Every Sunday in early May, joy emanates around the track. Rather than a Mustang team clinching a pivotal win, the elation radiated from over 500 athletes competing at a Special Olympics event and the people who helped make the event happen. Volunteering at the Special Olympics turned out to be one of the most rewarding afternoons of my entire freshman year. Ever since, I couldn’t help but wonder how different my freshman year would have been if I had volunteered sooner. Should Milton have made me volunteer?
Stepping out of my comfort zone and spending time helping at the Special Olympics track and field events was a very meaningful experience. Whether I was measuring javelin throws or escorting athletes to the awards tent, I quickly saw through our fun together that the athletes gave me just as much as I gave them. Though my parents had prodded me to sign up for the Special Olympics in the first place, I now feel personally compelled to volunteer through Milton next year.
When it comes to community service, high schools across the country take different approaches. Some of our peer ISL schools, including Nobles and BB&N, mandate over 30 hours of community service before graduation. While Milton cannot easily force the emotional benefits of service upon students, I believe that beyond the annual Community Engagement Day, Milton should require all freshmen to spend time working with their community.
I recognize that required community service hours could take away the genuine spirit of “volunteering.” Students might lose the sense of joy and purpose of service if Milton makes extensive volunteering a graduation requirement. Community Engagement Director Andrea Geyling-Moore pointed out the problems with mandatory service, noting that a system without requirements often works best because students choosing to help “really have motivation.” With a requirement, she believes, students might do their hours “begrudgingly,” she said.
Turning volunteer hours into a strict rule would also create big logistical problems for the school. As Geyling-Moore noted, such a mandate “would require a lot more staffing to keep track of everything.” Instead of focusing on the good work being done, staff would shift to checking hours and filling out paperwork.
So, if extensive rules aren’t viable, how can Milton encourage everyone to see the benefits of giving back? The school must introduce students to service without making it a chore. For example, instead of making each student complete a set number of hours alone, some schools integrate service into group activities, where large groups of students spend time doing community work together. Milton’s Community Engagement Day exemplifies these principles.
However, we should ask more of ourselves than just on one day that the school organizes. Just like the mandatory performing and visual arts classes, Milton should require freshmen to participate in their chosen community engagement program for at least five sessions as part of the curriculum. To avoid tedious hours, Milton should not mandate a specific time commitment. Instead, the school should require every freshman to independently choose, sign up for, and complete a community service project. By giving people a choice of what to explore, they will more likely find the kind of service where time and dedication can bring them a sense of purpose. To avoid putting so much pressure on Geyling-Moore and the community engagement team, advisors could track their students’ volunteering activities. If students found their freshman-year experiences meaningful, they would hopefully continue to volunteer throughout high school.
My recent experience has shown me that volunteering can change both the community and yourself. I hope that by the time my class graduates, everyone will have engaged with the community. I urge anyone who has not volunteered yet to find just one chance to try it out, not because you have to, but because service has the power to change how you see the world.