Analyzing Volunteer Mentoring in the Context of Game Theory

Let's think,

Is our Semester Holiday Bootcamp event a non-zero sum or zero-sum game? I am a mentor of this event and participants are my classmates.

If we do:

  • I learn how to mentor a group of people and community management.
  • I gain experience in public speaking.
  • Participants learn something beneficial to their future careers.
  • The MADES club shows activity.
  • I give up my precious semester holiday time.
  • Participants and I create a small network.

If we don't do:

  • I enjoy the semester holiday.
  • I can give attention to my other projects.
  • I can relieve stress.
  • Participants do not learn anything.
Note: Consider that we have a very large scale competition in the job market, but there are plenty of jobs that exist and participants will not overtake me professionally in a short-term bootcamp like this one.

Conclusion

If we do the event: I might experience burnout, but if that doesn't happen, I gain experience and participants learn something. It is a total win-win (except the burnout situation).

If we don't do the event: I can relieve some stress, but I won't gain any experience. Participants are neutral. It is neutral for participants and positive for me.

As we can see, in both situations no one loses, so it is a non-zero sum game. The pie is not fixed; we can make it bigger.

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