What is Community Service?

For my first post, I’d like to open the discussion about community service. For example, what defines community service and what exactly does it entail? To me, community service is not simply volunteering in your community. I’ll start by giving a little background of my community service. In high school, I was a committee chair in my school’s chapter of key club. I was also a member of the National Honor Society which required 30 hours of community service, which I’m sure many of you are familiar with. I had many opportunities to participate in community service in high school because of these and they also gave me the insight of what defines community service. To me, community service should benefit both you and the community. That might sound cliché but it’s true. I know that to get my required 30 hours for National Honor Society, I had to do some service which I didn’t like at all. I would define this service simply as volunteer work. I didn’t really get anything out of it because I simply looked at it like something that had to get done, and because of that, I didn’t get the full experience. My community service through Key Club was much more enjoyable because I got to do things I liked and with my friends. I believe that is how community service should be to get the most out of, for all sides. You should do your service in an area you like so you also benefit from it. I don’t really have a strict definition of what community service entails. I just think it should better the community in some way you find fit. The thing I like about the service requirement in this class is that there are many different types of service available. Because of this, you can find a way to help your community in an area that interests, and hopefully benefits, you.