Let’s pose a question: How many of you have a reason for why you serve?  You want to make the community a “better place”? You feel it is your duty to serve the community? How about just to have a stack of certificates that tally up the hundreds of hours you have collected from the various community projects you affiliate yourself with? We think it is  probably the latter.

While students may have no real personal concern for why they spend their time “volunteering,” do they really care? Though there is a chance that some do have a passion for the community, it seems that it is just students’ way to get into college.

We realize that getting into colleges becomes more and more competitive; admission officers are looking past academics and to extracurricular activities.  This means that students are joining more clubs and going out of their way to “help the community.”

While, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, typical youth volunteers contribute 29 hours of service a year, it seems like Palmetto students are expected by their peers to accumulate at least 100 per year.  If we only got 116 community service hours in our high school careers, we’d be considered underachievers who will never make it into college.

It is time that high school students realize that community service is supposed to be an enjoyable and fulfilling activity.  Admissions officers from colleges across the country will tell you that they don’t want to see 1000 hours from 100 different events and projects. They know what goes on, they know that it is very unlikely that we spent an so much of our lives in complete community servitude.

We suggest that you find one or two projects that you are truly passionate about, and spend your time dedicated to that activity. Find something you have strong feelings for: education, the arts, anything. Nike says, “Just do it”. We say, “ Do it right.”