Friends come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes even include fur. From the mess in the “condos” to the warm and fuzzy friends, senior Jocilyn Guerra loves her volunteer work.

Guerra volunteers at the Texas Humane Heroes Animal Shelter in Leander. She takes care of cats that are available for adoption including cleaning their “condos” and giving them food and water. She occasionally helps with the dogs as well.

“[I also] give them love through treats and a lot of petting,” Guerra said. “I love volunteering there, especially when potential adopters come in and ask questions about the pets because I can show them off and hopefully give them a new home.”

Guerra began her volunteer work at the shelter through the need of service hours for the International Baccalaureate program.

“Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always loved animals,” Guerra said. “I often acted like a puppy and crawled on the ground.”

Not only does Guerra get service hours from volunteering, but she also gets job experience.

“I have certainly become more responsible and learned how to manage my time more wisely,” Guerra said. “I need to be on time, speak with customers, clean up, and leave when my shift is over.”

Guerra plans on majoring in chemistry in college, and although volunteering in an animal shelter isn’t the typical way to prepare in her chosen field, she has still learned valuable lessons.

“[The volunteer work] has prepared me in how to gently handle objects, how to make sure to leave a clean environment at all times,” Guerra said, “and just mainly how to be responsible in learning what you need to do in order to keep yourself safe.”

Although volunteering can be time-consuming, Guerra says it’s worth it.

“You learn so much about how well you work with others and how you can do certain things in a fast but efficient way,” Guerra said. “I would recommend it to anybody who wants to be more responsible or if they just want to help loving animals find new homes by just being there and giving them love and support.”