<p>I thought the purpose of an honor society was to confer an honor. Now these societies have morphed into cumbersome organizations where the honoree must “pay” to be honored. The student now has to do x number of hours of community service which is sometimes restricted to specific arenas of activity (such as tutoring less advanced students in the subject related to the society, or fundraising to support starving children in a ___________-speaking country.) I don’t like them at all. S chose not to renew his NHS membership for senior year (ack–had no sash for graduation 
) because he didn’t want to dedicate his precious time available for service to the stupid NHS-accepted projects, which were bake sales and similar nonsense. D is president of a foreign language society, but is finding it tireseome for the same reason. She does not think she should have to sell cookies or jewelry to be a member.</p>