The Importance of Volunteering: College Students Should Do Community Service Before Graduating

Nowadays, it is very difficult to get a job without a College Diploma. Our ever-increasing demands on student’s academic performances have insured well-educated adults, but what we have failed to focus on is the vital component of volunteerism as an integral part of rearing well-rounded adults. College students should be required to complete a year of community service/volunteer work before they can graduate, in order to create mature and caring adults and versatile future leaders. By mandating all College students across the United States of America to add another year to their studies and use this year for community service/volunteer work only, we will be able to increase their knowledge of community need, civic responsibility, and allow them the opportunity to gain experience and skills applicable to their future.

The recent global financial downturn has greatly increased the dire need for volunteers throughout all levels of society. Also, this recession unmasked the reality of not only our current social economic environment, but also revealed the importance of continuing to educate all members of our society as to the importance of community outreach through volunteerism; many of these grass-roots, non-for-profit organizations suffered a detrimental blow to their budgets with the vast reduction of corporate contributions to offset their daily operational cost. These organizations not only rely on economic support, but they heavily depend and count on the continual hands on involvement of their volunteers. In addition to the vast reduction of financial resources, these organizations had drastic cuts in services, community outreach and employment opportunities, which had a severe and direct impact on our society. It is for t...

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...eeded transfer and graduating hours all while volunteering and giving back to the community. “… If you love kids and are great at arts and crafts, you can visit children’s hospitals and lead art activities with pediatric patients” (“Volunteering”). As you can now see, volunteering is not limited into only one form; there are many options when it comes to volunteering.

Some may argue that graduating college students have learned all they need to in years of schooling, which is untrue. Although college students have typically undergone sixteen years of academic schooling, not all have had sixteen years of life lessons and character growth. Volunteering is not only beneficial to the community or organization, but also to the individual partaking in the activity. “Volunteering gives you an opportunity to change people’s lives, including your own” (“Volunteering”).