Community Service By Robert Coles

Over a century ago, Woodrow Wilson implored higher education to seek to answer the questions and challenges of our community and nation by sharing ownership of the issues that define the well-being of our society. More recently, President Barack Obama stated: “Our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern”. Service to others has been an integral part of my life that I anticipate continuing through adulthood. A service project that I completed over the summer taught me about the resiliency of the human spirit and the importance of widening my circle.

In tenth grade, my English teacher posed the class with a question: what are you going to do for your community? She emphasized the importance of making a positive impact, even if it meant simply smiling as you hold the door open for someone. She prompted us to go out of our comfort zone and do something for our community. While I had been volunteering at Church and at school, I had never really taken a step out of my comfort zone. Instead of just helping out in, say, a soup kitchen, I decided that it was time

One deciding to serve their surrounding community in an attempt to better the lives of people living in that community is one of the most selfless actions one individual person can perform. Throughout my time in high school career I committed myself to serving the broader community in order to better society whether it be me serving as Co-President of Life is Delicious or raising money for Special Olympics Connecticut by doing the Penguin Plunge.

I participate in a tutoring program for elementary students in Dorchester, an underserved community in Boston. Working with the children has helped me eliminate preconceived ideas that led me to believe schools were bad because the parents did not pay enough attention to their children's educations. I now realize that the problems in education have more to do with the amount of funding that goes into certain schools. Ignorance and distance from reality caused me to believe that struggling neighborhoods inherently produce bad students. I now understand that the problems within the school do not reflect the students’ abilities.

The author, Steve Cohen, seems to understand the anguish and stress most high school and college students face during the application process, especially those who come from poorer neighborhoods, but doesn’t feel as if the process needs revision. In fact, Cohen says that community service is overloading students with the already “essential” work, however, says this, “Encouraging high school kids to make “more meaningful contributions to other” will just provide new ways to game the system.” He looks down on students who work hard in their home life. Kids who support their families and struggle through school are

Winston Churchill’s quote "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give" embodies what community service is really about. Over the years I have had the pleasure of working for several organization and volunteering in a variety of different areas. There has been a community service experience that changed my life tremendously though. From 2009 until 2014 I had the amazing opportunity to work for the Nash-Edgecombe County Teen Court Program and doing so profoundly shaped my future.

While being a good, law abiding citizen, is the first step to social responsibility, a really crucial part is being involved and doing your part. The article, “Individual Rights and Community Responsibilities, written by Pat Nanzer, informs that, “History records voluntary actions by private citizens working together to right injustices, change directions and pursue benefits for the common good. This list includes the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement. In every case, people voluntarily came together with a shared sense of purpose for the common good.” This shows that volunteer work, when done as a community, can really change things and make a big impact.

However, volunteering can be difficult to achieve as it “relies disproportionately upon citizens possessing ample time and resources [which] risks favoring certain members of society over others. This encourages the dominance of extreme interests [and] outcomes that civic engagement seeks to avoid” (Civic Engagement, 2018). By volunteering and demonstrating philanthropism, individuals gain influence over others who recognize their work. As such, the act of volunteering must avoid being contorted from an act of good will to an act of

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

“The staff here at Frances Slocum is very grateful every day for the selfless investment of time that the mentors give,” she said. “Many of these students have no other positive adult in their lives. For children in poverty, a significant relationship outside poverty may be the link to a better life.”

The great Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” I deem this to be a vital question that everyone should ask themselves. I wholeheartedly agree that serving others impacts your community in a positive light. Therefore, I've made it my duty to volunteer with students throughout my community. This is because I’m very proactive about seeking change in the area I grew up in.

“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.

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 programs done by colleges and high schools in order to gain more than two million volunteer hours a year. Owning a lot of time, Being mature and able to handle wide range of tasks, and receiving the opportunity to discover a potential career, make Eggers believes that college students are uniquely suited to do volunteer work. Eggers admits

Service learning has given me the new opportunity experience helping others and including myself. I enjoy volunteer work because It’s a way of giving back to the community, but also I’ve become confident in public speaking. In addition, volunteer work is a great rewarding experience, and it 's also helped me develop social skills, by supporting others. The contribute can make a positive impact in many ways, Barack Obama said, “ the best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the work with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” There are element that could promise will succeed in life, however, I believe to learn and discover. I will continue volunteering work whenever I can, and I strongly encourage people to join volunteer work because the meaningful impact the lives of their and help thousands of the students confront in reading. It was a great pleasure for me to contribute to the organization to the development of the community through Political Science class volunteering work. The impact that was able to make our community better future.

Nevertheless, the common misconception linked to graduating College students is that they are well-rounded adults, who have done their time and are ready and able to enter the working force and go on with their lives. The fact of the matter is that not all recent college students are mature and knowledgeable on their community and the world at large. “Teens who volunteer increase their knowledge of the world and the problems that face it” (“Youths”). This quote is not only applicable to teens, but college students as well; unfortunately, college students become isolated from the rest of the world while they are in their course of study and do not make time to give back to the community that helped them become who they are.