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Make good use of your time.  Because it is unlike any other profession, being a volunteer in the fire service is not like being a volunteer at a Library or at summer camp.  Being a volunteer fire fighter is a life decision which carries with it an inordinate amount of dedication and responsibility.  When you are not getting paid to do something that can be life changing, it takes some extra work and dedication.  While we have heard the speeches about expectations before, there is no better way to put it.  Just because you don’t get paid, doesn’t mean that you can be disengaged and can just do what you wish.  It means that you have to motivate yourself, for a reason other than compensation to do the right thing.  First there is the “team”, you have to become part of the team because the job cannot be done by one person.  Fire fighting is like an orchestra, when everyone plays together and gets proper guidance from the leader the end result is an enjoyable sound.  If everyone does their own thing, doesn’t contribute, ignores the leader or the leader is absent, the result is noise.  So what’s the point?

The point is, that while you are a volunteer and don’t get paid, you signed on to this job because you wanted to serve the community you live in.  At least that is what you wrote on your application.  Don’t forget world peace, you do want world peace don’t you?  Anyway, you signed up to be a volunteer fire fighter, so  do the right thing.  You need to invest your unpaid time efficiently and you must be part of the team.  Not the whole team, but part of the team.  You are not expected to be at the station full time, we understand you have other things to do, you have a life.  There is a lot to learn and much of what you learn  is about keeping yourself and your team mates safe.  So when you walk into the station, it’s not about you, it’s about the team, the fire department, the community, the service.  As a volunteer member of this team make the commitment to do it right, invest the time efficiently and help clean up that which is dirty, study the location of equipment on the apparatus, walk around the station with an SCBA on so that your intimately familiar with it, learn the streets, pay attention in drills (stop texting) and make sure you can be a vital and useful member of the team.  If you are not willing to learn, to be responsible or to contribute as a member of the team, you are no different than the person walking by outside the fire station.