Get Active, Volunteer!

I think everyone will agree that my generation knows little about the importance of volunteering. Not because we are inherently lazy and self-centered as a whole, but because it has never been a central issue. Unless you are a member of a sorority or fraternity or are benefiting from a scholarship that requires community service, it never crosses your mind. After realizing that I only volunteered for events unrelated to ASAP once this year, I was overcome with lack of purpose. I asked my boyfriend when he last volunteered for something, anything. He chimed in about ten seconds after the initial question, “Uh, I did something once.” His reason? School.
I think too many of us, starting with myself, make too many excuses for not getting involved because of our previous obligations. We are taught it is secondary to care about volunteering. Because of this mentality we fail to volunteer, hurting ourselves as well as our community. How are we going to attract particularly younger crowds to public service? There is one presidential candidate that is making this one of his priorities, and everyone should pay attention to the implications it could have on our country.
First let me ensure you all that my intention here is not to support a certain candidate; I just happen to find a few of his initiatives exciting. Especially today when it seems our youth is repeatedly ignored and misunderstood. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the youngest candidate running for the Presidency is promoting opportunities that will affect us - your future leaders. On Senator Barack Obama’s website, under the issue of service, one will find a list of ideas to help working students like me pay for college. He plans to establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth $4,000 per year, eligible to students that complete at least 100 hours of public service each year. One initiative in particular that catches my eye is a program ensuring that at least 25 percent of College Work-Study funds are used to support public service opportunities instead of B.S. jobs, as I like to call them. We have all worked these jobs – waiting tables, working rounds at the library, answering phones for different departments at school. These jobs are just fillers, moneymakers until we pass through to the “real world”. But think of the advantage the student, and the community, would have if those of us willing to work our way through were given a better chance of completing that work for the public service sector. Think of the connections made, the talents discovered; I would jump at such an opportunity!
My intention was not to single out Senator Obama here, though his ideas for assisting future generations are profound. I think everyone should start thinking about the state of today’s youth and how we can educate and aid as many as are willing to work for their, and your, future. We can only profit from rewarding hardworking students for trying to make a difference. After all, if we don’t take care of the generations to come, everyone will suffer. In the end it is not going to be today’s leaders who make decisions and call the shots. It is going to be me along with your sons and daughters making judgments and writing policies. It’s like what I often say to my dad during lighthearted banter, “You better be nice to me – I choose your nursing home.”