School of thought — In the spirit of service

Written by Alexandra Jaffe
Sunday, 01 November 2009 05:51

If in high school we had to write “What I did last summer” essays like we did in middle school, most of the essays would be incredibly impressive.

A couple of my friends went abroad to teach basic reading skills to underprivileged elementary students. Others built schools and renovated homes in remote villages. Some kids chose to volunteer on political campaigns. I know a couple of kids who worked at orphanages in countries like Moldova and Romania. Others chose to find local service opportunities. From volunteering at the nature center to working on local farms, to going on a Midnight Run and aiding homeless people, there are plenty of ways to serve the community from home. Community service has become more emphasized for high school students in recent years. Many high schools have instituted community service requirements for graduation. At St. Luke’s, students must log at least 20 hours of community service for each year of high school. That being said, the vast majority of St. Luke’s students graduate with far more than their required hours.

College applications are another place where students want to be able to list ways that they have bettered their community… or the world. I mean, how can a college turn away the boy who personally set up plumbing for an entire rural community?

But a long list of service projects will not get you into college.

With all this new pressure to do community service, the true spirit of serving is getting lost. Teens are more caught up with counting hours they have completed than absorbing the impact of what they have done. That can be blamed in part to the new graduation requirements and college applications, which are turning what used to be a good deed into a necessary chore. Just like taking the SATs or getting good grades, doing community service has become just another box to check.

But although they may make community service a chore instead of a choice, graduation requirements are not all bad.

It’s important for teens to remember the real meaning behind the service work they are doing. In many cases, the services that students provide and the work that they do can have a significant impact of people’s lives. By teaching kids how to read or building a school in a foreign village, you are impacting the futures of those children. By volunteering on a political campaign, you are helping to change politics in our own country. By giving a homeless person food and warm clothing, you are changing his or her life for at least one night.

That’s what community service is about. It’s about changing the world we live in for the better. It’s not about slapping together enough hours to graduate and having a bunch of service projects to list on an application. So next time you’re about to sign up for a community service opportunity just because you’re short a couple hours, remember what it really is that you’re doing. Remember the real spirit of service.

Sign up not because you want another extracurricular on your resume; sign up because you want to improve your community and the world that you live in.

Alexandra Jaffe is a senior at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan. Her columns rotate with those of three other New Canaan students.