The Importance of Including College Students in Volunteer Activities
The essay entitled Serve or Fail by Dave Eggers illustrates the importance of including college students in volunteer activities and still on campus.
Concerns about Time Off
Much of the time, the final weeks at the campus are the safest for a lot of students who have a nice break. According to Eggers, the students would either "be on the beach, on a road trip, in their rooms, or paint their toenails with a Q-tip shoe polish." The author is worried about the amount of time invested in the process and asks if the students actually deserve this time off.
The Need for Community Service
The aim of this paper is to give insight into the need to engage college students in community service as part of the learning process so as to prepare them fully for the needs of the outside world. The period in college is awfully long and even when one has course work load and part-time jobs; they still have so much time left to spare. A student may start an act of service but quit along the way due to the lack of motivation.
Making Service Compulsory
However, if the university makes service compulsory, the students will be pushed to continue serving even when their place of service feels strange. A service requirement is best suited for college students because they tend to be ephemeral and generally have substantial demands from their work and family.
Credits for Service
Colleges can give students credit for service to inspire them to go for service, and in return, they will get credits equivalent to one period in class. The service can also be restricted to junior years when the students have a lot of time and flexible schedules.
