Volunteering can expose a student to a new field he

Volunteering can expose a student to a new field he or she might not have found out about
otherwise (Segal). According to Lasby Hall, more than half of 15 to 19 year olds in Canada said
that they volunteered to improve their job opportunities. A high school student named Amy
Zimmerman said that she is considering in making a career in health care after volunteering at a
hospital (Anderson).
Students can apply what they learn in the classroom in community service as well.. By
working with people in the community, students can turn the ideas they learn in the classroom to
real-life skills. There are other possible components that a student can learn while participating in
a service project. According to Julie Wang, a student can help plant a community garden, and
possibly learn about plants, gardening, and landscaping. Also, a student can “set up a fruit and
vegetable stand that serves healthy snacks to children and adults and learn about food, nutrition,
and entrepreneurship” (Wang).
Creating a habit of doing community service over a student’s lifetime can make a student
healthier as well. Research has shown that volunteers have better mental and physical health than
people that do not volunteer (Segal). Studies have found that those who volunteer have a lower
mortality rate than those who do not (Segal). Also, volunteering can also lessen symptoms of

chronic pain and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Also, community service gives a student an advantage as colleges look at the hours a
student volunteered for when considering a student for admission. According to Randall S.
Hansen, Ph.D., colleges seek active community service involvement when considering admitting
a student. This fact shows that students have an advantage when it comes to being admitted to
college.
Community service can promote self-growth in students. Volunteering will accelerate a
student’s self-growth as they will be experiencing different environments, and the skills learned
from community service can be applied to all aspects of life (Resources...). Volunteering will
prove to them how fortunate they are as they may meet less fortunate people through doing
community service. A student can sort food at a food pantry or help prepare and serve food at a
soup kitchen and learn about hunger in their community. Experiences such as this can teach a
high school student about the world around them and make them more aware of their
community. Community service can also make a student into a better citizen by participating in
the selfless act of volunteering.
There are people that do not believe that community service in high school should be
mandatory. Some arguments against include: community service is good but shouldn’t be
mandatory, that it shouldn’t prevent someone from graduating high school, and that high school
students are too busy to do community service. Community service should be mandatory because