“Should I do some community service?” I hear that from time to time. Now that summer is here. Many students have some free time that they could devote to community service. Should they? Like so many questions related to scholarships in particular and college in general, the best answer might be “maybe.” Many scholarships include community service as one criteria, and for some it’s the main criteria. So sure, doing some community service will possibly be an asset for the “average” student. Still, I would offer the following points for consideration. First, if you’re thinking of community service solely for the purpose of scholarship eligibility, you may want to simply find a job, or another job, and go for the sure cash. Community service is probably a better bet if you truly want to contribute. Say, for instance, if animals are your passion, and you want to help out at a local shelter. Second, you’ll probably want to work for a recognized organization. Scholarship providers often want documentation of your efforts. Mowing the lawn for your senior citizen neighbor is a great thing to do, but will you be able to document your efforts to the satisfaction of scholarship providers? Third, you might consider creating a fun volunteering opportunity. Maybe a local elementary school would like to stage a summer read-a-thon, and the only thing standing in the way is the lack of people to run it. If you organize some friends, you could do something really special, and look great for doing it. (NOTE: Any time you work with children you’ll want to have others, including some adults, involved.) Finally, how many hours of community service are enough? To really know the answer, research some scholarships you might apply for. From my experience, I’d say that 50-60 hours would be enough for most of the scholarships I see. That’s a lot of time, but perhaps not so bad if you spread it out over the whole summer. | |
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Should I do community service for a scholarship?
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