Volunteering is a big part of the student experience. When I was an undergraduate at Leeds University in the early 1980s I was part of a project that read texts and coursework onto tape for blind students. After a short time I taught other readers how to read and use the machinery. It was enjoyable, I learned a lot, made new friends, and got into a side of student life I might not otherwise have encountered. I don’t know how I got involved in it – I think I heard about it, and it seemed like a good thing to do. 
Students volunteer up to this day, and beyond. I know at least one fellow OT blogger is a student and a volunteer. Do your students do voluntary work? Are you a student that helps aged giraffes onto their unicycles, maybe? Perhaps you go into schools to help children to read? If you haven’t volunteered before, or are already volunteering but are looking for ideas or support, then I bring news of Student Volunteering Week 2012, which has its own FB page (Disclaimer – Mrs Crox is organising this, which is how I know about it.) Here’s the official FB page info:
February 20-26 is Student Volunteers Week 2012. In the last major study 63% of surveyed students reported formally volunteering since they had started university, and gave just over 3 million hours to communities in the 2009/10 academic year. Student Volunteering Week 2012, sponsored by Santander, celebrates the size and diversity of this contribution, as well as encouraging and supporting students and organisations in voluntary activities.
So now you know.
Henry, this took me back to the mid-late 1980s when I spent an afternoon a week as a volunteer in a small cubicle in a house in Hyde Terrace on Leeds campus reading books out loud to the recording machine you mention (maybe you showed me how to use it, or had you gone by then?). Mostly science and maths books, with the occasional novel, which was a relaxing break, especially from the maths texts and trying to make the equations meaningful and get the rhythm right. Made me appreciate the enormous problems students with sight problems have when it comes to complex scientific material.
Indeed! I graduated in 1984 so perhaps was slightly before your time. Thanks for chipping in.