The Importance of Volunteering: College Students Should Do Community Service Before Graduating

Although community service is a great way to give back to the community, it has been tainted by its use as a requirement for high school graduates. Forcing volunteer work should be recognized for more than just a bare minimum, is unfair to those who have other obligations and provides no lasting benefit to the students. Many people and schools believe that making community service not optional for receiving a diploma could only benefit the students it’s required of but in a way it’s more harmful than helpful.

I enjoy community involvement and believe that everybody should lend a hand in their community. I have many volunteer experiences within my community, both through clubs and on my own accord. I plan to become a role model for my peers in community involvement, encouraging others to join in, by actively participating in volunteer work. Furthermore, I expect to enrich the Honors Program own community involvement by researching and discussing new opportunities for students to reach out to their community. As a result, I will encourage others to help out in making our community a better place, and subsequently gain a broader perspective through our involvement. Therefore, I plan to impact the Honors Program and community through my consistent involvement in volunteer

Politically, socially, environmentally or one person at a time, how will you give back to society? Day in and day out many citizens change the world, or they do just the opposite and make the world a worse place than when they woke up. The article I chose to review is, “Community Service” written by Robert Coles. The article tells a story of college students who make a difference in the world through peer tutoring, an act of community service, and have such an impact that they act as role models for Coles and he begins to do the same. Briefly in the beginning of the article, Coles states that, “students are likely to express their lofty political and social impulses and practical desires to change the world through community service, even if in limited or modest ways.”(Robert Coles, pg.93) We must make an ultimate decision about the world we live in, will we choose to make a difference in the lives of fellow citizens or discriminate and punish not only them but ourselves by not sharing the knowledge we have been taught.

A continuous debate that is currently receiving much attention is whether community service should be a mandatory graduation requirement. Preparing students to effectively function in the real world is an important aspect of our education system. Today more than ever, there is an emphasis on having experience before beginning work. Most jobs are now focused on looking past your resume to see what you have given back to the community. Nevertheless, it is important that schools focus on preparing college students for the work force by mandating that they receive all of the necessary exposure and experience. Numerous schools across the country have mandated that in order for their students to graduate, they must complete a predetermined amount of community service. In Maryland, high school students are required to complete a minimum of 75 hours of service in order to graduate. However, this decision has resulted in a lot of mixed responses. Advocates of this decision stress that mandatory community service opens doors for students, while the opponents feel that it takes away valuable time from students who need to focus on their education. I believe that gaining experience outside of school is critical for future success in life. To ensure that students are prepared to transition smoothly from school to work, they need to be involved with the community while in school in order to build the leadership skills that are necessary to succeed.

I am a graduating senior who shows civic-mindedness by volunteering at my local YMCA. I believe by helping the younger generation, it helps me to develop the skills that will be essential in my future. In continuation, these skills will have a big impact on my profession career.

Taking time to volunteer at the many nonprofit organizations, homeless shelters, advocacy centers, philanthropic fundraisers, local schools and child care facilities in the inner city is not always at the forefront of young people’s minds while navigating through their college experiences. But, with a little push from student organizations, local nonprofits and passionate individuals, volunteerism and community change can start to take a front seat and become not just an opportunity, but also a priority in the lives of young people.

Another need on our campus is the need for students to have volunteering opportunities available to them. Our campus is located in a high socio-economic community where students are blessed to be very privileged. Unfortunately, students are often very self-centered and don’t think of others who may have less opportunities. By developing a program that always students to leave the campus to use the skills they are learning in the classroom, students will become more connected to the community and less focused on themselves.

Encouraging students to engage in meaningful, sustained community service and get involved in causes that speak to

The United States is a country of volunteers. In 2002-2003, 64 million Americans (28.8 percent of those 16 and older) donated 52 hours a year, the equivalent of more than one full work week, to building shelters, coaching Little League, caring for the elderly, teaching literacy, and countless other community-minded pursuits. Statistics show in Source F that “groups mandatory and nonvolunteers – were less likely to volunteer 8 years after high school than persons who strongly encouraged to volunteer or did it for strictly voluntary reason (43 percent).”

“Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together” (Ryan). These words said by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, reflects the words my parents would always say to me when I was little. I would donate old clothes that did not fit, or toys I did not play with anymore. Every summer I would volunteer at my town’s public library, as well as at my church. However, as I got older, doing the simple tasks at the library felt tedious and uninteresting so I stopped volunteering for a while. There were times when I had spare time that could have and should have been put to use volunteering, but I did not have the motivation. However, after being inducted into my High School’s National Honors Society, I needed volunteer hours in order to remain in it. This was the motivation I needed to begin volunteering again.

“On the morning of September 24th, five students from Valley Regional High School set out to New Haven, Connecticut. They did this along with their teacher Mrs. Hambourg, the spearhead of the high school’s Interact club.The goal of this group of six was to help make a difference in lives of people who are less fortunate than themselves. The Interact club at Valley was established with the intent of getting student involved with the community. This great citizenship club builds character in students through offering multiple opportunities to get involved and help out other groups around the state. One such opportunity that was taken up by these particular students was Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit volunteer based group that builds houses across the nation for those in need.

At a very young age, I made it a goal of mine to volunteer at a different organization every summer. Since the summer of seventh grade I have accumulated near 500 community service hours. I have matured, gained responsibility, and my work ethic has only strengthened from participating in Improvement Committees, Hospital Secretary, Camp Counselor, set design and application of theatrical make up and much more. I have been accepted into 7 different clubs and organizations, not counting earning the title of Vice President of National Beta from 2015-2017.

In “Serve or Fail,” Dave Eggers dissatisfies the phenomenon that although college students have too much leisure, they are not willing to give a few hours doing community services. Eggers suggests that colleges should consider instituting a service requirement for graduation, and colleges are best-poised to create in their students a lifelong commitment to volunteering. He pointed out that there are even

Discussing about volunteering to teenagers should be the first step for a better life, since teenagers are the future of tomorrow and they will leave a mark from yesterday. Volunteering has been such an important matter, that schools in many countries around the world established that 12th grade students will need certain hours of community service in order to graduate. But the frequent answers all the schools are getting are “Why do I need to volunteer? I have better things to do!” What people are forgetting is that each one of them is part of a community, a community that is not perfect and that the government sometimes forgets about their problems or needs, because obviously the government needs to take care of other things that require more attention. People are not only helping others, they are also helping themselves (Volunteering).

As an 18-year-old tennager, I was forced by my parents to participate a summer volunteer program in my freshman year. Even though I felt that I was a victim of “tyranny” in the beginning, I realized that I actually enjoyed the process of helping people in the middle of the program. Now, I participate that program every year as an active member, and I have gained the personal enrichment that I am unable to learn from other sources such as math club or SAT preparatory class. There is no doubt that community service can bring essential benefits in helping students develop their moral value and future interest, and it should be mandatory because some students attempt to utilize community service as a tool for their own profit without the school supervision.