It is rare that something renowned for its positive influence and beneficial change is perceived in negative light. However, this is often the case when it comes to student volunteering efforts.
As a result of service hour requirements and the pressure of college applications, the motivations behind leading a service project or benefitting the community seem to have shifted. Volunteering in a hospital, participating in a free tutoring program, or being involved in a soup kitchen are more closely associated with gaining service hours and supplementing college applications than strictly wanting to improve the community.
Still, is this a bad thing - especially considering that the community benefits from the service?
Strictly speaking, the answer is no. But it does not create an ideal situation, either.
If a service activity is driven more so by personal gain than selfless inspiration, it compromises the overall sincerity and integrity of the activity. Beyond this, the quality of the service will likely be reduced as well, as the person would lack the heart necessary to exert their full effort and complete the task to their best ability.
The pressure to demonstrate well-roundedness and overall success causes students to consider community service through a perspective of “What will this add to my resume?”and “Will this get me into college?,” rather than “How will this make a difference in the lives of others?”
Even so, it must be acknowledged that, in the end, service is service. Regardless of the student’s motivations for wanting to volunteer (even though these may not be of the most wholesome variety) they are still causing a change - a change that would not occur in absence of mandatory service hours or the pressure to excel in regards to college admissions.
Besides, volunteering allows students to explore their interests and gain a better sense of who they are as individuals. This contrasts greatly with the traditional school environment, where students are frequently intellectually restricted by the syllabus and other classroom limitations. So, regardless of their reason for participating in service activities, students better themselves through bettering others, thus receiving some unanticipated reason to continue volunteering.
Ultimately, it must be recognized that few actions are truly selfless in nature. If a student volunteers without concern for its appearance to college admissions officers, or to fulfill their service hours, they do so for their own pleasure and enjoyment. And even this self-fulfillment, to some extent, is opportunistic all the same.
The truth of the matter is that even selfless activities find their ways on college applications and resumes. This is because when we apply for something, whether be a job or studentship at a university, we want to present the best forms of ourselves. We wish to show the full extent of our abilities, and show the employer or admissions officer who we are - and do so through our actions, rather than mere words.
So, while the work student volunteers do is greatly valuable and beneficial to themselves and to the community, students should not feel pressured to volunteer if they are not enthusiastic to do so.
After all, there are innumerable opportunities available to students, ranging in all sorts of fields, that it is silly to participate in one they do not love.
And so, my final thought to any student worrying about their extracurricular involvement and whether it appears impressive to colleges is as follows: Do things that make you happy, and that give you fulfillment - not what you think will appear most impressive to others. College applications will come and go, but cultivating interests and passions in your youth gives skills and memories to last a lifetime.
