You only need One
Interact club members doing community service at a yacht club.
Why not swim with the dolphins over the summer? Or why not go to Hawaii? That’s what some Miami High students did to complete their community service.
Community service is any voluntary work that benefits the community. There are lots of service opportunities out there from runs to festivals, to maybe even helping out in a yacht club, that might be just right for you.
Like it or not, community service is a must to graduate. “It is required to have one hour of community service that must come with a community service project that includes an essay,” said 12th grade counselor Ms. Echaverria.
Luckily for us, Miami High has service clubs such as Key and Interact that can help students do their service requirement. The Service Vice President of many clubs tries to find community service opportunities for club members.
For the GSA club, Service VP Ariel Trueba looks for LGBTQ-related community service opportunities. For FEA, for which Ariel is also the Service VP, he looks for community service within an educational field.
Being a VP for a club is a big job, but it also comes with its difficulties. Students not showing up to the community service opportunities is definitely one of them, said Ariel.
According to the article, “How community service impacts more than just the community” posted on the Frontstream website <http://www.frontstream.com/how-community-service-impacts-more-than-just-the-community/>, volunteer activities can include events such as park and street cleanups, local school projects, serving food at your local food pantry, helping with youth activities, and more. Simply volunteering a few hours can have a great impact in your community.
Some students can definitely say they have been to the best service ever. Interact’s treasurer John Gonzalez said that his favorite volunteer activity was painting bathrooms and fixing lights at a yacht club. At the end of service, he got the opportunity to get in the pool.
Some community service opportunities can even happen in another state. Yep, that’s right, away from home. Junior Albert Villalobos went to Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 3rd, 2013. He went with a non-profit organization to strengthen America’s youth. They use the marines as a form of discipline. He went with young marines from all over the nation and placed flags on fallen soldiers crosses.
Sophomore Anivette Wong said that her best service was the Halloween Run with Interact. “I got to see people in their costumes and throw candy at them,” she said.
Sophomore Elizabeth Astacio’s best service was at the Miami Seaquarium where she had to tell people the locations of the exibits and, at the end, she got a free pass to swim with the dolphins over the summer.
If you’re looking to apply to universities or for scholarships, community service is definitely a way to seek their attention. According to Ms. Echaverria, “Different scholarships require you to have certain hours. It all depends on the scholarship you would want to apply for.”
Lots of students start volunteering at an early age. Albert Villalobos started doing community service in 6th grade.
Elizabeth Astacio started doing community service her freshman year. “I feel like I don’t have so much pressure on me due to the fact that I started early,” she said.