<p>I find there to be an over-emphasis on community service, and believe this is misguided. We don’t expect all college applicants to be athletes, or artists, or musicians, or debaters, or any other thing but we want them ALL to be community volunteers. Helping others and “giving back” is wonderful, of course, but some people have helping personalities and some don’t–just like some people are athletic or musical and some aren’t. Some students would be energized and inspired by volunteering at a soup kitchen, and others would find it a depressing chore. To assign a value judgment to kids based on their hours of community service is just wrong. We need all kinds to make the world go round. Maybe the one who doesn’t volunteer is energized by looking through a microscope and will one day be the scientist who makes a huge medical breakthrough. Or maybe he’s the consummate businessman who will make enough money to donate huge amounts to the very same charity. </p>
<p>Community service is one area in which a lot of kids live a lie. Many students are only doing it because they think they have to, or in some case, because their school requires them to. Just like you don’t become a car by entering a garage, you don’t become a compassionate or generous person by volunteering.</p>