Community Service as A Requirement to Graduate (Article Sample)

COMMUNITY SERVICE AS A REQUIREMENT TO GRADUATE
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Community Service as A Requirement to Graduate
For most students in the US, Canada, and other developed nations, serving 40 hours of community service is nothing more than a requirement to graduate. However, this is not merely enough time to realize the full extent of its benefits. Therefore, students should be required to serve at least 60 hours annually doing community service work to cultivate interest in giving back to the community even in their adulthood. It should be incorporated into their curriculum as a nonelective subject, especially in socially, culturally, and economically diverse societies. Students will learn about and appreciate diversity during this period, develop empathy, and become socially aware citizens. Therefore, students should complete a minimum of 60 hours of community service annually to graduate to realize its personal, professional, and academic benefits fully.
One of the main reasons community service should be mandatory to graduate is because it contributes to students’ personal growth and development. Students learn about their strengths, weaknesses, and passions when serving the community. As a result, students develop soft critical skills, self-awareness, empathy, and cultural appreciation, which smoothens their transition into adulthood (Heldt, A. 2017). They can then use this knowledge to decide what to pursue in college according to their passions and interests. Moreover, community service improves mental and physical wellbeing (Heldt, A. 2017). Serving the community cathartically reduces stress, builds self-confidence, and teaches diversity. Staying active also increases students’ physical fitness, which lessens the likelihood of contracting lifestyles diseases, such as heart disease and chronic pain. Therefore, community service improves personal health and contributes to self-actualization.
Community service also benefits students educationally. A National Education Longitudinal Study in the US discovered that students who volunteer have better reading skills and score better in history, math, and science than students who do not volunteer (Stenger, M. 2013). These students are also more likely to complete high school instead of dropping out because service-learning shows students how they can apply what they learn in class in real life. Furthermore, service learning improves students’ chances of getting a scholarship and getting admitted to a top college. According to Newton, D. (2018), 53% of college admissions officers use community service volunteering experience to break ties between equally qualified students. Therefore, students should not limit themselves to the mandatory 40 hours but dedicate as many as 60 annually to improve their academic resumes.
The final reason for mandatory community service to graduate is that it benefits students professionally. Students work on projects that teach them essential skills they cannot learn in the classroom and make networks that come in handy in future job searches (Stenger, M. 2013). Through community service, students learn teamwork, creativity, problem-solving, and communication skills. In addition, community service experience on a resume increases students’ chances of landing a job in the future. The transferrable skills they develop when volunteering to increase their chances of getting a job by at least 27% (Corporation for National & Community Service 2013). Therefore, students who list volunteer experience on their resumes are more marketable when looking for a job than those who do not.
Overall, students should serve at least 60 hours of community service annually before graduating, although the mandatory is 40. It benefits them not only personally but also professionally and educationally. At the personal