Community service

By Kamisha Harvey, sophomore

If you go to your guidance counselors and talk to them about how you can get a scholarship, you might think they will just talk to you about grades. However, they will most likely bring up community service activities as well. If you participate in community service, and have extra curricular activities to support your grades, colleges will be very impressed with what they see.

Community Service is a great thing for Milwaukee. Although many people don’t participate in community service opportunities, that doesn’t mean they’re lazy or don’t care. Maybe they just don’t know what to participate in that’s going to fit them.

Participating in activities and community services tells Admissions Staff that you care and are willing to help out; they want active students to represent their colleges. Plus, being involved will help you feel good about yourself and about what you can give to other people.

Freshman Kasaundra Jones participates in community service activities at shelters. At the shelters she serves food and play games with the people there. She likes to help people and those in need of help. She says, “I love to be around people and help people as well.”

Many people will do community service just to help out others. Many people say they like to help out those in need. They don’t want anything in return, it’s the thought of it that’s count.

“I usually don’t like to help out but I’ll help for the Lord any day.” States sophomore Ashleigh Johnson. She likes to be apart of community service activities that occur at her church. She cleans the church, serve food, helps out during after service activities and plant flowers.

Some students also enjoy working with children as their source of service. “I love kids. I’ll help out with other things in the community, but I usually help out the babies,” claims junior Darren Welch. He’ll go to daycares and play with the kids. Welch also says, “Babies are the easiest to watch. Yea they’re a lot of work but they don’t talk back or cause as much trouble.”

Senior Chuka Ofojebe says, “I love books and love to read. All books are interesting I there own way.” He also volunteers at book sales. He once applied for a job at the library. “Books are an interesting source to go to for anything.

Marquette University student Kaitie Kovach takes on service work even in college, but about her work in high school she states, “I did community service activities in high school and loved it.” The things she did in school were picking up trash and collecting leftovers from restaurants to donate shelters. She now works for the newspaper at Marquette, but it’s a job that she’d do for free. “As a senior in college, I sill participate in community service.”

Kovach liked doing the work, and so do our high school students. In the Mesmer poll, 70% people say that they would like to participate in community service activities. People mostly participate in community service by helping out others. Helping the needy. Freshman Kasaundra Jones says, “I participate in community service activities by helping the people at shelters. I serve food and clothes to them.”

40% said that they wouldn’t like to participate in community service because certain activities might be stressful to them. “I would serve food, but if I have to touch someone I don’t know then, I will not participate in community service,” Kedara Suber states. Some people don’t participate in community service because they don’t like to pick up or clean up after people. “If I have to pick up trash then I will definitely not participate in community service. Trash can be contaminated, and I do not want to catch anything,” states Suber.

All in all, many people we help for free and enjoy what they do. Community service is great thing that could help a lot throughout people lives, and if you want to make an impact on those reading your college applications, get involved as soon as you possibly can.