High School and Students

In "Serve or Fail," Dave Eggers argues that college should consider instituting a service requirement for graduation. Eggers gives us some purpose of college education to link with volunteering that help students getting beneficial effects. He gave some good points in terms of helping others out. He explains that college is too short to sit back and become the best foosball player and waste your time with no commitments to any after school obligations, etc. I think that everyone should be able to give some of their time to volunteer and put a smile on someone's face because they think that you care. I find Dave Eggers writing “Serve or Fail” very persuasive for the following reasons.

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.

Furthermore, the author acknowledges that the service requirement won’t be fit everywhere. He says It wouldn’t be practical for community college students who generally have considerable family and work demands. Egger’s says although you would exempt community college students there would still be millions of able-bodied young people. He suggests that modest hours can make a huge impact. He gives an example of the flexibility colleges could have with students so they don’t feel so burdened, he proposes the college gives them credit for their service. Furthermore, the author creates another way a college can make it possible on a student. Dave Egger’s implies that colleges could limit their service requirement to their junior year, when a student

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.

Often as we grow our schedules we forget to acknowledge the fact that our name does not read “volunteer needed”. It has been said, and I sincerely repeat, that if we fail ever say no than our yes loses its value. A resounding alarm greeted an early six o'clock sunlight that signaled the end of a sleep cycle. Pulling on clothes and a quick flash of vision directed at a schedule summed up the morning other than the arrival to a National Honor Society meeting, which would be followed by a Leo club lunch meeting and trailed by a Business Professionals of America after school practice. A typical day of a Stephenson High School senior displays in this way. They are involved in many activities, both school oriented and community involved. This leaves little to no time to develop personality traits other than ones that involve servitude. While it is important to be involved in the community, overinvolvement decreases the quality of the rendered services and overwhelms the individual performing these service

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.

Over the past decade, as the job market has become more competitive - volunteering has become a way to show superiority when it comes to applying for positions in the work force. This influential change has encouraged high school and college level students to participate more in extracurricular activities. Most large corporations and firms are now looking to hire those individuals with outstanding GPAs, strong work ethic, and dedication of time and effort to other activities apart from their academic studies. Colleges such as Liberty University mandate that their students complete twenty hours of Christian service per semester.

In Dave Egger’s article “Serve or Fail’ he explains how college students should be required to volunteer for public service. Dave Egger’s describes how many college students spend most of their time doing things that aren't necessary such as “ maybe they're in their rooms, painting their toenails black with a Q-tip and shoe polish.”(180) I do not agree with Dave Egger’s that students should do community service hours because they are several reasons why they won't be able to. Many college students have families to take care of, jobs they have to work in order to pay off bills or attend school classes and etc.

In chapter 5, LeRoux covers how community service and voluntary action fuel the mission of many organizations. Volunteers are an important aspect of non profit organizations especially. It was very interesting to me to read about the research that has been done about volunteering and how to keep and attract volunteers. Better understanding the motivations behind volunteers is an important part of the non profit sector. Many organizations are working hard to figure out ways to make the volunteer experience personalized to each individual and making it a good and inspiring experience for both sides. Making the experience important to the volunteer and the cause or organization keeps volunteers volunteering and keeps the organizations moving. The reading about college volunteering mentions the importance of hands on experience for students and how it can be a great service learning opportunity and way for students to express the causes that they are passionate about.

On average on 26% of Americans volunteer, this surprised me on how low this number truly was. I now understand why community service is required for most classes, because without us kids out volunteering the numbers would be substantially lower. This proves to be true by a study done by Debra Blum shows that hot spots for volunteer work is in college towns, such as Provo, Madison, Wisconsin and Iowa City, Iowa. To me this is pointing out that people that have higher education are more likely to give back to their communities. This can be explained with certain theories that will be broken down later in the essay along with other materials.

This will lead to students partaking in community service in their free time which is always a major positive and something everyone should be involved in. Scott Seider, Samantha Rabinowicz, and Susan Gillmor talk about service-learning in “Differential Outcomes for American College Students Engaged in Community Service-Learning Involving Youth and Adults”. The authors also state “Students achieve a greater awareness of social issues and a deeper commitment to community involvement” (Seider, Rabinowicz, & Gilmore). The authors of the article also use Kendrick, Markus, Howard, and King as references for the quote. By helping the community, a person has a deeper relationship and a better understanding of it.

Most students just don’t feel the need to volunteer in the community. Some feel they need more study time, and others just want more recreational time. They don’t realize the benefits of working for their local community. Since Eggers experienced this first hand, he knows that a college or university needs to require its students to have a certain number of community service hours before graduating in order to have the students gain the benefits from service-learning. A university cannot simply expect its student to seek out the work themselves; the students need some form of motivation.

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.

Service, although already an integral and practiced part of today’s society, making it mandatory would have a positive impact by ensuring its continuance. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency and the nation’s largest grant maker for volunteering, last year in America there were 62.6 million volunteers, donating 7.8 billion hours of time at an estimated monetary value of $184 Billion dollars. Imagine the impact it could have if every single American were putting in hours of service. The potential for a grander impact goes up exponentially. Some research indicates that voluntary service is in decline. In fact, according to Dawn C. Carr with Psychology Today, “The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the 2013 volunteering rates for the United States, showing a decline of 25.4 percent, the lowest rate since the survey was first administered in 2002.” This is alarming considering how impactful

Nowadays, it is very difficult to get a job without a College Diploma. Our ever-increasing demands on student’s academic performances have insured well-educated adults, but what we have failed to focus on is the vital component of volunteerism as an integral part of rearing well-rounded adults. College students should be required to complete a year of community service/volunteer work before they can graduate, in order to create mature and caring adults and versatile future leaders. By mandating all College students across the United States of America to add another year to their studies and use this year for community service/volunteer work only, we will be able to increase their knowledge of community need, civic responsibility, and allow