Without service JSU, there is no purpose!

Taylor Bembery
Associate Editor

Jackson State University students are not only expected to earn good grades but expected to do good deeds as well. Volunteering and community service is a requirement at JSU, now more than ever. Starting spring 2014, all graduates will be required to have completed 120 community service hours in order to graduate.

Many may ask: Why do I need community service…especially to graduate? (which isn’t a bad question) I mean, you’re paying all of this money to attend a university only to be told if you don’t earn 120 hours of community service you will not graduate. However, you must think of the personal fulfillment.

HBCU’S were founded on the principle of serving the community. Community service and volunteering at black colleges and universities is a part of the legacy. The more institutions forget about implementing community service in their program, more of the legacy fades. Where is our generation going? Is the only reason we help the community or volunteer because we want to pledge a Greek organization or to graduate?

I always thought true service comes out the kindness of a heart and is done for personal fulfillment, not personal gain. We as students need to step up and continue to build the legacy of strong service at JSU. Looking at older pictures from alumni at JSU from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, there was such a strong spirit in the student body. The NAACP meetings looked like hotspots we have on Fridays and students were very involved in the community and politics.

Now in 2013, more than ever should we have a “Never Back Down” attitude, especially now that our youth and community is faced with more complex issues. If we see something in the community that we don’t like and want to change, let’s come together and make that change. Let’s stop waiting on community service projects to be created and create them ourselves!

The great thing about community service and volunteering is that you gain a new perspective on life every time you do something to help someone else. You might have changed a person’s life just by taking the time out of your busy schedule to become a mentor, volunteer, or even visiting with an elderly person at a nursing home.

You can make a difference in someone’s life just by lending a helping hand. With the holiday season is approaching, society tends to focus on the emphasis of volunteering or community service but there isn’t a season or time of the year you can’t dedicate your time to helping others.

Make sure you get your fall community service hours in before the deadline Nov. 15, 2013, but know that the service you give will give you more than what you served. With service comes self purpose, so don’t think those 120 hours of community mean absolutely nothing.