling because they are not doing great. Still half asleep, after getting a fright from the ringing that ripped you out of your sleep and back into reality, you sit and listen, try to push aside your own emotions and to respond to the caller with empathy. It takes time and practice to not only give people the space to talk but to make them feel heard. But when they do feel heard, there is nothing more rewarding than being on shift and a caller ending the conversation with the words “I think I feel better now, thank you”. Personally, I feel like I am making a difference with every call that comes in and even if we only get one call on a shift, that is what makes our volunteering worthwhile.
We are currently trying to shape up our Nightline to make it an even better place for volunteers and playing an active part in this process has made me feel like I am part of something bigger. In my eyes, Nightline is not only a great service for callers but a fantastic place to be as a volunteer.
I hope you engage with Nightline Awareness Week and call us if you ever need to.
Nightline is a confidential service so all volunteers are kept anonymous.
