What was Jonas doing before he became the receiver?

Before Jonas is assigned to be the community's next Receiver of Memory, he goes to school with his peers and volunteers at different occupations throughout the community. Jonas also enjoys living a relatively carefree life and spends the majority of his leisure time playing with his friends. In Jonas's structured community, which is founded on the concepts of Sameness, each child is required to fulfill a certain number of volunteer hours before they are given an Assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve. While the adolescents volunteer at various jobs in the community, the Committee of Elders closely monitors and analyzes their actions. The Committee of Elders spends a significant amount of time determining the most ideal occupation for each adolescent and presents twelve-year-old children with their Assignment during the Ceremony of Twelve. Before Jonas is given his Assignment, he volunteers at the House of the Old alongside his friend, Fiona. Unlike some of his peers, Jonas is extremely nervous about the Ceremony of Twelve and has no idea what Assignment he will be given. During the Ceremony of Twelve, the Chief Elder initially skips Jonas's name before announcing that he has been selected to be the community's next Receiver of Memory, which is a revered position in their community.

Before Jonas became the new Receiver of Memory, he did not have a specific job in the community. He was not old enough to have been given his occupation and role in society. This occurs at the Ceremony of Twelve. Prior to this ceremony, the young people are required to acquire a large number of volunteer hours in various societal roles. As each young person gets more familiar with the various occupations, the child tends to naturally spend more time at certain volunteering positions. The Elders closely watch the children because the Elders want to place the Twelves in places where the Twelves will be beneficial to the society and "happy." In chapter 4, readers learn that Jonas does not mind spending his volunteer hours in the house of the old. As a result, readers tend to assume that Jonas's assignment will be there or for something similar. This does not happen, because Jonas is singled out to be the next Receiver of Memory because of his personality and his "capacity to see beyond."