Making a Difference

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary a volunteer is, "A person who voluntarily undertakes or expresses willingness to undertake a service." A volunteer can be a person of any age, race, gender, background, personality, or experience. The benefits of volunteering are endless. You are able to help people around you, the community in which you live in, change people's lives, make yourself feel better, and just know that you are making a difference.

I started getting involved in many volunteer activities my freshman year when I became part of the student government organization at Kennedy. I love all of the opportunities that are available and that I got to experience because of this. Between in school and out of school opportunities there are so many things that you can do to make a difference. In my opinion this is why I think there should be some sort of volunteer service requirement in order to graduate.

Volunteering betters a person, there is no doubt about it. There is something about knowing that you are making a difference and that makes you feel better as a person. I think this is important for students to experience before they are off in the real world somewhere. Simple volunteering helps make people well-rounded in the things that they do. Instead of just being an athlete or a musician being a volunteer plus those things makes you look much better for scholarships, jobs, and other opportunities.

I don't think an enormous amount of volunteer hours should be necessary to graduate. Twenty hours would be a good example, 5 hours for every four years of high school. This ensures that every person has had opportunities to help others and make a difference. It also wouldn't be difficult at all to achieve. There are so many things that students could do to volunteer and make a difference. These could be as simple as working at a concession stand or ticket booth or working at the staff Christmas parties. Around the community there are events every day and weekend that use volunteers. Churches, schools, and organizations are always looking for your help.

In the end it is very clear that it doesn't take much to make a difference. I challenge each and every person to make it a goal to do at least a little volunteering each year, there are only benefits!