At least one time in our four years of high school, students hear something about community service. The biggest event that Metea holds is the Kicking Hunger with Robby Gould Food Drive. It is always encouraged that teenagers get engaged in community service as a way to give back to the community, also because it looks good on college applications. “Community Service helps build a sense of pride to give to others,” Dean Jennifer Rowe said.

At Metea we don’t have to have a required amount of community service hours to graduate high school. While other schools in other cities, such as Joliet and Chicago, require their students to complete 40 hours in order to graduate.

Since we live in the suburbs, life tend to be easier for us, and what we need to remember is that not everything in life is easier for other people. To an outsider that seems like a lot of time, but the way they handle it is achieving 10 hours of service per year. When I found that out, I realized how lucky the suburbs are. Well off communities often don’t require their students to have community service to graduate.

We complain about insignificant things, from our parents not letting us take the cars to our teachers not liking us. “It shouldn’t be forced but volunteering is a good cause,” senior London Blocker said.

While we may not enjoy participating in community service and all the things that take up our time, it is exactly the same thing we take for granted. “Everyone should do community service at least once in their life,” freshman Ralph Papa said.

We have time to waste while other people don’t. We go into our cabinets and find food no matter how little or how much you have. We have more than people in poverty, or underdeveloped countries. We don’t think much about having our own rooms, having roofs over our heads, going to the doctor or having medicine. These are all things that we take for granted, however at the same time there is something we can do for others who aren’t as fortunate as us. It is as easy as donating our time and money. “[Community service] is a good thing for those who need it and for those who don’t,” junior Ashley Powell said. It is community service and we don’t take into account the significance of what it can do. It can be the difference to a child, a family, or a community.

By Monet Gildon