what exactly is "personal reference" mean?

College Life
1

<p>I need to fill out an application for volunteering…
but on one of the section it says “references” and there are 3 sub-sections
one is personal, the other one is academic and the last one is professional…
I asked two of my high school teachers to be my academic and professional references…
(They only asked for phone number, and address… so no recommendation letter or like that)
but for the “personal” section… who should I put?
Is it ok if I put my parents or friends?
I’m confused… I really want to volunteer there…
and I really don’t want to make stupid mistakes…</p>

<p>and just out of curiosity… if I put “Can I ask you a favor?” as a title of the email that I will send to a teacher, would that be impolite? I know that she receives a lot of emails and I want to get to the point right away… If that is impolite, what would be the nice way to put it in a title?</p>

<p>Thank You…</p>

2

<p>Professional reference means a boss or anyone you directly reported to when you worked or volunteered.
Personal reference means an adult you know who will vouch for your character.</p>

3

<p>Personal reference would be an adult (a friend’s parent; an adult neighbor; co-worker of your parents; church youth pastor; adult adviser of a community club you are in like 4-H or Girl/Boy Scouts; a coach of a sport you play), but not a relative or a friend your own age.</p>