What Community Service Means to Me
Offering your help to those who need it and contributing to the development of your community composes the main factors of community service. I grew up with the mindset that community service is a necessity for being a well-rounded person, since my mom was a very involved person in participating in community service. Now that I see that not everyone takes part in community service, I do not regret being pushed a little bit to do it because nowadays I truly appreciate how my participation in community service has changed me as a person. I believe that everyone should participate in community service no matter how small the act is, since it is crucial in developing a moral side of one’s personality. Community service also does not mean that it is necessarily just giving back to those who are in need, since someone can commit service to do anything that progresses their community. Understanding that when you might not need help, others may, and devoting your time to improve their situations is a great cause and will also allow others to perceive you as a giving person.
Community service embodies relational leadership, as does any organization, since it structures how the group carrying out the service will function. Containing relational leadership allows their to be not only someone demonstrating their leadership skills with others, but forming relationships as well. Without relational leadership, someone could take charge of the community service group and transform their position into an unethical leader. Maintaining a leadership relation with each person in order to get a taste of what everyone has to offer to help carry out the service project will only improve the social function of the members as well as the success of the group. Additionally, the service participants can establish relational leadership between themselves and the people who are receiving the service. The philanthropists will be demonstrating how they are taking a stand and devoting time to help those who need it and influencing others to take part in community service as well.
Being in the Impact Leadership Village brings me the motivation to begin managing my leadership skills, and my purpose for joining this class is to use them and lead in fields such as philanthropy, which is very closely connected to community service. I have worked in a few philanthropy leagues during my high school career and have recognized that this work has been donating what I already have to people who need it. Community service, similarly, is actively participating in events that are aimed at transforming and aiding a community.
I am most passionate about the one-on-one interaction that I have while participating in community service work. Physically being with others that you are working with or with those to whom you are giving back to brings me the most gratification and truly demonstrates to me that I am being a leader and contributing to the needs of others. I also am very passionate about this because I always get to meet new people and on the occasions where I get to go to another community to do service, being away from my familiar environment in my own community will allow me to find a new perspective. I would become exposed to new people, new cultures, new backgrounds, new issues all within different another community that I would be able to add some of who I am within their society. Having interactions with people while committing community service allows you to influence them with your help and as well gain influence from their perspective.
One of my top passions is photography, and all around campus there have been small acts of community service through the lens of a camera. I recently signed up to be a photographer for “I am #NCState22, which is a collaborative Instagram account that showcases unique things that freshmen students have done during their year here at North Caroline State University. Although this is not community service that necessarily is giving back to those in need, it is progressing this university’s community and allowing others to see what other students are actively doing and how they are interacting with the school’s society.