Getting Your Community Service Credits | by TutorNerds

Community Service: Do What’s Important to You

Community service used to be something that you could choose to do or choose not to do. It looked good on your college applications but wasn’t mandatory. That sounds like a nice option, right? Well, those days are long gone. Each one of you will have to meet a certain number of community service hours to graduate high school and enter college. Universities don’t want you to think of this as just another task that must be completed but rather a way that you can add to your community doing something that is really important to you. Choosing something that you are passionate about or is of particular interest to your community at large helps the universities you are applying to see how you could add to their community and can be a significant part of entering a college of your choice.

Community service for teens can actually be fun if you choose something that you are curious about or have some interest in. You may also find that your personal entrance essay will be easier to write if you have a particular passion that you have some demonstrated experience in. Think about something in your community that you would like to change or something that is missing. It can be a large issue that many people are aware of, or something small that you want to shed some light on. You may also choose to focus on one of your passions or personal interests. Look to your hobbies to find inspiration when choosing exactly where you will spend your free hours.

Community Service is Fun

Like many things in life, community service can be a lot more fun if you do it with friends. Try getting a group together to volunteer at the same place on the weekend and then make a day of it. Check out some of these cool places that offer volunteer opportunities in Orange County, CA:

If you run track and field or have an interest in sports or physical education, think about volunteering at a local race for charity. For example, check out the Orange County Register’s Irvine Charity Walks List.

Other races this year include the Dino Dash and the Memorial Day Half Don’t worry, you won’t have to run 13.1 miles to volunteer, just cheer on the people who are. Can you think of others? Please share with us on twitter!

Cats & Dogs

If you love cats and dogs (who doesn’t?), try getting involved with a local rescue group. Working with animals can be very rewarding and demonstrates care and compassion. Also, you may get to work with kittens and puppies, which means plenty of cute pictures for your Instagram.

Below are to options to get you started:

ARK located in San Juan Capistrano

The Orange County Humane Society located in Huntington Beach

There’s Help to Help You Help

Maybe you haven’t found your passion yet. That’s absolutely okay because websites like Volunteer Match can help you find a short term commitment and try out a few different things. Searching for the right volunteer activity may end up being a great way to discuss how you found a topic or issue that really makes you want to add to or change. If you’re not sure what really interests you, try a few different things before making a long-term commitment to one cause.

Regardless of what you choose, volunteering can be a great way to learn about the world and help you have a well-rounded college application. Add to the life of another and have fun!

All blog entries are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at [email protected] for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal.

One last thing, summer doesn’t mean an end to learning. In today’s competitive world of college admissions, it’s crucial students spend the next few months improving and catching up. What better way to do that than with a private summer tutor? We work with student’s schedules so they can still have fun.