Jacob Carson September 26, 2014 Gateway University Honors

My Passion For Community Service

What
Since I was a child my mother instilled in me the importance of community service.
She would frequently take me to meetings for school levies and Tabaco Free Ohio
where I would play on my Gameboy and listen-in on conversations, most of which
went over my head. As I grew older I began to contribute more and more to these
conversations, to the point where I was able to become a part of the discussion. As I
began high school I was fully aware of how community service benefitted the world,
as well as to me personally. I would become highly involved in organizations like
Key Club, National Honors Society, and the Kiwanis Club of Mason. Community
Service not only is a fundamental idea that was instilled upon me from a young age,
but a belief that allows me to function better as a member of society.

So What
Community Service allows me to put my talents away from selfish acts and focus
them in to help others. Selfishly, community service gives me a sense of gratitude
and I become less stressed. It also allows for amazing networking experience and
allows me to build skills in areas that wouldnt normally be used. Community
service lets me build connections to people who share a common belief system and
from backgrounds I would not normally come into contact with. Community service
has also served as a tool in my education. It has taught and refined skills including
leadership, teambuilding, and problem solving. I have also become familiar with
resources in my communities that I am now able to take advantage of.

Now What
Now that I am in college, it is only logical that I continue the path that I am on. I must
continue completing community service to not only make an impact in my new
community, but to reap the benefits that community service has on me. At this point
in my college career I have joined the service club Engineering Without Borders,
where I have enrolled in the Education Committee and Grant Writing Committee. In
the education committee I will work towards helping students at Hughes High
School in an engineering class where we will develop service projects for them to
work on. When I write grants I will be allowing the club to create structures and
devices (water pumps, school houses, and bridges to name a few,) that will help
communities in need. These are steps I have already taken to advance my passion
for community service in the new stage of my life.

Steps I have not taken but plan to take however include finding or creating a service
club that has a focus on the environment (another one of my passions.) To do so I
will need to further improve my leadership and communication skills. It will also
require me to pull upon the resources I have previously encountered during
community service events.