<p>A lot of people at the church i used to go to do these things. Like i think they went to mexico this summer to build a church or something there for the poor. generally the only people that go there to actually help are either leaders that want to set example and that are getting paid by the church to do that, or girls that take the bible so seriously they would kill you if you doubted anything it says. Most of the people i know that went there wanted to meet girls or hang out on the beach.
Call me a freak, but i do not do community service not only because i don't have time, but also because it's against my ideas about how the society and the country should work. I woild not go volounteer at a library or a hospital because i pay taxes to the government that should maintain these facilities, and i think that's enough of an excuse for me. I would not go help homeless or poor because i know that the reason those people are poor is because they were either too stupid or too lazy to study in high school, which we all know is free in this country, as well as many other countrues, and get a decent job, if not a career, or they became alcoholics or did drugs and ended up under a bridge or in a hut. And i don't believe that people in mexico or panama are not physically able of getting themselves out of the slums and having a normal life, that without help from american students and jesus freaks they would die. Opportunity exists everywhere, you just have to look for it.
PS Don't get me wrong. I lived in a third world country for 15 years. I believe in god. I just don't think that it takes talent to get a secondary education and live a normal life instead of begging and suffering. The bad fortune of "those less fortunate" is that either them or their parents don't care and don't want to live a normal life. And whose fault is that?</p>
<p>I also started most of my ec's before high school (music/sports), and I did them for myself. Nobody goes "wow, this will be good for my college application" at the age of 5 or even 12. </p>
<p>Even when I think about it though, most of the ec's I started in hs I also did because I wanted to. Honestly, I joined MUN because they were going to Montreal and having travelled with my parents, I was all "ooh, sign me up". Then, I went as the only freshman (which is grade 10 here), had an amazing time at the conference, and stayed in for three years because I loved it. So much in fact, that winning the city MUN became personal (against the rival school, you know) and I'm going into poli sci. Same thing with the Amnesty Club. I started it in grade 11 after attending a leadership conference the summer before. That place... it was where I found myself. It was inspiring, and at the end we had to create a project we could actually implement, and mine was the club. I didn't do it because I wanted to get into a good college (which is irrelevant when you think about it, considering how canadian universities look only at grades), but because I felt inspired. </p>
<p>:) Even thinking about that experience is a total high. </p>
<p>Dima... don't get me started on opportunity and poverty. It might be slightly different in this "meritocracy" we call the western world (not always though), but in a lot of places bad fortune involves much more than individual effort. It's a horrible cycle that involves poverty, lack of infrastructure, abuse of power, violence, war, discrimination based on religion, race, gender, or sexuality, hunger, disease, lack of governing structures, HIV/AIDS (and rape perpetrated by those with HIV/AIDS including peace keepers and guerilla fighters), large scale human rights abuses, debt, lack of social structure, and the fact that all these problems intertwine to create a huge mess that nobody can get out of. Hardly all the fault of an individual. Your definition of "a normal life" including the priviledge of secondary education is also unheard of in many parts of the world (and even in parts of your own country). What if normal is working as a child - instead of going to school - to help feed your family? </p>
<p>So you pay taxes and that's reason enough not to do anything... schools, hospitals, etc. are not solely funded by government. If anything your taxes are going to help fund administrative costs and the war (400 billion now?). On that note, do you really pay many taxes as a 17 year old... seriously? Most of the infrastructure you mentioned is actually underfunded and has to compensate through corporate partnerships, lotteries, donations, etc. Look at the rise of private industry in Canada... private health care (a huge debate lately), private schooling, etc. Not enough is being done in the public sector to even keep our infrastructure running, let alone competitive with the private sector. Add that to decades of cuts to social services in my province, a high inflation rate... we had a 34% increase in the number of homeless in my city this year (according to the Globe and Mail, our national newspaper). Choice or circumstance? I could go on. The world isn't so simple. There is no monopoly on suffering in the world. Nothing will get better if we sit, watch, and categorize "those less fortunate" (as you put it) as a group of undeserving, lazy human beings. </p>
<p>So do something.</p>
<p>This former Amnesty Club president will have something to say about it if you can really sustain your arguments (which btw are full of logical fallacies and generalizations).</p>
<p>Before high school I did ECs because I wanted to. Now that I am in high school, I do ECs because I like leadership positions. Not for college applications, though. I simply like telling people what to do. Honestly, I just finished my sophomore year of high school and am only now starting to think of college. The things I did from when I was younger to basically what will be the start of my junior year had nothing to do with college. So I guess I do them for pleasure.</p>
<p>cowgirlatheart, from what i see, you've never spent an extended period of time in a country with poverty, lack of infrastructure, abuse of power, violence, discrimination based on religion, race, gender, or sexuality, hunger, disease, lack of governing structures, HIV/AIDS, large scale human rights abuses, debt, lack of social structure, and i guess you don't really know how complicated the world really is, do you? So you'll just have to trust me on this one. People adapt to any conditions, opportunity exists everywhere, you just have to work hard, study hard, be creative, and never give up. And this takes a lot of moral strength and a lot of determination, which a lot of the people don't have. If a child has to work to feed his family, this is his family's fault and nobody else's. Even in my country everubody blamed government for bad infrastructure, downfall of industry and raise of crime and corruption, but i've never heard a single person blame government for his/her family's poverty. Society is under no obligation to take complete care of it's bottom. There's a russian saying: "The rescue of a drowning man is the task for the man himself"
Just as you say that my contribution to the financing of hospitals through taxes is minimal, my contribution through volounteering at a hospital will not be all that big either, since i'm not a professional doctor or nurse. I'm used to dirty hospitals with half-a-century-old equipment, so American facilities are just incredible by my standards. This is the disease of the Western civilisation: it's standads are so high that you guys think that people that live in third world countries are suffering and it's a miracle they actually don't die before their forst birthday in the conditions they live in. Trust me, 90% of the world would consider a blessing to live like American or French "lower class" lives.</p>
<p>If you volunteer along with a club, it's fun cuz you can hang out with your friends and get hours for it.</p>
<p>I'll admit the few ECs I've done I did for college. Its a screwed up system.</p>
<p>Choose your ECs for what your interests are. Volunteering is just a good thing to do as a person, so volunteer in areas that you have interest in. Help at a day camp if you like kids, an animal shelter if you like animals. i think the best thing about ECs are if you have a talent that shines through what you do</p>
<p>All of them for pleasure and joy. :)
Doing for the sake of college admissions = waste of time and energy. Simple as that.</p>
<p>I won't apologize for being an idealist. </p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with our high standards except the fact that they aren't universal. Okay, I haven't experienced it first hand. That doesn't change the fact that I am inspired by empowerment and what I want to do is help people feel just as empowered as I do when I'm debating about HIV/AIDS in MUN or explaining the Darfur crisis to a student in my club. I might not have lived in such a situation, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything... quite the opposite in fact. I can definetly make a difference, whether or not anybody else wants to or thinks I can.</p>
<p>whats the point of doing community service for pleasure? Of course its for college! I have to pay for transportation to and from the lab where I work! I would not waste that type of money if it weren't for college!</p>
<p>I do it for both. I play sports because I love to play them. I volunteer with Key Club and it's wicked fun because I usually do it with my friends. I'm also president of Key Club, which I did mainly for college. I work because I need money, not for ECs.</p>
<p>Pleasure. I didnt know that stuff counted till like 2 mos ago</p>
<p>All pleasure until my lingual passion shifted to german. Now I'd rather volunteer in teaching that next year as opposed to spanish.</p>
<p>mostly college. some i actually do enjoy. but when i join clubs i do think in the back of my mind, "This will look good for college."
i'm not going to lie.</p>
<p>but once i join, i start enjoing it and have fun, and look forward to meetings. but there are a few that i would quit it it wasn't for college.</p>
<p>I always feel put to shame whenever I read peoples' stats on this board. Seems like everyone is the same.</p>
<p>Everyone seems to be a member of EVERY club in their school. I'm only an active member in 2 (Varsity Swimming and Student Council) but I am very active on those. </p>
<p>I am TRULY convinced that people think that joining every club means a free ticket to a top university. NOT.</p>
<p>Do something different people!</p>
<p>don't worry. you're not alone. last year i was only really active in two clubs also.
next year i'm going to join more, though, just for the heck of it (and yes, for college also).</p>
<p>In the beginning I joined them for college but they turned out to be really fun so I love being in them. Although since my friends started running Key Club, it's been really boring and so I don't go to the meetings. I'd definately drop out if it weren't for college. However, the rest of the clubs are great fun. </p>
<p>I love volunteering and tutoring young kids but I probably wouldn't volunteer as much if it weren't for college.</p>
<p>I Voluteer and do clubs for pleasure...I dont do sports cause i dont like them. I do French Club even though I dont like French though...for college(only thing)</p>
<p>I do painting and singing for pleasure. i don"t have any recognition, but my teacher believes that I should submit my artworks to contests.</p>
<p>All for pleasure; I get fed up when scheduling conflicts force me to choose one activity. I did not realize until last year that colleges would care that I was interested in Chinese and am self-studying it.</p>