Now, Abigail Clark (20) is in line to win the International Volunteer Headquarters volunteer of the year award for her efforts.
''It's just been fantastic to learn all these new skills and know that you are helping somebody,'' Miss Clark said.
''There's just this great spirit when you're volunteering. No-one's looking out for themselves. They're all looking out for someone else.''
Juggling a double degree with about 25 full days of volunteering was tough but Miss Clark said it had really given her self-confidence she had not had before.
''I was pretty shy. I didn't have a lot of confidence in myself. I was a bit awkward,'' she said.
Volunteering for the Dunedin Night Shelter, organising student volunteer teams, fundraising for disasters, playing the piano at schools and launching her own university volunteer programme were just some of the activities she had done this year.
Miss Clark was the only New Zealander shortlisted from ''hundreds'' of applications.
The other 11 were either from the United States or Canada.
''It's just such an honour to be nominated,'' she said.
Winning the most votes on the shortlist meant she would get flights, insurance and fees paid for a two-week trip to Zambia to undertake volunteer work.
International Volunteer Headquarters sends ''thousands'' of volunteers to more than 30 countries around the world each year.
Miss Clark's hope was for a career teaching mathematics and she planned to continue volunteering.
