COMMUNITY SERVICE

To me, volunteering is the act of providing your community with a service without receiving compensation. Volunteering is a form of aid, and I think of it as giving back to your community. Drew requires at least 100 hours of volunteering to equip students with the skills to help others, develop empathy, and appreciate what they already have. Throughout high school, I have accumulated 150+ hours through various acts of service. I have volunteered at a summer camp as a counselor, at a back-to-school supplies drive, played the harp at various performances and venues, volunteered at food drives for the underprivileged, and even helped rebuild a schoolyard in Peru.

This past summer, I traveled to the mountains of Lima and Cusco, Peru, with the Spanish National Honor Society for a community service trip. While there, we not only studied and improved our Spanish, we also volunteered at an all-girls academy and helped lay the foundation for a schoolyard and new building that would support future students. Our work included moving heavy boulders to build a retention wall, pulling weeds and landscaping, and carrying wood and materials across the site. The work was challenging, especially at the high altitude, but it taught me the value of working hard for others' sake, teamwork, and contributing something bigger than myself. After the work, we had time to play a huge soccer match with the students. That was when I truly realized how service can bring people together.