In a high school student’s life, there are many obstacles that can keep teens from doing what they love and enjoy; such as an after-school job, sports, baby-sitting and finishing homework. All of these busy activities may keep students from taking a look at their own communities. Some may never realize how much their community may need help until they experience it in a first-hand perspective. That’s where service learning comes in for theTurlockUnifiedSchool District. Five hours of community service are needed for Sophomores and Juniors that counts as 5% of their second5 semester grade while it is worth 10% of Senior’s Government grade. Service learning improves students’ awareness of t1heir community and even their futures.

     Through service learning, a teen might realize that the type of work they do may be something they want to pursue as a career. Many students may think that finding opportunities to complete service learning hours is difficult. But you often never have to look much further than a local business or church in your neighborhood like what I did. Volunteer work can be just as rewarding no matter where you put in your hours. My service learning project consisted of feeding and serving the homeless at my local church. We do this non-profit event to help those in need because not everybody is blessed with food at every meal or have a safe place to go to every night. Most communities contain some amount of homeless people where they are seen with signs on sidewalks asking for help.                                                                        

     Although some people view this as a way for them to earn money for alcohol or drugs, I visualize it as a serious conflict that can be fixed by taking time out of your day to serve at a local homeless shelter or in my case at a church. This service learning has allowed me to view the community differently because I never realized how many helpless people there actually are. Seeing the smiles on those people’s faces even after what they have been through has made my ten hours of community service definitely worth doing. It has taught me to not be so selfish and has given me an optimistic view of life by making me appreciate the things I have been blessed with that are not given to all people. This was a valuable experience because I learned that true happiness is not about buying new items or having the latest technology. Volunteering is about giving up your time to help others. There are more opportunities than you think. And in the end, you are making a difference.