<p>Hey there - </p>
<p>So, yes, as the title would suggest, I'm sitting the exam in a few days. A rough grading of my essay would be hugely appreciated!!! Any last minute advice would be brilliant :)</p>
<p>(By the way, I'm Australian, thus some of my spelling may be Anglocised, rather than Americanised)</p>
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<p>PROMPT:
In some high schools, students are required to complete a certain number of community service hours prior to graduation. Some people think community service is a good requirement because they think students will benefit from this experience. Other people think schools should not require community service because students will resent the requirement and, as a result, will not benefit from the experience. In your opinion, should high schools require students to complete a certain number of hours of community service?</p>
<p>RESPONSE:
An education is an experience that should not be limited to the classroom. While academics are, neccessarily, a crucial component of the learning experience, of equal importance is the development of empathy and intrapersonal skills. The holistic enrichment of adolescents is tantamount to their high school experience; it is for this reason, thus, that community service must be a requirement for graduation.</p>
<p>Some oppnents of this view may highlight the skills demanded by future employers do not need community service. Indeed, these people might argue that community service further diminishes the time a student spends studying, and thus enhancing vocational prospects. This, however, is a flawed argument. In an age where occupations are fluid in nature (a function of both economic uncertainty and the mobile modern lifestyle), the most important skills a student can have are their intrapersonal skills. Community service develops these very qualities, rewarding students with an appreciation for not only the circumstances of others, but indeed an ability to relate to and understand these other human beings. Thus, the notion that mandatory community service hours undermine employability is inherently flawed.</p>
<p>In equal opposition to the introduction of required community service is the argument that forcing students to engage in such activities will breed resentment for the experience. This too can be disproved when considering the nature of community service. The tasks performed in these altruistic expeditions are often challenging, foreign and inititially unnerving for participants. In making the completion of these activities mandatory, it is ensured the student faces the challenge. Overcoming the challenges of a new experience are most rewarding; therefore, as they come out of their service, they will feel satisfied, and as if they have chieved a personal feat. With the success of accomplishment behind them, the student will avoid feelings of resentment. It can therefore be taken that, rather than developing a disdain for future altruistic escapades, community service will entrench a respect for hardwork and adjustment to uncomfortable circumstances.</p>
<p>The final virtue of a mandatory community service requirement is the oppurtunities it, in itself, presents to students. For many, pure academia is a struggle; classroom learning simply does not suit their strengths and future plans. Community service is, in many ways, a form of applied learning. Rather than demand of its students proficiency in the arts and sciences (as school would), community service requires leadership, empathy, and other qualities perhaps not examinable in the classroom. For those students who have such virtues but are not rewarded for them at school, community service offers the prospect of encouragement - the notion that there are other things beyond school that they can excel at. Community service is an important experience for these students - a chance to escape the academic bubble of school and, perhaps for the first time, find qualities they never knew they had, and they never knew could be rewarded. Indeed, some students may develop a direct passion for community service itself, that they would never have otherwise known existed. Hence, the introduction of a community service requirement is also crucial in its ability to encourage students underappreciated by the rigous of traditional academics.</p>
<p>The holistic education is therefore the most important one. The ability of community service to deliver unteachable job skills, develop an appreciation for hard work, and encourage non-academecian students all demonstrates its importance to the school experience. Thus, high school students should most definitely be required to complete a mandatory community service requirement.</p>
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<p>Cheers! :)</p>
Cheers though.</p>