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Community Service
If you’re a student in Broward County, then you’re most likely well-acquainted with the concept of community service. Volunteer for at least forty hours, or don’t graduate.
Over my high school career, I’ve been kind of lazy about getting service hours, mainly because I can be kind of lazy. But this summer, I decided to be proactive and, last Friday, I started volunteering at a museum, where I realized just how rewarding community service can be.
Well, I guess that depends on your definition of rewarding.
Honestly, my first day was pretty uneventful. There was a lot of standing around doing nothing, interrupted by delightful encounters with vomit, faulty machinery and parents that complained about even the most insignificant of details, followed by some more standing around.
However, I had tried my absolute best, and I figured that alone would be enough to fill me with some sort of pride. I mean, I had devoted my entire day to “bettering the community”, so that should inspire some feeling of satisfaction, right?
But, as it turned it, I felt nothing. No sense of pleasure or intrinsic rewards of any kind. I just felt kind of tired and irritated.
At first, I thought I was a horrible person. Seriously, come on. Who doesn’t feel emotionally satisfied after eight hours of doing community service?
But then, I realized that I wasn’t all happy-go-lucky, because I didn’t feel like I really helped anyone. Would the world be any different if I had decided not to stand around inside the museum all day, doing absolutely nothing? No. I think it’s safe to say that my “community service” hadn’t exactly moved any mountains.
That’s when I realized that, in order to feel any sort of pride in yourself and your work, you have to volunteer for something you truly believe in, not some random cause for the sake of meeting a graduation requirement. That completely defeats the purpose of volunteering at all.
So, if you love writing, record books on tapes for the blind. If you want to be a doctor, spend time with patients at the nearest hospital. If you want to be a teacher, try tutoring younger students. Unless you feel emotionally connected to your service learning activity, neither party will benefit, and that is just as bad as not volunteering at all.
Over my high school career, I’ve been kind of lazy about getting service hours, mainly because I can be kind of lazy. But this summer, I decided to be proactive and, last Friday, I started volunteering at a museum, where I realized just how rewarding community service can be.
Well, I guess that depends on your definition of rewarding.
Honestly, my first day was pretty uneventful. There was a lot of standing around doing nothing, interrupted by delightful encounters with vomit, faulty machinery and parents that complained about even the most insignificant of details, followed by some more standing around.
However, I had tried my absolute best, and I figured that alone would be enough to fill me with some sort of pride. I mean, I had devoted my entire day to “bettering the community”, so that should inspire some feeling of satisfaction, right?
But, as it turned it, I felt nothing. No sense of pleasure or intrinsic rewards of any kind. I just felt kind of tired and irritated.
At first, I thought I was a horrible person. Seriously, come on. Who doesn’t feel emotionally satisfied after eight hours of doing community service?
But then, I realized that I wasn’t all happy-go-lucky, because I didn’t feel like I really helped anyone. Would the world be any different if I had decided not to stand around inside the museum all day, doing absolutely nothing? No. I think it’s safe to say that my “community service” hadn’t exactly moved any mountains.
That’s when I realized that, in order to feel any sort of pride in yourself and your work, you have to volunteer for something you truly believe in, not some random cause for the sake of meeting a graduation requirement. That completely defeats the purpose of volunteering at all.
So, if you love writing, record books on tapes for the blind. If you want to be a doctor, spend time with patients at the nearest hospital. If you want to be a teacher, try tutoring younger students. Unless you feel emotionally connected to your service learning activity, neither party will benefit, and that is just as bad as not volunteering at all.
1 Comment
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Comment by Danielle Kushner on June 25, 2009 at 4:25pm - it's true! i loveloveloveee little kids, so sophomore year i made 544 hours being a counselor in training at a summer camp :) and now im a counselor and getting paid! all's good
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