For my community service I chose to interact with the young kids that are at WTAMU for summer camps. These kids come from different backgrounds and are here for different reasons. Whether its band camp, upward bound, or athletic camps. Most of these students are here to get a sense of the college experience and to hopefully motivate these kids to pursue a higher form of education after high school. Statistics show that kids that come from low income families or single parent homes find it more difficult to pursue a college degree. I shared with them that I was raised by a single mother who barely made enough for the monthly rent and that I was about to start my senior year at WTAMU. It is possible and explained to them how it could be done.
Most of these kids had down time in the lobby areas of the residence halls they were residing in and as a interactive activity, I got to know who they were and if they planned on pursuing college and if they had any questions they would like to ask a current college student. A lot of the questions were silly or funny but some had merit to them such as ” if I missed home”, or if “college was more difficult than high school”. And I did my best to try to answer them.
The reason I chose to do this for my community service was because after high school I was a confused individual with no sense of direction and had no idea where to even start applying for colleges. I needed someone to explain to me the steps of how to apply to a college, how to get scholarships, and how to fill out paperwork. Despite the fact that these kids were four years away from graduating high school, implanting the idea to pursue a college degree early will only have a positive outcome.
We have to get every student motivated about college. Whether its getting your associates or your doctorate, college should be a positive opportunity for every child.
