[Note: This is not the article where you should vote for this contestant. This is essayist No. 6, so in the voting article, which is here, just post a comment that says ‘6' to vote for this student. Voting is limited to one person per finalist per day, and closes at 11:59 p.m. on May 18. The finalist essay follows.]
Community service is a task that every teen must complete somewhere in those four years of high school. But to most of those adolescents, it’s more of a chore than a task. It has been labeled with a negative connotation ever since it began to be related to schoolwork.
When the only thing standing between you and a college acceptance, or an induction into the National Honors Society is a little more time at the elderly housing facility, you might see it as an obstacle instead of worthwhile way to enhance your community.
To me, community service isn’t extra, unnecessary work; it’s an extracurricular activity. It’s something to look forward to after school. All too many teenagers see volunteering as a chore or a required set of lines on an application, but they fail to see what amazing experiences can come out of it.
Volunteering isn’t just picking up trash on the side of the road anymore, but it’s been expanded. For me, I’ve taken two things I’m passionate about: namely God and working with kids, and wrapped them up into unforgettable volunteering experiences.
Throwing a plastic dodgeball with twenty middle-schoolers in a church basement isn’t exactly how most high-schoolers would want to spend their Wednesday night (especially if there’s still a pile of incomplete math homework waiting for them on their kitchen table at home).
However, after all of the youth groupgames with the kids are finished, hopefully with minimal ball-to-face injuries,we bring groups of them into different rooms and spread the word of God to them.
I never would have imagined how remarkable it would feel to discuss matters so imperative to me with these kids and have them react in such a positive way. Not only do we converse with them in a small group setting, but we just spendtime with them beforehand (hence the dodgeball).
Giving them guidance throughunfortunate circumstances using God’s word helps them through tough situations and makes me feel like I can make a difference in their lives. When a seventh-grade girl feels comfortable enough to tell me that someone is bullying her, and my advice and encouragement makes her return two weeks later with the news that the bully had ceased her teasing, it doesn’t feel like the “mandatory community service” that many teens claim that they “have to do”. It feels likeI have the power to change a community; one youth group attendee at a time.
I’ve done a good amount of volunteering with kids at my church, whether it be Youth Group, telling Bible stories to preschoolers at summer camp, or leading worship songs for the kids during Sunday school. For me, finding some things I’m passionate about (Christianity, singing, working with kids, acting… etc) has been key in my community service experiences.
If every teen just finds theirown talents or passions and uses them to give back, it’s so easy to turn that “mandatory volunteer work” into an experience that will help the community, andthat will be fulfilling to them.
[Note: This is not the article where you should vote for this contestant. This is essayist No. 6, so in the voting article, which is here, just post a comment that says ‘6' to vote for this student. Voting is limited to one person per finalist per day, and closes at 11:59 p.m. on May 18.]
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