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Introduction
Community service or service learning can be defined as an intentional and unpaid work with the intention of helping the community in a specific area. It can refer “to a variety of individual voluntary efforts, from working in food banks and shelters for the homeless to helping in nursing homes to participating in tutoring projects and literacy campaigns. In addition, the phrase sometimes encompasses activism with regard to such issues as homelessness and drug abuse” (Boyte 766). In the contemporary era, most people consider volunteering as a nice but nonobligatory thing. As far as students are concerned, there are a lot of them who participate in community services. However, there has been a rapid decrease in the number of such students in the recent years. There are a number of colleges that require students to perform community service before the completion of their graduation. I believe that college students be involved in community service as it is an exceptionally inspiring experience that may prove advantageous for them both personally and professionally.
Why Community Service is Beneficial for College Students?
Community service must be made obligatory for college students for many reasons. To begin with, community service has a strong association with educational accomplishments. Students who involve themselves in service learning have a tendency to perform better in their academics. Community service is frequently regarded as a missing link that enables students to apply their classroom learning in reality by focusing on human needs and requirements. Therefore, they are offered a great opportunity to enrich themselves as they start to observe how various concepts and ideas learnt by them in the classroom apply to the real world. It is widely acknowledges that community service is a learning experience beyond the classroom walls (McAdam & McDermott 1).
Secondly, community service provides students the opportunity of experiencing an elevated level of self-efficacy. If the truth is told, students who engage themselves in community service realize that they have a unique chance of making a real difference in peoples’ lives. Thus, community service helps them to have a greater understanding of their competency and ability that eventually leads them to develop more confidence. In addition, they also develop a ‘can do’ attitude which facilitates them to perform better, personally, academically, and professionally.
Furthermore, community service is also necessary for college students as those who engage in such services have greater probability of becoming voters after growing up. This is because their participation in volunteering activities from adolescence makes them aware of the various societal issues. Their involvement in communities makes them more concerned towards the betterment of people. For that reason, they have a likeliness to turn out as smart voters. In addition, community service helps students to develop problem-solving skills. As they often face challenges in the discharge of their voluntary duties, students learn to handle difficult situations and tackle problems. Their volunteering work helps them in learning various ways to solve problems. Moreover, community service is also a big deal for college students as it offers various health benefits. It helps them to become healthier, physically and mentally. A number of studies in this area reveal that people who volunteer are physically and psychologically healthier as compared to people who do not.
As far as professional benefits of community service are concerned, volunteering work makes college students more striking to possible employers. This is because participation in community service develops certain significant skills in students that are extremely valued by employers. These skills include teamwork, the ability of following instructions, time management, and problem-solving and so on. Thus, community service opens various doors to a better future for the students. Likewise, participation in community service can make students enjoy networking and communicating with people of different age brackets, ethnicities, and social class. It would not be incorrect to state that community service provides a golden opportunity to connect with others. As a consequence, they are able to build up new connections and relationships within the community they serve in. This allows them to get together with new people and employed by new companies. In the similar fashion, connecting with others in the community may help students to receive letters of recommendations and win scholarships as well.
In addition, community service has the ability to make students develop a sense of responsibility. Volunteering and helping people make students realize that they have the potential of doing great things in life. As a result, they become more responsible as students and as citizens. Ultimately, they start to acquire a sense of pride after noticing the positive changes their contributions bring in the lives of helpless and needy in the community.
Conclusion
Community service evidently allows students to lead a better academic, social, personal, and professional life. It is not only associated with academic achievements but also enhances “five aspects of personal well-being: happiness, life satisfaction, sense of control over life, physical health and positive mood” (Stevens xiv). Therefore, it must be made an obligation.
Works Cited
Boyte, H. C. "Community Service and Civic Education." Phi Delta Kappan 1 June 1991: 765-67. Print.
McAdam, M., and E. McDermott. Expanding Federal Work-Study and Community Service Opportunities: An FWS Resource Guide. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Education, 1997. Print.
Stevens, Cheryl. Service Learning for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation: A Step-by-Step Guide. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print.
