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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to write a great community service essay.

College Admissions , Extracurriculars

Are you applying to a college or a scholarship that requires a community service essay? Do you know how to write an essay that will impress readers and clearly show the impact your work had on yourself and others?

Read on to learn step-by-step instructions for writing a great community service essay that will help you stand out and be memorable.

What Is a Community Service Essay? Why Do You Need One?

A community service essay is an essay that describes the volunteer work you did and the impact it had on you and your community. Community service essays can vary widely depending on specific requirements listed in the application, but, in general, they describe the work you did, why you found the work important, and how it benefited people around you.

Community service essays are typically needed for two reasons:

#1: To Apply to College

• Some colleges require students to write community service essays as part of their application or to be eligible for certain scholarships.
• You may also choose to highlight your community service work in your personal statement.

#2: To Apply for Scholarships

• Some scholarships are specifically awarded to students with exceptional community service experiences, and many use community service essays to help choose scholarship recipients.
• Green Mountain College offers one of the most famous of these scholarships. Their "Make a Difference Scholarship" offers full tuition, room, and board to students who have demonstrated a significant, positive impact through their community service

Getting Started With Your Essay

In the following sections, I'll go over each step of how to plan and write your essay. I'll also include sample excerpts for you to look through so you can get a better idea of what readers are looking for when they review your essay.

Step 1: Know the Essay Requirements

Before your start writing a single word, you should be familiar with the essay prompt. Each college or scholarship will have different requirements for their essay, so make sure you read these carefully and understand them.

Specific things to pay attention to include:

• Length requirement
• Application deadline
• The main purpose or focus of the essay
• If the essay should follow a specific structure

Below are three real community service essay prompts. Read through them and notice how much they vary in terms of length, detail, and what information the writer should include.

From the Equitable Excellence Scholarship:

"Describe your outstanding achievement in depth and provide the specific planning, training, goals, and steps taken to make the accomplishment successful. Include details about your role and highlight leadership you provided. Your essay must be a minimum of 350 words but not more than 600 words."

From the Laura W. Bush Traveling Scholarship:

"Essay (up to 500 words, double spaced) explaining your interest in being considered for the award and how your proposed project reflects or is related to both UNESCO's mandate and U.S. interests in promoting peace by sharing advances in education, science, culture, and communications."

From the LULAC National Scholarship Fund:

"Please type or print an essay of 300 words (maximum) on how your academic studies will contribute to your personal & professional goals. In addition, please discuss any community service or extracurricular activities you have been involved in that relate to your goals."

Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas

Even after you understand what the essay should be about, it can still be difficult to begin writing. Answer the following questions to help brainstorm essay ideas. You may be able to incorporate your answers into your essay.

• What community service activity that you've participated in has meant the most to you?
• What is your favorite memory from performing community service?
• Why did you decide to begin community service?
• What made you decide to volunteer where you did?
• How has your community service changed you?
• How has your community service helped others?
• How has your community service affected your plans for the future?

You don't need to answer all the questions, but if you find you have a lot of ideas for one of two of them, those may be things you want to include in your essay.

Writing Your Essay

How you structure your essay will depend on the requirements of the scholarship or school you are applying to. You may give an overview of all the work you did as a volunteer, or highlight a particularly memorable experience. You may focus on your personal growth or how your community benefited.

Regardless of the specific structure requested, follow the guidelines below to make sure your community service essay is memorable and clearly shows the impact of your work.

Samples of mediocre and excellent essays are included below to give you a better idea of how you should draft your own essay.

Step 1: Hook Your Reader In

You want the person reading your essay to be interested, so your first sentence should hook them in and entice them to read more. A good way to do this is to start in the middle of the action. Your first sentence could describe you helping build a house, releasing a rescued animal back to the wild, watching a student you tutored read a book on their own, or something else that quickly gets the reader interested. This will help set your essay apart and make it more memorable.

Compare these two opening sentences:

"I have volunteered at the Wishbone Pet Shelter for three years."

"The moment I saw the starving, mud-splattered puppy brought into the shelter with its tail between its legs, I knew I'd do whatever I could to save it."

The first sentence is a very general, bland statement. The majority of community service essays probably begin a lot like it, but it gives the reader little information and does nothing to draw them in. On the other hand, the second sentence begins immediately with action and helps persuade the reader to keep reading so they can learn what happened to the dog.

Step 2: Discuss the Work You Did

Once you've hooked your reader in with your first sentence, tell them about your community service experiences. State where you work, when you began working, how much time you've spent there, and what your main duties include. This will help the reader quickly put the rest of the essay in context and understand the basics of your community service work.

Not including basic details about your community service could leave your reader confused.

Step 3: Include Specific Details

It's the details of your community service that make your experience unique and memorable, so go into the specifics of what you did.

For example, don't just say you volunteered at a nursing home; talk about reading Mrs. Johnson her favorite book, watching Mr. Scott win at bingo, and seeing the residents play games with their grandchildren at the family day you organized. Try to include specific activities, moments, and people in your essay. Having details like these let the readers really understand what work you did and how it differs from other volunteer experiences.

Compare these two passages:

"For my volunteer work, I tutored children at a local elementary school. I helped them improve their math skills and become more confident students."

"As a volunteer at York Elementary School, I worked one-on-one with second and third graders who struggled with their math skills, particularly addition, subtraction, and fractions. As part of my work, I would create practice problems and quizzes and try to connect math to the students' interests. One of my favorite memories was when Sara, a student I had been working with for several weeks, told me that she enjoyed the math problems I had created about a girl buying and selling horses so much that she asked to help me create math problems for other students."

The first passage only gives basic information about the work done by the volunteer; there is very little detail included, and no evidence is given to support her claims. How did she help students improve their math skills? How did she know they were becoming more confident?

The second passage is much more detailed. It recounts a specific story and explains more fully what kind of work the volunteer did, as well as a specific instance of a student becoming more confident with her math skills. Providing more detail in your essay helps support your claims as well as make your essay more memorable and unique.

Step 4: Show Your Personality

It would be very hard to get a scholarship or place at a school if none of your readers felt like they knew much about you after finishing your essay, so make sure that your essay shows your personality. The way to do this is to state your personal strengths, then provide examples to support your claims. Take some time to think about which parts of your personality you would like your essay to highlight, then write about specific examples to show this.

• If you want to show that you're a motivated leader, describe a time when you organized an event or supervised other volunteers.
• If you want to show your teamwork skills, write about a time you helped a group of people work together better.
• If you want to show that you're a compassionate animal lover, write about taking care of neglected shelter animals and helping each of them find homes.

Step 5: State What You Accomplished

After you have described your community service and given specific examples of your work, you want to begin to wrap your essay up by stating your accomplishments. What was the impact of your community service? Did you build a house for a family to move into? Help students improve their reading skills? Clean up a local park? Make sure the impact of your work is clear; don't be worried about bragging here.

If you can include specific numbers, that will also strengthen your essay. Saying "I delivered meals to 24 home-bound senior citizens" is a stronger example than just saying "I delivered meals to lots of senior citizens."

Also be sure to explain why your work matters. Why is what you did important? Did it provide more parks for kids to play in? Help students get better grades? Give people medical care who would otherwise not have gotten it? This is an important part of your essay, so make sure to go into enough detail that your readers will know exactly what you accomplished and how it helped your community.

"My biggest accomplishment during my community service was helping to organize a family event at the retirement home. The children and grandchildren of many residents attended, and they all enjoyed playing games and watching movies together."

"The community service accomplishment that I'm most proud of is the work I did to help organize the First Annual Family Fun Day at the retirement home. My job was to design and organize fun activities that senior citizens and their younger relatives could enjoy. The event lasted eight hours and included ten different games, two performances, and a movie screening with popcorn. Almost 200 residents and family members attended throughout the day. This event was important because it provided an opportunity for senior citizens to connect with their family members in a way they aren't often able to. It also made the retirement home seem more fun and enjoyable to children, and we have seen an increase in the number of kids coming to visit their grandparents since the event."

The second passage is stronger for a variety of reasons. First, it goes into much more detail about the work the volunteer did. The first passage only states that she helped "organize a family event." That really doesn't tell readers much about her work or what her responsibilities were. The second passage is much clearer; her job was to "design and organize fun activities."

The second passage also explains the event in more depth. A family day can be many things; remember that your readers are likely not familiar with what you're talking about, so details help them get a clearer picture.

Lastly, the second passage makes the importance of the event clear: it helped residents connect with younger family members, and it helped retirement homes seem less intimidating to children, so now some residents see their grand kids more often.

Step 6: Discuss What You Learned

One of the final things to include in your essay should be the impact that your community service had on you. You can discuss skills you learned, such as carpentry, public speaking, animal care, or another skill.

You can also talk about how you changed personally. Are you more patient now? More understanding of others? Do you have a better idea of the type of career you want? Go into depth about this, but be honest. Don't say your community service changed your life if it didn't because trite statements won't impress readers.

In order to support your statements, provide more examples. If you say you're more patient now, how do you know this? Do you get less frustrated while playing with your younger siblings? Are you more willing to help group partners who are struggling with their part of the work? You've probably noticed by now that including specific examples and details is one of the best ways to create a strong and believable essay .

"As a result of my community service, I learned a lot about building houses and became a more mature person."

"As a result of my community service, I gained hands-on experience in construction. I learned how to read blueprints, use a hammer and nails, and begin constructing the foundation of a two-bedroom house. Working on the house could be challenging at times, but it taught me to appreciate the value of hard work and be more willing to pitch in when I see someone needs help. My dad has just started building a shed in our backyard, and I offered to help him with it because I know from my community service how much work it is. I also appreciate my own house more, and I know how lucky I am to have a roof over my head."

The second passage is more impressive and memorable because it describes the skills the writer learned in more detail and recounts a specific story that supports her claim that her community service changed her and made her more helpful.

Step 7: Finish Strong

Just as you started your essay in a way that would grab readers' attention, you want to finish your essay on a strong note as well. A good way to end your essay is to state again the impact your work had on you, your community, or both. Reiterate how you changed as a result of your community service, why you found the work important, or how it helped others.

Compare these two concluding statements:

"In conclusion, I learned a lot from my community service at my local museum, and I hope to keep volunteering and learning more about history."

"To conclude, volunteering at my city's American History Museum has been a great experience. By leading tours and participating in special events, I became better at public speaking and am now more comfortable starting conversations with people. In return, I was able to get more community members interested in history and our local museum. My interest in history has deepened, and I look forward to studying the subject in college and hopefully continuing my volunteer work at my university's own museum."

The second passage takes each point made in the first passage and expands upon it. In a few sentences, the second passage is able to clearly convey what work the volunteer did, how she changed, and how her volunteer work benefited her community.

The author of the second passage also ends her essay discussing her future and how she'd like to continue her community service, which is a good way to wrap things up because it shows your readers that you are committed to community service for the long-term.

What's Next?

Are you applying to a community service scholarship or thinking about it? We have a complete list of all the community service scholarships available to help get your search started!

Do you need a community service letter as well? We have a step-by-step guide that will tell you how to get a great reference letter from your community service supervisor.

Thinking about doing community service abroad? Before you sign up, read our guide on some of the hazards of international volunteer trips and how to know if it's the right choice for you.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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How to Write the Community Essay: Complete Guide + Examples

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Step 1: Decide What Community to Write About
• Step 2: The BEABIES Exercise
• Step 3: Pick a Structure (Narrative or Montage)
• Step 4: Write a Draft!

Introduction

On the Common Application, a number of colleges have begun to require that students respond to a supplemental essay question that sounds something like this:

Tell us a bit more about a community you are a part of.

Here is the exact wording from a few schools:

University of Michigan: “Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. (250 words)”

Duke University: “We seek a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you'd like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you've had to help us understand you better—perhaps related to a community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural background—we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying. (250 words)

(Old) Brown University: “Tell us about a place or community you call home. How has it shaped your perspective? (250 words)

I love this essay question. 

Why? Because, while this essay is largely asking about your place within that community, it is a great opportunity to share more about you, and how you will most likely engage with that community (or other communities) on your future college campus.

It’s a chance to say: “Here’s how I connect with folks in this community. And if accepted to your college, I’ll probably be active in getting involved with that same community and others on your college campus.”

And colleges want students who are going to be active in engaging with their community.

How to Write The Community Essay

Step 1: decide what community you want to write about.

How? This may seem obvious, but it can be really helpful to first brainstorm the communities you’re already a part of. 

Here’s how:

Create a “communities” chart by listing all the communities you’re a part of. Keep in mind that communities can be defined by...

Place: groups of people who live/work/play near one another

Action: groups of people who create change in the world by building, doing, or solving something together (Examples: Black Lives Matter, Girls Who Code, March for Our Lives)

Interest: groups of people coming together based on shared interest, experience, or expertise

Circumstance: groups of people brought together either by chance or external events/situations

Use four columns in your chart, like this. 

Your turn. 

What communities are you a part of? 

Spend 5-10 minutes making a list of as many as you can think of. 

In fact, here’s a simple GoogleDoc you can download and fill in right now.

Once you’ve completed that exercise for several of the communities you are a part of, you might start to see one community seems to be the most obvious one to write about. 

Go with the one that you feel gives the best chance to help you share more about yourself.

Step 2: Use the BEABIES exercise to generate your essay content

Once you’ve chosen a community or two, map out your content using the BEABIES Exercise . That exercise asks:

What did you actually do in that community? (Tip: use active verbs like “organized” and “managed” to clarify your responsibilities).

What kinds of problems did you solve (personally, locally, or globally)?

What specific impact did you have?

What did you learn (skills, qualities, values)? 

How did you apply the lessons you learned in and outside of that community?

Don’t skip that step. It’s important.

Step 3: Pick a structure (Narrative or Montage)

The Narrative Structure . This structure works well for students who have faced a challenge in this community. Otherwise, the Montage Structure works well.

Consider answering these three questions in your essay if you choose the Narrative Structure: 

What challenge did you face?

What did you do about it? 

What did you learn?

Here’s an example of a narrative “community” essay based on a challenge that tackles those three questions, roughly in order:

Community Essay Example: East Meets West

I look around my room, dimly lit by an orange light. On my desk, a framed picture of an Asian family beaming their smiles, buried among US history textbooks and The Great Gatsby. A Korean ballad streams from two tiny computer speakers. Pamphlets of American colleges scattered on the floor. A cold December wind wafts a strange infusion of ramen and leftover pizza. On the wall in the far back, a Korean flag hangs besides a Led Zeppelin poster. Do I consider myself Korean or American? A few years back, I would have replied: “Neither.” The frustrating moments of miscommunication, the stifling homesickness, and the impossible dilemma of deciding between the Korean or American table in the dining hall, all fueled my identity crisis. Standing in the “Foreign Passports” section at JFK, I have always felt out of place. Sure, I held a Korean passport in my hands, and I loved kimchi and Yuna Kim and knew the Korean Anthem by heart. But I also loved macaroni and cheese and LeBron. Deep inside, I feared I’d labeled by my airport customs category: a foreigner everywhere. This ambiguity, however, has granted me the opportunity to absorb the best of both worlds. Look at my dorm room. This mélange of cultures in my East-meets-West room embodies the diversity that characterizes my international student life. I’ve learned to accept my “ambiguity” as “diversity,” as a third-culture student embracing both identities. Do I consider myself Korean or American? Now, I can proudly answer: “Both.” — — —

(250 words)

While this author doesn’t go into too much depth on the “What did you do about it?” question named above, we do get a sense of the challenge he faced and what he learned.

For more on how to use the narrative structure, check out the free guide to writing the personal statement.

The Montage Structure. This is another potential structure, often times great for essays that don’t necessarily focus on a particular challenge. 

Here’s a great example:

Community Essay Example: Storytellers

Storytellers (Montage Structure)

I belong to a community of storytellers. Throughout my childhood, my mother and I spent countless hours immersed in the magical land of bedtime stories. We took daring adventures and explored far away lands. Imagination ran wild, characters came to life, and I became acquainted with heroes and lessons that continue to inspire me today. It was a ritual that I will never forget. In school I met many other storytellers­­­­—teachers, coaches, and fellow students whose stories taught me valuable lessons and enabled me to share stories of my own. My stories took shape through my involvement with theatre. I have learned that telling stories can be just as powerful as hearing them. When I tell a story, I can shape the world I live in and share my deepest emotions with the audience. This is exactly why I love theatre so much. The audience can relate to the story in many of the same powerful ways that I do. I love to perform with my theatre class to entertain and educate young audiences throughout my community. To tell our stories, we travel to elementary and middle schools performing plays that help educate younger students of the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and bullying. As storytellers, we aim to touch lives and better the world around us through our stories. — — —

(219 words)

To write this essay, I recommend the “uncommon connections” exercise.

The Uncommon Connections Exercise

First: Use the Values Exercise at this link to brainstorm predictable values that other students might describe in their essay and then vow not to use those values. 

Second : Identify 3-4 uncommon connections (values other students would be unlikely to think of) and give an example of each.

Third : Describe one example per paragraph, perhaps in chronological order. 

Another idea: It’s also possible to combine the narrative and montage structures by describing a challenge WHILE also describing a range of values and lessons. 

Here’s an example that does this:

Community Essay Example: The Pumpkin House (plus Ethan's analysis)

The Pumpkin House (Narrative + Montage Combo Structure)

I was raised in “The Pumpkin House.” Every Autumn, on the lawn between the sidewalk and the road, grows our pumpkin. Every summer, we procure seeds from giant pumpkins and plant them in this strip of land. Every fall, the pumpkin grows to be giant. This annual ritual became well known in the community and became the defining feature of our already quirky house. The pumpkin was not just a pumpkin, but a catalyst to creating interactions and community. Conversations often start with “aren’t you the girl in the pumpkin house?” My English teacher knew about our pumpkin and our chickens. His curiosity and weekly updates about the pumpkin helped us connect.

The author touches on the values of family and ritual in the first few sentences. She then mentions the word “community” explicitly, which clearly connects the essay to the  prompt. In the second paragraph she mentions the value of connection.

One year, we found our pumpkin splattered across the street. We were devastated; the pumpkin was part of our identity. Word spread, and people came to our house to share in our dismay. Clearly, that pumpkin enriched our life and the entire neighborhoods’.

Here she introduces the problem. Then she raises the stakes: the pumpkin was part of her family’s identity as well as that of the community. 

The next morning, our patch contained twelve new pumpkins. Anonymous neighbors left these, plus, a truly gigantic 200 lb. pumpkin on our doorstep.

Describing the neighborhood’s response offers a vivid example of what makes for a great community.

Growing up, the pumpkin challenged me as I wasn’t always comfortable being the center of attention. But in retrospect, I realize that there’s a bit of magic in growing something from a seed and tending it in public. I witnessed how this act of sharing creates authentic community spirit. I wouldn’t be surprised if some day I started my own form of quirky pumpkin growing and reap the benefit of true community.

The author makes another uncommon connection in her conclusion with the unexpected idea that  “the pumpkin challenged [her].” She then uses beautiful language to reflect on the lessons she learned: “there’s a bit of magic in growing something from a seed and tending it in public.” 

Step 4: Write a first draft!

It sometimes helps to outline and draft one or two different essays on different activities, just to see which community might end up being a better topic for your essay. 

Not sure? Share your drafts with a friend or teacher and ask this question:

Which of these essays tells you more about me/my core values, helps me stand out, and shows that I’ll engage actively with other communities in college.

Happy writing.

How to Write the Community Essay – Guide with Examples (2023-24)

September 6, 2023

Students applying to college this year will inevitably confront the community essay. In fact, most students will end up responding to several community essay prompts for different schools. For this reason, you should know more than simply how to approach the community essay as a genre. Rather, you will want to learn how to decipher the nuances of each particular prompt, in order to adapt your response appropriately. In this article, we’ll show you how to do just that, through several community essay examples. These examples will also demonstrate how to avoid cliché and make the community essay authentically and convincingly your own.

Emphasis on Community

Do keep in mind that inherent in the word “community” is the idea of multiple people. The personal statement already provides you with a chance to tell the college admissions committee about yourself as an individual. The community essay, however, suggests that you depict yourself among others. You can use this opportunity to your advantage by showing off interpersonal skills, for example. Or, perhaps you wish to relate a moment that forged important relationships. This in turn will indicate what kind of connections you’ll make in the classroom with college peers and professors.

Apart from comprising numerous people, a community can appear in many shapes and sizes. It could be as small as a volleyball team, or as large as a diaspora. It could fill a town soup kitchen, or spread across five boroughs. In fact, due to the internet, certain communities today don’t even require a physical place to congregate. Communities can form around a shared identity, shared place, shared hobby, shared ideology, or shared call to action. They can even arise due to a shared yet unforeseen circumstance.

What is the Community Essay All About?             

In a nutshell, the community essay should exhibit three things:

• An aspect of yourself, 2. in the context of a community you belonged to, and 3. how this experience may shape your contribution to the community you’ll join in college.

It may look like a fairly simple equation: 1 + 2 = 3. However, each college will word their community essay prompt differently, so it’s important to look out for additional variables. One college may use the community essay as a way to glimpse your core values. Another may use the essay to understand how you would add to diversity on campus. Some may let you decide in which direction to take it—and there are many ways to go!

To get a better idea of how the prompts differ, let’s take a look at some real community essay prompts from the current admission cycle.

Sample 2023-2024 Community Essay Prompts

1) brown university.

“Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)”

A close reading of this prompt shows that Brown puts particular emphasis on place. They do this by using the words “home,” “College Hill,” and “where they came from.” Thus, Brown invites writers to think about community through the prism of place. They also emphasize the idea of personal growth or change, through the words “inspired or challenged you.” Therefore, Brown wishes to see how the place you grew up in has affected you. And, they want to know how you in turn will affect their college community.

“NYU was founded on the belief that a student’s identity should not dictate the ability for them to access higher education. That sense of opportunity for all students, of all backgrounds, remains a part of who we are today and a critical part of what makes us a world-class university. Our community embraces diversity, in all its forms, as a cornerstone of the NYU experience.

We would like to better understand how your experiences would help us to shape and grow our diverse community. Please respond in 250 words or less.”

Here, NYU places an emphasis on students’ “identity,” “backgrounds,” and “diversity,” rather than any physical place. (For some students, place may be tied up in those ideas.) Furthermore, while NYU doesn’t ask specifically how identity has changed the essay writer, they do ask about your “experience.” Take this to mean that you can still recount a specific moment, or several moments, that work to portray your particular background. You should also try to link your story with NYU’s values of inclusivity and opportunity.

3) University of Washington

“Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW. (300 words max) Tip: Keep in mind that the UW strives to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, values and viewpoints.”

UW ’s community essay prompt may look the most approachable, for they help define the idea of community. You’ll notice that most of their examples (“families,” “cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood”…) place an emphasis on people. This may clue you in on their desire to see the relationships you’ve made. At the same time, UW uses the words “individual” and “richly diverse.” They, like NYU, wish to see how you fit in and stand out, in order to boost campus diversity.

Writing Your First Community Essay

Begin by picking which community essay you’ll write first. (For practical reasons, you’ll probably want to go with whichever one is due earliest.) Spend time doing a close reading of the prompt, as we’ve done above. Underline key words. Try to interpret exactly what the prompt is asking through these keywords.

Next, brainstorm. I recommend doing this on a blank piece of paper with a pencil. Across the top, make a row of headings. These might be the communities you’re a part of, or the components that make up your identity. Then, jot down descriptive words underneath in each column—whatever comes to you. These words may invoke people and experiences you had with them, feelings, moments of growth, lessons learned, values developed, etc. Now, narrow in on the idea that offers the richest material and that corresponds fully with the prompt.

Lastly, write! You’ll definitely want to describe real moments, in vivid detail. This will keep your essay original, and help you avoid cliché. However, you’ll need to summarize the experience and answer the prompt succinctly, so don’t stray too far into storytelling mode.

How To Adapt Your Community Essay

Once your first essay is complete, you’ll need to adapt it to the other colleges involving community essays on your list. Again, you’ll want to turn to the prompt for a close reading, and recognize what makes this prompt different from the last. For example, let’s say you’ve written your essay for UW about belonging to your swim team, and how the sports dynamics shaped you. Adapting that essay to Brown’s prompt could involve more of a focus on place. You may ask yourself, how was my swim team in Alaska different than the swim teams we competed against in other states?

Once you’ve adapted the content, you’ll also want to adapt the wording to mimic the prompt. For example, let’s say your UW essay states, “Thinking back to my years in the pool…” As you adapt this essay to Brown’s prompt, you may notice that Brown uses the word “reflection.” Therefore, you might change this sentence to “Reflecting back on my years in the pool…” While this change is minute, it cleverly signals to the reader that you’ve paid attention to the prompt, and are giving that school your full attention.

What to Avoid When Writing the Community Essay  

• Avoid cliché. Some students worry that their idea is cliché, or worse, that their background or identity is cliché. However, what makes an essay cliché is not the content, but the way the content is conveyed. This is where your voice and your descriptions become essential.
• Avoid giving too many examples. Stick to one community, and one or two anecdotes arising from that community that allow you to answer the prompt fully.
• Don’t exaggerate or twist facts. Sometimes students feel they must make themselves sound more “diverse” than they feel they are. Luckily, diversity is not a feeling. Likewise, diversity does not simply refer to one’s heritage. If the prompt is asking about your identity or background, you can show the originality of your experiences through your actions and your thinking.

Community Essay Examples and Analysis

Brown university community essay example.

I used to hate the NYC subway. I’ve taken it since I was six, going up and down Manhattan, to and from school. By high school, it was a daily nightmare. Spending so much time underground, underneath fluorescent lighting, squashed inside a rickety, rocking train car among strangers, some of whom wanted to talk about conspiracy theories, others who had bedbugs or B.O., or who manspread across two seats, or bickered—it wore me out. The challenge of going anywhere seemed absurd. I dreaded the claustrophobia and disgruntlement.

Yet the subway also inspired my understanding of community. I will never forget the morning I saw a man, several seats away, slide out of his seat and hit the floor. The thump shocked everyone to attention. What we noticed: he appeared drunk, possibly homeless. I was digesting this when a second man got up and, through a sort of awkward embrace, heaved the first man back into his seat. The rest of us had stuck to subway social codes: don’t step out of line. Yet this second man’s silent actions spoke loudly. They said, “I care.”

That day I realized I belong to a group of strangers. What holds us together is our transience, our vulnerabilities, and a willingness to assist. This community is not perfect but one in motion, a perpetual work-in-progress. Now I make it my aim to hold others up. I plan to contribute to the Brown community by helping fellow students and strangers in moments of precariousness.    

Brown University Community Essay Example Analysis

Here the student finds an original way to write about where they come from. The subway is not their home, yet it remains integral to ideas of belonging. The student shows how a community can be built between strangers, in their responsibility toward each other. The student succeeds at incorporating key words from the prompt (“challenge,” “inspired” “Brown community,” “contribute”) into their community essay.

UW Community Essay Example

I grew up in Hawaii, a world bound by water and rich in diversity. In school we learned that this sacred land was invaded, first by Captain Cook, then by missionaries, whalers, traders, plantation owners, and the U.S. government. My parents became part of this problematic takeover when they moved here in the 90s. The first community we knew was our church congregation. At the beginning of mass, we shook hands with our neighbors. We held hands again when we sang the Lord’s Prayer. I didn’t realize our church wasn’t “normal” until our diocese was informed that we had to stop dancing hula and singing Hawaiian hymns. The order came from the Pope himself.

Eventually, I lost faith in God and organized institutions. I thought the banning of hula—an ancient and pure form of expression—seemed medieval, ignorant, and unfair, given that the Hawaiian religion had already been stamped out. I felt a lack of community and a distrust for any place in which I might find one. As a postcolonial inhabitant, I could never belong to the Hawaiian culture, no matter how much I valued it. Then, I was shocked to learn that Queen Ka’ahumanu herself had eliminated the Kapu system, a strict code of conduct in which women were inferior to men. Next went the Hawaiian religion. Queen Ka’ahumanu burned all the temples before turning to Christianity, hoping this religion would offer better opportunities for her people.

Community Essay (Continued)

I’m not sure what to make of this history. Should I view Queen Ka’ahumanu as a feminist hero, or another failure in her islands’ tragedy? Nothing is black and white about her story, but she did what she thought was beneficial to her people, regardless of tradition. From her story, I’ve learned to accept complexity. I can disagree with institutionalized religion while still believing in my neighbors. I am a product of this place and their presence. At UW, I plan to add to campus diversity through my experience, knowing that diversity comes with contradictions and complications, all of which should be approached with an open and informed mind.

UW Community Essay Example Analysis

This student also manages to weave in words from the prompt (“family,” “community,” “world,” “product of it,” “add to the diversity,” etc.). Moreover, the student picks one of the examples of community mentioned in the prompt, (namely, a religious group,) and deepens their answer by addressing the complexity inherent in the community they’ve been involved in. While the student displays an inner turmoil about their identity and participation, they find a way to show how they’d contribute to an open-minded campus through their values and intellectual rigor.

What’s Next

For more on supplemental essays and essay writing guides, check out the following articles:

• How to Write the Why This Major Essay + Example
• How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example
• How to Start a College Essay – 12 Techniques and Tips
• College Essay

Kaylen Baker

With a BA in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Translation from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Kaylen has been working with students on their writing for over five years. Previously, Kaylen taught a fiction course for high school students as part of Columbia Artists/Teachers, and served as an English Language Assistant for the French National Department of Education. Kaylen is an experienced writer/translator whose work has been featured in Los Angeles Review, Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Guardian, France Today, and Honolulu Weekly, among others.

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How To Write A Community Service Essay That Gets You Accepted

Are you struggling to showcase your community service in your college admissions essay ? This step-by-step guide will help you understand the importance of community service, choose meaningful experiences, and highlight your leadership roles.

By connecting your involvement to personal growth and values, you can craft a compelling narrative that will leave a lasting impact on admissions officers.

Get ready to impress with your community service and take your college application essay to the next level!

Key Takeaways

Demonstrating community service showcases a commitment to making a positive impact and creating social change through volunteering.

Prioritizing meaningful community service experiences that align with passions and values is important for making a tangible impact and contributing skills and expertise.

Taking on leadership roles in community organizations highlights leadership skills, initiative, and responsibility, and provides specific examples of contributions and outcomes achieved.

Connecting community service to personal growth and values allows for a deeper understanding of oneself and the world, while also acquiring transferable skills for future pursuits and preparing for success in college and beyond.

Highlight Leadership Roles in Community Organizations

To effectively showcase your community service in college essays, emphasize your leadership roles in community organizations. Highlighting your leadership skills and community engagement can demonstrate your ability to make a positive impact and contribute to the betterment of your community. Admissions officers are looking for students who not only participate in community organizations but also take on leadership positions, as this shows initiative, responsibility, and the ability to inspire and motivate others.

When discussing your leadership roles, be sure to provide specific examples of how you have contributed to the organization and made a difference. Talk about the challenges you faced , the strategies you implemented, and the outcomes you achieved. This will help paint a clear picture of your leadership abilities and how you have used them to positively impact your community.

In addition to highlighting your leadership roles, it's also important to reflect on the skills you have developed through these experiences. Discuss how your involvement in community organizations has helped you develop important skills such as communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and organization.

Connect Community service to Personal Growth and Values

When writing about your community service in college essays, it's important to connect it to your personal development and ethical values. By doing so, you can effectively showcase how these personal experiences have shaped you as an individual and influenced your beliefs and values. Here are three ways to highlight this connection:

Self-reflection: Discuss how your community service has allowed you to gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your place in the world. Reflect on the personal growth you have experienced through these activities, such as developing leadership skills or cultivating empathy and compassion.

Values alignment: Demonstrate how your community service aligns with your ethical values. Explain how your participation in community service or volunteering has allowed you to live out your beliefs and make a positive impact on the world around you.

Transferable skills: Showcase the skills you have acquired through your community service that can be applied to your future academic and professional pursuits. Whether it's communication, problem-solving, or teamwork, emphasize how these experiences have prepared you for success in college and beyond.

Craft a Compelling Narrative Around Community Impact

One crucial step in showcasing your community service in college essays is crafting a compelling narrative that highlights the impact you have made. To effectively convey the value of your community work, it's important to tell a story that demonstrates your ability to create change and build relationships.

When crafting your narrative, focus on specific instances where you'd a direct impact on the community. Share stories of how your efforts made a difference and improved the lives of those around you. Highlight the relationships you built along the way, showcasing your ability to collaborate and work effectively with others.

To make your narrative more compelling, emphasize the challenges you faced and how you overcame them . Discuss the obstacles that stood in your way and the strategies you implemented to create meaningful change. This will demonstrate your resilience, determination, and problem-solving skills.

Additionally, use descriptive language to paint a vivid picture of your community service. Help the reader understand the context and environment in which you operated, allowing them to fully grasp the significance of your impact.

Understand the Importance of Community service

Understanding the significance of community service is crucial for college applicants. Not only does it demonstrate your commitment to making a positive impact, but it also showcases your ability to create social change through volunteering. By actively participating in community service, you have the opportunity to develop and enhance important skills that will benefit you in college and beyond.

Volunteering isn't just about giving back; it's about actively engaging with your community and working towards a common goal. Through volunteering, you can gain valuable experiences and insights that can shape your perspective on various social issues. This hands-on involvement allows you to understand the challenges faced by different communities and develop a sense of empathy and compassion.

Furthermore, community service provides you with the chance to create social change. By dedicating your time and effort to a cause, you can contribute to the betterment of society. Whether it's working with underprivileged youth, advocating for environmental sustainability, or supporting local nonprofits, your involvement can make a tangible difference.

Colleges value students who demonstrate a commitment to community service because it showcases your character, leadership skills, and ability to work collaboratively with others. It also highlights your dedication to making a positive impact on the world.

Choose Meaningful Community Service Experiences

When selecting meaningful community service experiences, prioritize those that align with your passions and allow you to make a tangible impact. Look for opportunities where you can contribute to a cause that resonates with you on a personal level. This won't only make the experience more fulfilling, but it will also demonstrate your genuine commitment to the cause in your college essays .

To make a meaningful impact, consider getting involved in projects or organizations that have a long-term commitment to the community. This shows your dedication and perseverance, as well as your ability to make a lasting difference. Look for opportunities where you can contribute your skills and expertise, whether it's through tutoring, mentoring, volunteering at a local shelter, or organizing fundraising events.

By choosing community service experiences that are meaningful and align with your passions, you're more likely to stay engaged and committed in the long run. This commitment will shine through in your college essays, showcasing your dedication to making a difference in your community. So, take the time to explore different opportunities and find the ones that truly speak to you.

how to add Community service in College Essays

Showcasing your community service in your college essays is crucial for demonstrating your character, values, and personal growth.

By choosing meaningful service experiences, highlighting leadership roles, and connecting your involvement to your own development, you can craft a compelling narrative that showcases your impact on the community.

Remember to use concise, informative, and persuasive language to effectively convey the importance of community service in your college application.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long should my college essay be when discussing my community service.

Your community service essay should average between 350 and 600 words. Make sure you refer to the requirements for your essay before writing and submitting.

Should I Focus on One Specific Community Service Experience or Include Multiple Experiences in My Essay?

When discussing specific experiences in your college essay, it's best to include multiple community service experiences. This shows your varied involvement and dedication to making a difference in different areas.

Is It Better to Highlight My Leadership Roles in Community Organizations or Focus on the Impact of My Community service?

To make your college essay stand out, focus on highlighting your leadership roles and measuring the impact of your community service. Show how you have taken charge and made a difference.

How Can I Effectively Connect My Community service to My Personal Growth and Values in My College Essay?

To effectively connect your community service to your personal growth and values in your college essay, focus on the impact of your involvement and how it has shaped you. Show how your values align with the work you've done and how it has helped you grow.

The College Application Process - The Ultimate Guide

How to choose the perfect college program for your future goals.

Essays About Community Service: Top 5 Examples Plus Prompts

If you are looking for your next writing topic, discover top examples of essays about community service and helpful writing prompts in our guide.

Community service refers to an individual or a group’s volunteer work dedicated to improving the community and its people. In America, Benjamin Franklin introduced community service in the 18th century by developing the idea of ​​the first volunteer firehouse in Philadelphia . Since then, stepping up has become a norm, with more people encouraged to participate.

Volunteering helps individuals gain experience, improve self-esteem, expand knowledge, and promote healthy goals. In addition, choosing community service as a topic in your essay allows you to explain its significance to entice your readers to get involved. To give you an idea of ​​how to write essays about community service, here are five examples that will help you.

5 Top Examples On Essays About Community Service

1. essay on community service and its importance by joni kim, 2. community service experience: essay on what i learned by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 3. why is community service important by perry mullins, 4. concept of the community services in modern society essay by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 5. community service experience essay by writer molly, 1. community service vs. volunteering, 2. community service: then and now, 3. why we should volunteer, 4. community service in schools: mandatory or voluntary, 5. community service and its influences, 6. types of community service, 7. my community service experience, 8. donation or service: what’s better to give.

“The service helps the group of people in need, for example, senior citizens, children, people with disability and the likes. Sometimes community service is geared towards solving problems related to the needs of community members, especially low-income earners.”

Kim explains that community service is a voluntary action done through various means. It includes health and child care services, education, housing, and other improvements to aid and support the community members who need the most assistance. Then, Kim focuses on its importance to individuals, the community, and the country. The essay showcases how community service improves social, interpersonal, and decision-making skills. It also allows students to explore and find their interests. Ultimately, Kim believes that the real-life experience of volunteering assists in determining one’s career path, providing advantages when applying for a job.

“This experience has helped me to cherish my ability to influence and impact others in a positive way, and it helped me to look at community service as a benefit for myself, instead of just another obligation to fit into my schedule.”

In this essay, the writer reflects on their community service experience, sharing the gains they reaped from the program. They discuss how their undying love for animals and tight-knit communities made them realize the gravity of sharing. They also had the opportunity to strengthen and develop a new set of talents and skills from the encounter. However, the author also mentions that when the desire to do good morphs into a forced responsibility, it leads to failure. The writer says they often receive more benefits than the people and animals they help, as the experience makes them more patient, flexible, and responsible.

“True volunteering lies in an individual’s will and drives to help other and enforcing it eliminates that drive.”

Mullins focuses his essay on explaining why it should not be mandatory for students to do community service. For him, mandatory volunteering takes away the true meaning of volunteerism. Students only view it as additional work – an obligatory criterion they must check off their list to graduate. He claims that students will gain nothing but stress instead of new skills and knowledge when compulsory community services are in place.

“As for me, I consider community work as a good opportunity to get the main idea of some particular services, still, I would not have the same great desire to participate in social life if the services would become obligatory for graduation.”

In modern society, volunteering is becoming a necessary factor in many organizations. People with experience in community service have more opportunities to get a job. The author delves into community service’s importance but also criticizes that making it a requisite takes away its value. With various arguments from professionals like Alina Tugend , the essay further argues that no one would want to receive help from people who consider it an obligation.

“The community service project is different from other school educations the community service can teach us how to love others and how to fulfill our heart with joy.”

Molly dislikes homeless people because of their appearance and smell, but this all changes when cleaning and selling preloved items to homeless people becomes the best experience of her life. Community service taught her that the homeless are no different from her. She also learned to be thankful for her situation. She concludes that after the program, she became more respectful, responsible, and caring to other people.

Do you want to secure that A+ Grade? Check out our round-up of the best essay writing apps for students and academics.

8 Helpful Prompts on Essays About Community Service

If you’re still confused about the topic and can’t choose what to talk about, you can use the prompts below:

To write this prompt, the first part of your essay should discuss the meaning of community service and volunteering. Next, identify and examine the different characteristics of a community service worker and volunteer to clearly explain their similarities and differences. Then finish your essay with your opinion on the matter or look for more information you can expound on in your own words. 

This prompt shows how people’s definitions, processes, and perceptions of community service changed over time. Research and write down how community service started in your country or area to make it more relatable. Include examples of community services that made a big difference for the community and consider how these services impacted people’s lives.

Explain to your readers what voluntary work means and why exposure to it is crucial. Next, write the advantages and disadvantages of volunteering and what they should expect if they decide to be a volunteer. Finally, share your experience to clarify your comments, suggestions, and other points.

The decision to make community service mandatory in every school is still up for debate. First, pen your opinion on this topic and whether or not you agree with compulsory community service. Then, discuss your reasons and provide examples or factual evidence to support your arguments.

Identify and scrutinize the positive and negative effects of community service. Find news articles where one type of community service impacted its volunteers, community, and people differently. Write down how the organizer dealt with different situations and if it affected the program’s outcome.

There are three kinds of community service: direct, indirect, and advocacy. First, discuss and give examples for each one. Then, explain how these services differ from programs under service-learning. For example, direct community service includes directly serving homeless people food and clothes, while in service-learning, volunteers will teach people to garden and earn income. 

Use this prompt to share your memorable experience while doing community service and what you learned from it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a short program at your school, work, or organization. The important thing is that you have experience in community service. Include your initial reaction and if it changed over time while you were doing the service.

Some choose to donate money to various organizations that perform community service. Others join the program and personally help other people. In this prompt, share your opinion on the topic and whether you consider donating as community service. To make your essay more intriguing, look for prominent personalities who consistently contribute or engage in community service versus those who only present monetary assistance. 

AI grammar checkers are powerful resources that can help you improve your writing. See our guide on how to use an AI grammar checker. For help with this topic, read our guide explaining what is persuasive writing ?

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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57 Community Service Essay Topics and Examples

🏆 best titles about community service, 👍 simple & easy research titles about community, 🎓 most interesting community topics to write about.

• Community Service as a Form of Correction Of these alternatives, community service has been one of the most employed and therefore opened a room for debates with the proponents feeling that the option is a remedy to all the prison problems while […]
• Community service should be required by most citizens of a country One of the reasons is because President Clinton has been explaining the importance of volunteering to the community by the American students and the public. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Concept of the Community Services in Modern Society Community services are defined as the services which are performed for the benefit of the society on volunteering basis. The advantages of the community services cannot be questioned, still, making such service mandatory for graduation […]
• Significant Voluntary Sector Organisations Challenges in Public Service Delivery The main concern raised in the conference was a discussion of the role of voluntary organisations in the delivery of public services.
• Community Service: Mandatory or Voluntary? Engaging in community service not only helps in transforming the behavior of young people but it is also helpful to adults.
• S.H.A.P.E. Community Service and Programs The organization emphasizes unity, self-determination, creativity, faith, and teamwork as the basis of its work.S.H.A.P.E.programs target young and elderly generations and aim to improve the quality of life of particular age category individuals and the […]
• Community Service Experience: Homeless Shelter The shelter also organizes outreach and humanitarian work during the day to ensure that homeless people in the community know about the shelter and the services it provides.
• Most Satisfying Experience Related to Community Service I will serve as a role model for other people and they, following my example, will also get committed to the temple.
• Dayton Children’s Hospital and Community Service Dayton Children’s is committed to improve quality of life of people living in the community. This report provides more detailed information on the organization’s activities and monetary amounts of community benefit.
• Mondawmin Community Service Delivery Plan Through the service delivery plan, the relevant authorities in the region will put in place the relevant measures for reducing or eliminating the above predicament in the region.
• Addressing the Impacts of Undergraduates’ Engagement in Community Service on Stakeholders It is important to note that as much as the community and the individual stands to benefit from community service, there are various challenges facing the provision of this service in a given community.
• Illuminate Diabetes Event Design Finally, after these special performances, there will be distribution of fliers with information on diabetes and encouragement to get tested for diabetes and thus reach the climax of the event.
• Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board The Hampton-Newport Community Services Board offers a broad range of mental well-being and drug abuse services and care for people with mental and developmental disorders. The agency works together with certified psychoanalysts and psychologists in […]
• Volunteering in Leisure Sector The review shows that individuals are motivated due to the benefits that come with volunteering in the sector and the nature of the activity.
• Volunteering for Horizon House: Homeless Neighbours’ Motivation to Find Jobs To understand and analyze the role of the center in changing the homeless neighbours’ life for better, it is appropriate to focus on the center’s assistance in employing neighbours and developing their job skills with […]
• Conceptualization of the Aspect of Community Service As part of expressive the Jewish values, the aspect of creativity and innovativeness help to inspire the inner self to remain observant, responsible, and caring to the needs of neighbors and the society at large.
• The Achievements of Peaceful Protest During the Civil Rights Movement
• The War On Drugs And The Civil Rights Movement
• The Long Term Effects of the Civil Rights Movement
• African Americans And Religion During The Civil Rights Movement
• The History of the Civil Rights Movement in the United Stats and Its Impact on African Americans
• Analyzing the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War
• The Impact Of Rock ‘n’ Roll On The Civil Rights Movement
• The Importance and Impact of the Civil Rights Movement to the Public Policy
• Women in the Civil Rights Movement
• A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Feminist Movement in the United States
• To What Extent Can the 1950’s Be Viewed as a Great Success for the Civil Rights Movement
• The Historical Accuracy of the Portrayal of the Civil Rights Movement in Selma, a Drama Film by Ava DuVernay
• A Look at Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Role of Martin Luther
• The Historiography Of Womens Role And Visibility In The Civil Rights Movement
• The Relationship of Southern Jews to Blacks and the Civil Rights Movement
• The Contradicting Outcome of the Civil Rights Movement in America
• The Montgomery Bus Boycott And The Civil Rights Movement
• The Role Of Police During The Civil Rights Movement
• The Role Of The Supreme Court In The Civil Rights Movement
• The True Face of The Civil Rights Movement
• The Stages of the Progressive Reform in the Civil Rights Movement
• U.S. Democracy and the Civil Rights Movement
• Theatre in the Era of the Civil Rights Movement
• The Importance of Students During The Civil Rights Movement
• The Relationship between Activism and Federal Government during the Civil Rights Movement
• Violent and Non-violent Methods of Protests Embraced by African American in the Civil Rights Movement
• The Role and Importance of the Grassroot Organizers on the Civil Rights Movement
• The Fight For Aid From The Civil Rights Movement
• The Success of The Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s
• The Laws in the Reconstruction Era and the Civil Rights Movement
• The New York Times And The Civil Rights Movement
• White Resistance to the Civil Rights Movement
• The Role of Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement
• Understanding the Civil Rights Movement: America vs. Australia
• Successes And Failures Of Civil Rights Movement
• The Civil Rights Movement & the Black Middle Class
• The Foundation of the Niagara Movement and Its Influence on the Civil Rights Movement in America
• To What Extent Was Grass Roots Activism a Significant Reason to Why the Civil Rights Movement Grew in the 1950s and 1960s
• The History of the Civil Rights Movement, National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• The Value of Studying the Civil Rights Movement
• The Effect of Society on the World of Doubt and the Effects of the Civil Rights Movement
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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How to write the community service essay

Whether in an interview or an essay, all college applicants should be prepared to talk about the ways they have worked to improve their schools and communities. No college wants to admit a passive recipient of community, they would all much prefer to admit an active and engaged citizen who understands that community requires contribution. Use this essay to define a community (see the community essay for more examples of this) and then talk specifically about how you helped to make that community better. You have a lot of latitude here to define your terms and to define the boundaries of your engagement. Don’t pass up any opportunity to share your active citizenship. These essays will vary in length but are often a “mid-size” supplement of 250-350 words.

Example Community Service Questions:

• U of California: What have you done to make your school or community a better place?
• MIT: At MIT, we bring people together to better the lives of others. MIT students work to improve their communities in different ways, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to being a good friend. Describe one way in which you have contributed to your community, whether in your family, the classroom, your neighborhood, etc.  
• Princeton: Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals.

LET'S BREAK DOWN THE ESSENTIAL POINTS YOU NEED TO HIT WHEN RESPONDING TO THIS SUPPLEMENT:

This is an important question! If you have an option to select an essay question among several prompts, choose to write this essay! Why? Colleges want to know that you have made your community a better place. This makes you a compelling applicant. Why else? Because you have done something that can answer this question – even if to you, right now, it looks small in comparison to solving global challenges.

“Community” can be defined however you choose! Be sure to use a few words of this essay to outline the boundaries of the community you identify.

THINGS TO AVOID:

Additional tips and tricks:.

• Column 1: Identify the problem. Describe the challenge you were (or are currently) facing. The problem could be something global, like an environmental issue, or something more local, like a lack of creative opportunities in your high school.
• Column 2: Raise the stakes. Help us understand: Why was (or is) overcoming this challenge important? What might happen if this problem went (or goes) unchecked?  
• Column 3: Articulate the vision. What might the world look like if this problem were solved? Inspire us to dream with you.
• Column 4: Describe what you did. Tell us the specific things you (or you and your team) did to solve the problem.
• Column 5: Clarify your role.   Describe your particular involvement. Why were (or are) you crucial to the project’s or club’s success?
• Column 6: Share the impact you had, lessons you learned, or values you gained. Provide specific evidence that gives us a sense that your work mattered.

Don't forget to use active verbs! Additionally, you can absolutely re-use this essay (being mindful of word count) to respond to multiple community service prompts from different schools.

Elise holds a BA in Political Philosophy from Williams College and an MEd in Administration & Social Policy from Harvard. She has spent the past twenty years working in top-tier independent schools.

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How to Write the “Community” and “Issue” Yale Essays

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Hale Jaeger in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info. 

What’s Covered

The “community” essay: choosing a community, structuring the “community” essay, the “issue” essay: choosing your issue, issues to avoid, structuring the “issue” essay.

In this article, we discuss strategies for writing Yale University ’s “Community” and “Issue” supplemental essays. Applicants using the Common App or Coalition Application to apply to Yale are required to choose one of these two prompts and respond to it in 400 words or fewer. The first prompt is the “Issue” essay prompt, which reads:

Yale carries out its mission “through the free exchange of ideas in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community.” Reflect on a time when you exchanged ideas about an important issue with someone holding an opposing view. How did the experience lead you either to change your opinion or to sharpen your reasons for holding onto it? (400 words)

The second prompt is the “Community” essay prompt:

Reflect on a time when you have worked to enhance a community to which you feel connected. Why have these efforts been meaningful to you? You may define community however you like. (400 words)

In this article, we discuss choosing topics for each of these essays and strategies to structure them.

The Yale “Community” essay prompt clearly states that you can define community however you wish, which means you can choose to write about any kind of community that you feel you are a member of. When considering potential communities, start by brainstorming any groups you are part of that have defined boundaries, such as your town, school, team, or religious organization.

There are also informal communities that you could choose from, such as your friend group, family, coworkers, or neighborhood. Even though these groups have less of a formal definition, they are still communities. What matters most is that the community that you choose is important to you, that you have contributed to it, and that you have learned something from it.

When structuring this essay, think about it in three sections. The first introduces the community, the second demonstrates your contributions to the community, and the third explains what the community has given and taught you. As you write, keep in mind that this essay is a two-way street; you want to show what you have given to your community and what it has given you.

Introduce the Community

The first step in writing this essay is to introduce the community. Explain who is part of the community and what the community is like. Highlight the community’s structure by demonstrating how you are part of it and how you interact with your peers, superiors, or inferiors within the group. It is also important to depict the community’s dynamic in this part of the essay. For example, is it fun, relaxed, and loving, or is it rigorous, challenging, and thought provoking? 

Show What You’ve Contributed

The next section of this essay should discuss your engagement with this community and what you’ve contributed to it. Consider what you’ve done, what initiatives you’ve brought to the community, and what your role is within it. You can also highlight anything that you had to give up to be part of the community.

Show What You’ve Learned

The last part of this essay should discuss what you have gained and learned from this community. For this portion, consider things that the community has given and taught you, as well as ways that it has helped you grow. Think about how this community has shaped who you are and who you are becoming.

The other prompt option is the “Issue” essay. The first step for this one is to define what your issue is. It doesn’t matter what you choose, as long as it’s something that has enough nuance for you to talk about it in a complex and intelligent way.

Make sure it’s an issue of some relevance to you; otherwise, it will come across as dispassionate. As you write this essay, you should show that you are somebody who cares about an issue that they think is significant. 

Grand Issues

When selecting an issue, you can either choose a grand one or a local one. Grand issues are big, unsolved problems that are common in society, such as cancer, homelessness, or food insecurity. If you do choose a grand issue, remind yourself of its personal importance. While grand issues are full of nuance, they may lack personal meaning. Examples of personal connections to grand issues could be if you have encountered homelessness, lived with food insecurity, or have lost someone to cancer.

Local Issues

Another topic option is to write about an issue that is local. For example, maybe your high school has a teaching staff that doesn’t represent the diversity of the student body. While this is not a global issue, it’s something that strongly affects you and your community. 

Perhaps you live in a town that is directly suffering from the opioid crisis, or you have divorced parents and have started an activist group for children of divorced parents. Both of these examples of local issues also have personal importance. 

When choosing a topic to write about, avoid issues that you don’t have any connection to and that aren’t personally important. These are often problems that are too grand and can’t be made personal, such as world peace. 

Another category of issues to avoid is anything that doesn’t align with Yale’s values. Yale, like most universities in the United States, generally has a liberal lean. As such, it is likely not in your best interest to write a strong defense of socially conservative values. While there are values that you are free to hold and express—and Yale welcomes people of all backgrounds and ideologies—this essay is not necessarily the best place to express them.

You are most likely applying to Yale because it’s a place that you want to be and have something in common with. This essay is a great opportunity to emphasize the values that you share with the university rather than the things that divide you. Since a reader only has five to seven minutes to go over your entire application, you don’t want them to come away with the sense that you are somebody who won’t thrive at Yale.

Define the Issue and Highlight Past Experiences

When writing the “Issue” essay, start by identifying the issue and sharing how you came across it. Then, provide insight into why it is meaningful to you and your relationship with it.

Next, show the reader how you have already engaged with the problem by detailing your past with the issue. 

Discuss Future Plans to Approach the Issue

After this, you can look forward and discuss your future with this issue. A great strategy is to write about how your Yale education will address the problem and how your field of study relates to it. You can also highlight any Yale-specific programs or opportunities that will give you insight or context for tackling the issue. 

Alternatively, if there is something about this issue that Yale’s academic flexibility will enable you to explore, you can share that in this part of the essay. For example, maybe you are interested in health policy and plan to take classes in the sciences. You also want to take classes in the history of health, science, and medicine, as well as political science and economics courses, which you plan to utilize to write new healthcare policies.

Another option is to focus on an aspect of Yale’s community, such as peers, professors, or mentors who will help develop your ability to navigate the issue. Ultimately, you want to demonstrate in this essay that what (and how) you learn at Yale will prepare you to take action and move forward with confronting your issue in the future.

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Application Essays

There are three essays required as part of the Gilman Scholarship application: the Statement of Purpose Essay and the two Community Impact Essays, which are the Building Mutual Understanding Essay and the Follow-on Service Project Proposal. For those applying for a Critical Need Language Award or for the STEM Supplemental Award, additional essays are required.

Essay Guidelines

• Compose your essays first in a word processing program, and then upload the file to your online application. Please use 1-inch margins and Times New Roman 12-point font for each of your essays.
• The Statement of Purpose Essay is limited to 7,000 characters (including spaces).
• The Building Mutual Understanding Essay is limited to 3,000 characters (including spaces).
• The Follow-on Service Project Proposal is limited to 3,000 characters (including spaces).
• The optional Critical Need Language Award essay has a 2,000 character limit (including spaces).
• The optional STEM Supplemental Award essay has a 1,000 character limit (including spaces).
• Ensure that your essays address the prompt/theme.
• Please preview your essays once you have uploaded them into the application to ensure the correct file was uploaded.

Tips for Writing Competitive Essays

• Have your essay proofread.  One of the most important things to remember for any essay is to have it read by an advisor or professor. Spell check and grammar check are fine, but a good proofreader will find things that your word processing software won’t. In addition, a proofreader can often make suggestions on ways to clarify a point that may not make sense to someone else.
• Work with your advisors.  It is important to talk with your study abroad advisor prior to completing your essays. Your study abroad advisor may be able to help you develop your Statement of Purpose essay and/or a creative Follow-on Service Project. Remember your advisors may have participated in selection committees for scholarship programs, particularly Gilman, and can give you great insight into what makes an interesting and competitive essay.
• Work with your writing center on campus.  Take the first draft of your essay to your campus writing center or to a composition professor. These individuals have invaluable expertise in writing essays and can be a great resource on your campus anytime you need to prepare an essay.
• Be creative. Remember that this is a competitive scholarship program and the selection panelists’ only chance to get to know you is through your essay. The essays are your chance to tell the selection panelists about yourself and your decision to study abroad. It is important to develop an original and creative Follow-on Service Project. The most competitive applications are those that have interesting and original essays.
• Check for proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar.  Before submitting your application, be sure to double check your essay. Did you spell the scholarship name or names of cities correctly? Be sure you have proper punctuation and do not type your essay in all lower case or all upper case letters. Most importantly, check for correct grammar with the support of a proofreader.

5 Questions to Ask Yourself: Statement of Purpose (PDF)

3 Questions to Ask Yourself: Community Impact Essay 1 Building Mutual Understanding (PDF)

5 Questions to Ask Yourself: Community Impact Essay 2 Follow-on Service Project Proposal (PDF)

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE ESSAY

The Statement of Purpose essay is an important factor in the selection of Gilman Scholarship recipients. We strongly encourage you to read the Gilman Selection Criteria , carefully review your essay, and ask an advisor, faculty member, or others to proofread your essay for spelling, grammar, and content prior to submission.

In your essay, be specific in describing your individual reasons for studying abroad, keeping in mind that this is a scholarship for academic study abroad or credit bearing international internships. Please address ALL of the questions below, in no particular order: (max of 7,000 characters)

• How will studying or interning abroad help you achieve your future academic or professional goals?
• Why did you select your specific program and host country?
• How are you academically prepared to be a successful scholar abroad? If you have faced significant academic difficulties, tell us about those and how you are overcoming them.
• What examples of knowledge, skills, and experiences will you draw on to meet the challenges of going abroad?

Community Impact Essays

The two community impact essays are equally important in the selection of Gilman Scholarship recipients. We strongly encourage you to read the Selection Criterion Community Impact Abroad & Student’s Return Home , carefully review your essay, and ask an advisor, faculty member, or others to proofread your essay for spelling, grammar, and content prior to submission.

1. Building Mutual Understanding Essay

Gilman scholars represent the United States as citizen diplomats in their host communities; they reflect a diversity of values, beliefs, and opinions that is fundamental to providing a balanced representation of the United States abroad. Gilman scholars are expected to contribute to the goal of building mutual understanding by sharing what it means to be an American, learning about the host culture, and building meaningful relationships. (max of 3000 characters)

• As a U.S. citizen, how will you represent and share what it means to be an American during your program? How will you seek opportunities to become more culturally engaged and have meaningful interactions with people and cultures different from your own during your abroad program?

2. Follow-on Service Project Proposal

Gilman scholars are expected to complete the Follow-on Service Project which is to increase awareness of study abroad and the Gilman Scholarship among their peers in their home or campus communities. (max of 3000 characters)

• In no particular order, describe your Follow-on Service Project in more detail: What is your project and how will it increase awareness of study abroad and the Gilman Program among your peers in your home or campus community? Identify and explain why you chose the specific community you will be reaching. How will you integrate the impact of your experience abroad into your project? With which campus departments, student organizations, or community organizations will you collaborate?

Examples of Follow-on Service Projects

Gilman scholars have proposed and carried out a wide range of Follow-on Service Projects. As long as the applicant’s proposal will meet the goals of the Follow-on Service Project, there are no right or wrong projects. However, we encourage all applicants to propose a unique Follow-on Service Project that highlights their individual background, experiences, talents and skills. Listed below are some examples of projects Gilman scholars have carried out. This is by no means an exhaustive list and we look forward to continuing to receive unique, individual proposals from all applicants. Remember, all projects must promote international education and the Gilman Scholarship.

K-12 Outreach

• Conducting presentations on their country of study to local classrooms.
• Working with a local teacher to connect with a U.S. classroom while abroad, via photos, letters, emails or Skype sessions, sharing information about their host country, experience abroad and the Gilman Scholarship.
• Organizing and/or working with their university K-12 outreach program, to present and share information on their experience abroad and the Gilman Scholarship.
• Participating in their local high school College Night to share information on study abroad opportunities and scholarships.
• Working with/giving presentations on study abroad and the Gilman Scholarship to high school language or area studies classes.
• Working with/giving presentations on study abroad and the Gilman Scholarship to programs that mentor high school students, such as Upward Bound.

Academic Department Outreach:

• Development of a study abroad information page for the department or major website that lists a suggested academic timeline encouraging students to incorporate study abroad into their degree, in consultation with their department and study abroad office.
• Organizing information on study abroad programs that offer coursework and academic credit in their field of study and links to Gilman and other scholarships and financial aid information that support these opportunities.
• Presentations on study abroad and the Gilman Scholarship at academic club or honor society meetings.
• Development of a brochure or informational flyer specific to the student’s academic department or field of study that is then posted in the study abroad office.
• Serving as a mentor/peer advisor to potential study abroad students in their field of study.
• Submitting an article to their academic department newsletter on their experiences abroad and the Gilman Scholarship either while the student is still overseas or upon their return.

Campus Office Outreach:

Students often propose to work with a specific on-campus office including the Diversity/Minority Services offices, Disability Services offices, Career Centers, Financial Aid offices, Student Leadership offices, and other campus offices. Examples of these projects include:

• Promoting and encouraging study abroad opportunities and the Gilman Scholarship through presentations to student clubs and organizations and through office organized events
• Posting information on the Gilman Scholarship Program in specific campus offices
• Adding a web page to the official website that highlights study abroad opportunities, the Gilman Scholarship, and information that would be of help/interest to students
• Serving as an official representative at campus fairs and events by sharing information on study abroad and the Gilman Scholarship

Study Abroad Outreach:

This is the most common type of Follow-on Service Project students propose and can be very beneficial to increase study abroad participation at your home institution. Consider consulting with the study abroad office to address any challenges or needs your home institution faces in order to offer support through your project and positively impact your campus and peers.

• Volunteering or working in the study abroad office as a Peer Mentor/Advisor to potential study abroad students, sharing information about the Gilman Scholarship.
• Representing the study abroad office and Gilman Scholarship at presentations/information sessions on study abroad.
• Ensuring the study abroad office website has a Scholarship Information page and that a link to the Gilman Scholarship Program’s website is provided.
• Submitting an article on their experiences abroad and Gilman Scholarship to the Study Abroad office newsletter for distribution or publication, either while they are still abroad or upon their return.
• Developing an informational flyer/brochure on university-specific financial aid procedures for study abroad and available scholarships, including the Gilman Scholarship which is then housed in the study abroad office.
• Participating in/organizing a Study Abroad Alumni society which assists returned and potential study abroad students, sharing information about the Gilman Scholarship.
• Serving as a resource person for a specific country/program/field of study that would advise/assist potential study abroad students, sharing information about the Gilman Scholarship.

Other Outreach:

• Submitting a weekly or monthly article on their experiences overseas to their campus or hometown newspaper while the students are abroad, thereby sharing information with a wide range of readers and including information on the Gilman Scholarship
• Submitting an article or series of articles on their experiences abroad and the Gilman Scholarship to their campus or hometown paper upon their return to the U.S.
• Working with another local organization to share information on study abroad and the country they studied in with their members
• Presenting on study abroad opportunities and the Gilman Scholarship Program at Freshman Orientation or in First-Year Experiences courses thereby encouraging students to consider study abroad earlier rather than later.
• Hosting a photography exhibit on their campus or in their community, sharing about their experience abroad, international opportunities that exist and the Gilman Scholarship
• Presenting art created in or focused on their host country on their campus or in their community, including information on international education and the Gilman Scholarship.

CRITICAL NEED LANGUAGE AWARD

Applicants who are studying a critical need language while abroad in a country or location in which the language is predominantly spoken can apply for a supplemental award of up to $3,000. Critical Need Language Awards for a country or location where a language is not predominantly spoken may be considered for applicants who make a strong case for their desired location in the application essay. As only a limited number of Critical Need Language Awards are available, not all students who are studying the identified languages will receive a Critical Need Language Award.

Critical Need Language Award recipients who complete their Gilman requirements may take the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) , which demonstrates language proficiency for educational, professional, or other purposes. The OPI is offered at no cost to all Critical Need Language Award recipients.

In no more than 2,000 characters, including spaces, please address the following questions:

• What are your motivations for improving your language proficiency academically, professionally, and personally?
• How do you intend to improve your language skills while studying abroad? How will you increase your proficiency in the language inside and outside of the classroom setting?
• How do you intend to use the language after you study abroad, and how will the Critical Need Language Award prepare you for this?
• If you would like to be considered for an exception to our policy of studying a language in a country/location where it is predominately spoken, please explain why you chose your particular location and the benefits and resources for studying the selected language there.

*This information is correct as of August 14, 2023.

* You may also use the Critical Need Language Award to study a foreign sign language. Apply for the target language (for instance, Japanese) and explain in your application that you will be studying reading, writing, speaking, and/or Japanese sign language.

** The CNLA for Hebrew language is offered through the generous support of our partners at the Embassy of Israel to the United States.

STEM SUPPLEMENTAL AWARD

In support of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the U.S. Department of State is dedicated to supporting students who are focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) fields during their higher education. Applicants are considered for this category if while abroad they are conducting STEM-related research as part of their study abroad or international internship program. A successful applicant should demonstrate a strong motivation to their STEM field(s) and how this research experience extends beyond their time abroad, and into their future academic and career goals.

In no more than 1,000 characters, including spaces, please address the following statements:

• Summarize your STEM-related research component and how this will contribute to your future academic and/or career goals.

Contact Information: Applicants & Current Recipients Scholars Abroad & Alumni Advisors General Inquiries

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

Copyright 2023 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. All Rights Reserved

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Personal Experience — The Benefits of Community Service Experience for Me

The Benefits of Community Service Experience for Me

• Categories: Community Service Personal Experience

About this sample

Words: 1112 |

Updated: 4 November, 2023

Words: 1112 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

The essay explores the author's personal experiences with community service and the profound impact it has had on their life. The author begins by highlighting the altruistic nature of community service and the satisfaction they derive from dedicating their time to a cause they are passionate about. They mention volunteering for organizations like the SPCA and the Ithaca chapter of United Way due to their love for animals and the sense of community within United Way. The essay goes on to discuss the transformative effects of community service on the author. They describe how assisting abandoned animals made them a more empathetic person and provided a source of happiness and stress relief. Moreover, the experience taught them responsibility, flexibility, and patience. The author reflects on their initial reluctance to engage in community service due to academic stress but reveals how reconnecting with their passion for animals revitalized their commitment. They share stories of making a difference in the lives of children through United Way and bonding with childhood friends who inspired them with their charitable endeavors.

Table of contents

Personal growth and development, the true impact of volunteering, works cited, video version.

• DoSomething.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dosomething.org/
• National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.servicelearning.org/
• Points of Light. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pointsoflight.org/
• SPCA International. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.spcai.org/
• United Way. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.unitedway.org/
• Chan, A. Y. K., & Lee, S. Y. (2018). Effects of community service on social-emotional outcomes: A meta-analysis. Child and Youth Services Review, 86, 1-10.
• Conway, J. M., Amel, E. L., & Gerwien, D. P. (2009). Teaching and learning in the social context: A meta-analysis of service learning's effects on academic, personal, social, and citizenship outcomes. Teaching of Psychology, 36(4), 233-245.
• Eyler, J., & Giles, D. E. (1999). Where's the learning in service-learning? San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Moely, B. E., McFarland, M., Miron, D., Mercer, S. H., & Ilustre, V. (2002). Changes in college students' attitudes and intentions for civic involvement as a function of service-learning experiences. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning , 9(1), 18-26.
• Zaff, J. F., & Catterall, J. S. (2003). Studying out-of-school arts participation via the quantitative case study method. Studies in Art Education, 44(3), 227-245.

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Community Based Project, Essay Example

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Words: 410

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Americans use over 380 billion polyethylene bags each year of which 100 billion bags are thrown away. It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down and as they break down, toxic substances enter the food chain. In addition, plastic bags are also carried by the wind into forests and water bodies such as lakes and rivers (Burtinshaw, 2007). Since San Francisco became the first city in the country to ban plastic bags in 2007, the movement has spread to the rest of the country (Chartrand, 2010).

I would like to start a community program that encourages the use of reusable totes and discourages the use of plastic bags. The program will try to persuade the retail and departmental stores to encourage the use of totes by offering a credit of 10 cents per plastic bag that would have been used otherwise. In addition, the stores will also be asked to carry totes in attractive styles and affordable price points to increase their appeal to the customers. Assuming Americans use over 380 billion bags, an average American uses over 1200 bags per year. This is a huge number and totes will not only help reduce the environmental damage but also pay back their cost many times over.

Every social change comes gradually and elders have a significant impact on their children. By using totes, they will be setting positive examples for their children. Moreover, as the use of totes spread, more and more people will notice and be inspired to do the same. America is the largest consumer of energy resources in the world and by eliminating plastic bags we can reduce our consumption of fossil fuels by a significant proportion. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 35 of the 47 U.S. chemical plants ranked highest in carcinogenic emissions produce plastics. 12 million barrels of oil is required to produce 100 billion plastic bags (Schwartz, 2008).

I hope our program will inspire community to reduce plastic bags use and eventually replace them altogether with reusable totes. Once we succeed in our community, we will expand to other communities and there is a good chance that we inspire other communities to start their own programs.

Burtinshaw, J. (May 1, 2007). Say No To Plastic Bags . Retrieved January 29, 2011, from http://www.suite101.com/content/say-no-to-plastic-bags-a20241

Chartrand, S. (May 21, 2010). Paper Bags or Plastic Bags? New Proposals Like Neither. New York Times , p. 21A.

Schwartz, M. (March 2008). In the BAG. Gifts & Decorative Accessories , pp. 20-28.

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Essay Community Service Project Reflection

The thought of community service was a bore to me before I began my volunteer work. I dreaded starting my community service although I knew I had to do it. Where I earned my hours did not even matter to me. I just wanted to get it over with. To my surprise it was not what I expected. Community service was not a painful experience; it was a very enjoyable and beneficial experience. I performed my community service with Habitat for Humanity. The non‐profit organization chooses the applicant that purchases the house and Habitat only charges them the cost of the materials. Almost every worker is a volunteer so Habitat for Humanity does not have to pay a high amount of wages. I felt good about myself being one of those volunteers. The future …show more content…

We shared many laughs and stories while we worked. It was satisfying to help improve these people’s lives. I took pleasure in how much I learned at Habitat for Humanity. We were doing construction so many tools were involved. On my first day I was unaware of the names of most tools. Learning the names and functions of each tool was exciting. Being a male, I felt more confident knowing these things. Construction involves math and clever thinking as well. On my first day I just watched as the processes took place. Eventually, I was helping make the decisions. I even helped a volunteer build a fence and make precise measurements. The education about construction will benefit me for the rest of my life. The amount of respect I earned was an incomparable benefit that I received from community service. Oil companies volunteered their employees on Saturdays and I spoke with all of them. They recognized my enrollment and scholarship achievements. Some of them see me and recognize me around town and they ask about how my goals are going. I met people who made a huge positive impact on my life. Employees without a college education worked full time at Habitat for Humanity, and I realized what I do not want to do with my life. During lunch breaks I spoke with the supervisor, Alynda Best, and she explained to me the significance of hard work in college. Most importantly, I met the lady who made this opportunity possible for me and she

Tlc Preschool

I have been a part of different activities for my community service. I have helped the TLC preschool afterschool with cleaning tables and toys once all the children have gone home. I have also been to the shelly baird school where they disabled kids go for schooling and helped out there with the students doing their work and played games .I am currently in “Dude Be Nice Club” and recently we participated in project night night where we would gather donated security blankets a book or stuffed animal and deliver them to children who have very little in homeless shelters. My community service in this case helped me realize that there are people out there who need some encouragement to help them get back on their feet and realize in life that

Personal Narrative: Joining The National Honor Society

As surprising as it may sound, I have been doing community service since the sixth grade and it is a new experience each time. It all began with a community clean up known as 'Keep McAllen Beautiful' as we got there everyone seemed excited to be there. It was beautiful to see such unity inside of my community, and I decided from then on that I would like continue helping out where it is needed. As I joined the National Honor Society my chances of providing my services increased, and I decided that I would assume a position of leadership when needed. I became the society's president, which allowed me to develop my time management skills, creativity, and efficiency. I organized an fundraiser for the hurricane Harvey disaster victims where all

What Does Community Service Mean To Me Essay

What does community service means to me? Well, to me community service mean helping your community become a better place. When you do things for your neighborhood, it makes you feel like a better person. There are all sorts of activities you can do in your community. You can work with children at school, work with the elderly, or help people that are less fortunate and make their day very special. Community Service is very important because it gives you a chance to bond with the people in your neighborhood. It will also give you a chance to give back to your community , you’ll learn a lot from your experience, and you’ll make a difference in someone’s life. I recommend a lot of people to go out and make a difference.

Community Service At Northview Church

During my four hours of community service, I did many things such as mowing grass, throw wastes into the dumpster by driving a tractor, and clean the sidewalk by using a wind blower. To other people, it may seem like that there are just light duty work, but to me every work done will make the community look better no matter how light

National Junior Honor Society Essay Examples

I volunteered taking care of children, at a recreation center, where parents couldn’t afford expensive day care. I spent time at feral cat clinics to help reduce the overpopulation of cats. I began volunteering at three square and placing applications to help hospitals and soon plan to spend time with soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Through my community service I learned to communicate better, take on leadership roles and earned life changing opportunities along the way. Through volunteering I grew as a person, I matured, learned responsibility, and realized what I wanted to do with my life.

Community Service Scholarship Essay

As a student, I have demonstrated many works of service to my community and school. Service opportunities have shaped me into the person I am today and these projects have made me realize how fortunate I am for all that I have. While I've been doing these service projects through the years, it has been a pleasure seeing the joy on the faces of people that aren't as fortunate as I am. Service projects that I have completed include managing the fish booth at the St. Leo's Parish Festival, being an altar server at St. Leo's Parish, helping cook dinner for the Ridgway Fire Department during carnival day setup, participating in the St. Marys Light Up Night by dancing, and Christmas caroling to local residents. I also participated in a zombie/princess

National Honor Society Essay Examples

Service in the school and community is an insight to your character and work ethic. I have over 20 hours of community service from many different experiences. Last summer I worked for Camp Barakel, a summer camp, in the kitchen. I assisted in serving food and cleaning. I learned discipline and teamwork through this valuable experience. Not only this I’ve worked with the Elderly in Rehabilitation centers and the patience and nurturing qualities is something that will forever be valuable in my life. Last but not least working as Big Sister or Buddy to a 4th grade girl has given me the chance to positively impact and influence her life as simply as having a friend is immense. All of these service opportunities as added to my character and prepared me for the responsibilities of

Community Service Synthesis Essay

It is apparent that the individual is out of touch with his/her environment, as we live in a time of isolation. This view of a frightful outside world is a common mindset in people, prompting them to stay home with the excuse that some things are not worth experiencing. Beyond this misconception, is a world that although may need some work, has opportunities for every kind of person. In fact, a "frightful outside world" can change with the contribution of a helping hand; this is what makes community service imperative. There is no better way to encourage students in assisting their communities than implementing service requirements in High School, and various sources explain the benefits behind these standards. A few of these excerpts include "Community Service

National Honor Society Application Report

While I may not have completed much community service, I act out of genuine passion and self-interest rather than anything else. I see little reason to volunteer for a group or cause I have no interest in. However, I do enjoy helping others in subjects I quite enjoy like computer science and programming. The Harrington Park School STEM Camp gave me an opportunity to teach elementary school children about programming, an opportunity I would take again and will take again this winter. Tutoring volunteer work under the

Kaiser Permanente: Community Analysis

Another memorable experience while volunteering was when I was requested to accompany an anxious senior patient. As I was listening to her

Community Service Essay

My project involved helping the children in the park to better their skills in Baseball. Many of the children that went to the park had no basic knowledge of playing baseball, so it was my job to help the professional trainers in teaching them the skills required to play the sport well. The original proposal included that I had to maintain the field in playable conditions, but I went ahead and added dirt as well as passed a rake to remove holes in the infield of the baseball diamond. I also had to help the smaller children in batting practice by simply pitching them ten balls each, but I took it a step further by telling them in which way to position their arms and how to better their hitting techniques.

Senior Capstone Project Reflection

Throughout my Senior Capstone project, I have learned many things about myself and the people that I worked with to make my project a success. Working with the elderly residents at the assisted living facility opened my eyes and I viewed things with a different perspective. Going into the project, I did not know what to expect with the residents, but towards the end, the residents knew me so well and had inspired. My favorite part about this project was the opportunity to interact with new people and know what they live their daily lives like. Being able to be around them gave me the chance to talk and listen to stories about their lives. They were also welcoming to any stories that I could relate to and always listened intently to my stories.

Upward Bound Research Paper

I took advantage of the opportunity; while other students laughed and giggled I took notes, asked questions (a hard feat for an introvert), and took a more hands on approach to my bourgeoning success. I maintained my academic success throughout the summer courses, Saturday sessions, and after school tutoring provided by Upward Bound. Upward Bound has stressed the importance of becoming more productive citizens by inspiring us to help our community and prosper in our academic endeavors. Perhaps the most involving team project I have participated in this Trio Program was Live United Day of Action volunteer service. The official Live United Day of Action is on June 21 and it’s a day that encourages people to take the pledge and make a change in their community. While in Upward Bound I took fifteen Honors courses, received a CPR license, Microsoft Specialist Certification, CNA licenses, and took the initiative to volunteer at

Important Essay: Why Community Service Is Important

“Community Service is important for many reasons. Taking part and volunteering teaches compassion and understanding. You can volunteer for something you really believe and have an interest in, and can volunteer as much or as little as you'd like or have time for.” Community service is really easy to get into. I mean, it is not like you have to put out an application and have an interview in order to do it. It is really easy to get into, and is really fun. It is things you wouldn’t even think are considered, like:

Personal Narrative: Why Am I Volunteer

I volunteered at Masonic Homes of California which is a senior living community. When I first started to volunteer I actually thought that my whole time would be spent just making copies and doing small miscellaneous tasks in the office; however, I was wrong to believe that. I did not just spend my time making copies, I got to do different tasks which made the time pass. By volunteering here I was able to meet new colleagues and I was able to network. The most important thing that I learned from my internship that I can use in daily life is to make sure that I get relevant experience in all fields that I am interested in pursuing. Without the experience it would be hard for me to accomplish what I am aiming for. The main connection I could say that I made is that I was able to realize

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Community Service Essay

The Importance Of Community Service

It allows the associates who partake in Depot Day, to take pride in the fact that they are assisting in their local community and making a difference. The service’s provided by Office Depot allows the customer sound technological advice rather than a sales pitch. Many times just taking the time to sit and explain how some of the new technology features work, allows the customer to better relate to the product and become more open to technology rather than to avoid it. Take for instance the time a resident forgot the password to her desktop and was unable to use her computer. A perfectly fine machine, but she couldn’t log onto it. After getting to her room and booting up her P.C. our associate was able to bypass the sign on screen and create a new password for the resident. For the simple fact that now she could communicate again with her friends and family long-distance…

Community Service Importance

The importance of community service has been interlaced into the majority of the nursing classes I have had at the bachelor’s level and the master’s level of education. Being active in community service has been presented as a cornerstone of my nursing career in the work place as a leader within my organization. I am learning now that being involved in community service holds true for the nurse educator as well. Dawson & Freed (2008), state that “professional nurses have a commitment to…

Volunteering Community Services

Committed, Generous, Supportive these are words describing volunteering. Volunteering to me is a person who loves to help other people, they aren't selfish but determined to make a change in the community. In fact if you want to hear about a place you can keep reading. The founder of the establishment is Anna Marie Hackett, she came up with the idea. The purpose of this establishment is because they saw a need to help the elderly. The audience they hold is the elderly. If you would like to…

Community Service Project Analysis

The service projects I have completed this semester have contributed towards my personal growth in many ways. By taking on the opportunities provided during the course, I have been able to further embrace my civic responsibility, professional development, and social understanding. By participating in a variety of service projects, I have gained the knowledge of understanding how important it is that I do my part in helping others in my community. Many of us come from the same area, and have had…

Social Influence Of Community Service And Its Effects On The Community

1.Introduction “Power is the ability to do good for others” – Brooke Astor Community service is unpaid voluntary work with an aim of helping an underprivileged cause . It is important not only because you are doing good and beneficial for your community but also because taking part and volunteering teaches us comparison and understanding. We too are able to get exposure to certain things and gain knowledge and some experience from community service. 2.Social issue. A very common social issue…

Community Service Research Paper

I decided to do community service that is more diverse than what I did last year. Last year, I did all of my work at the Newport Beach Public Library. This year, I did three events at Pegasus and one event for the Boy Scouts. My events with Pegasus added up to nine hours, and one hour for the Boy Scouts’ yard sale. I had a lot more fun with community service this year, and I feel that I helped more people, rather than just shelving books. I first did community service at Bookmark Pegasus. I was…

Mandatory Community Service Hours

Community service hours that are treated with the respect they deserve and instead of being mandated, should be celebrated. Mandatory community service hours are too stressful for students. Instead of focusing on academic work, students are too focused on getting their community service hours done. This issue can be solved by making community service encouraged. Community service hours will not necessarily need to be done, but will be highly promoted by the teachers so there is still a…

Community Service Learning Paper

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever."- Mahatma Gandi. For my service learning project I chose to volunteer at my schools Agriculture area. Many people were there including myself helping out and trying to keep it nice and clean. It was a very fun four hour experience I met some new people,I also learned how to plant many types of plants and trees. It wasn't as bad as I thought considering that it's a get dirty job, but it was fun to do. I would recommend…

Elizabeth Moore: Participating In Community Service

Participating in community services has become a big part of the world we know today. The service can be as small as picking up garbage along the side of the road, or as big as traveling to different countries to help with natural disasters. All those things have something in common; doing something to change the world for free. I got the opportunity to interview someone who has changed the world for people who thought there was nothing good that could come from the world when everything they…

Key Club Community Service Requirement

As members of our high school’s Key Club, a community service international group, we pride ourselves in community service and our ability to enjoy the service projects we commit ourselves to. The benefits we reap from taking a part in community service goes beyond the mere hours for a sheet; we gain the morale and communication skills that the “real world” expects us to live up to. However, making community service a graduation requirement would make students dread the act, viewing service more…

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Moscow Photo Essay

11.10.17 — Michael Sheridan

Like every city, Moscow is a city of contrasts. Here's its nicer side...

https://www.pleasemindtheyak.com/russia-gallery

Michael Sheridan

Like every city, Moscow is a city of contrasts. Here’s its nicer side…

Please Drive Me to the Magick

Magic hour photo club, secret email club.

If you’re not a member of our Secret Email Club you’ve been missing out on a whole lot of stuff that we don’t post on Booooooom!

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John Goldsmith on scientific misconduct and the Lilienfeld study (An oldie but still relevant today)

Background to the Lilienfeld study and the “Moscow signal”:

In the early 1960s it was discovered that from 1953 the Soviets had been beaming highly focused microwaves directly into the US Embassy in Moscow at an estimated power density that ranged from .005 mW/cm2 to .018 mW/cm2.112 Averaged measurements determined that although the intensity reaching the Embassy was approximately 500 times less than the US standard for occupational exposure, it was twice the highest limit allowed in the Soviet standard.This created a quandary for the US, for if they truly believed their thermally-based 10 mW/cm2 standard was safe they could hardly conclude that the level of microwaves at their Embassy was undermining the health of the Embassy staff. Concerns were raised about the purpose of irradiation of the Embassy. Was it eavesdropping or a more sinister attack on the health of the employees? An initial study was done on the Moscow personnel in 1967 that examined a group of 43 workers, (37 exposed and 7 not exposed). They were tested for abnormalities in chromosomes and 20 out of the 37 were above the normal range among the exposed, compared to 2/7 among the non-exposed. In the final report the scientists urged a repeat and follow-up study which was clinically indicated for 18 persons, but was not undertaken by the end of the contract period, June 30, 1969. The evidence of chromosome changes was strong enough to have triggered clinical guidelines that would have recommended ceasing reproductive activity until the condition had improved. At a Superpower summit in June 1967 the irradiation of the Moscow Embassy was the subject of a confidential exchange between US President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Prime Minister Alexi Kosygin. Johnson asked that the Soviet Union stop irradiating its Moscow Embassy with microwaves and harming the health of American citizens. In 1966 a covert study, called Project Pandora, was commenced to study the possible effects on health from the microwave irradiation of the Moscow Embassy staff, who were not told the true reason for the investigation. In a related study, Project Bizarre, a primate was exposed to microwaves at half that permitted by the US standard. The findings of this study concluded, “[t]here is no question that penetration of the central nervous system has been achieved, either directly or indirectly into that portion of the brain concerned with the changes in work functions”�.

A haematologic study by J & S Tonascia in 1976 found highly significant differences between Moscow Embassy employees and other foreign service staff (control group). White blood cell counts were much higher in the Moscow staff as well as several other significant changes noted over time. These results were never published, but obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. At this time there was a US Congressional radiation inquiry underway and the Department of Defense (DoD) was arguing that the US RF/MW Standard was already strict enough. They argued that there was no scientific evidence for the Soviet Standard being set at a level one thousand times lower than the US standard. The Moscow Embassy employees and dependants were studied for possible health effects of microwave irradiation by a team from John Hopkins University, under the direction of epidemiologist Professor Abraham Lilienfeld. Dr Lilienfeld noted that the study group was quite small and that the follow-up time too short to generally identify significant health effects such as cancer. He recommended that continued health status surveillance should be carried out, but this was not done. The incidence of sickness and death were compared with employees & dependents in other Eastern European embassies, and with the average US rates. The incidence of multiple-site cancers was far more frequent in the Moscow Embassy group than in any other population studied. It was noted that while multiple-site cancers are characteristic of older populations, the Moscow Embassy group was relatively young. According to Goldsmith, concerns of the John Hopkins team were “downgraded”� by the state department and the wording of the team report altered to lessen its impact. Lilienfeld strongly recommended that additional follow up studies be undertaken since the latency periods for some types of cancer had been insufficient for cancer to occur, if indeed it were to result from microwave exposure. Nevertheless, according to Goldsmith, the overall findings were consistent with excess cancer incidence both in the Moscow Embassy cohort and in the other Eastern European embassy personnel.Data on exposure and occurrence of some cases of cancer were withheld from Professor Lilienfeld until after his report was completed and it was too late to include in the results. Reviews of the work done by contract investigators were interpreted as inconclusive because the State Department had failed to complete the necessary follow-up work which was recommended by the Lilienfeld team.

From The Procrustean Approach , pp. 105 – 107

*******************************************************

From Iris Atzmon, June 1, 2012:

Where the trail leads… Ethical problems arising when the trail of professional work lead to evidence of cover-up of serious risk and mis-representation of scientific judgement concerning human exposures to radar

– Prof. John R. Goldsmith, M.D., M.P.H.

Epidemiology and Health Services Evaluation Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, 84105 Beer-Sheva, Israel Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 5 (1995), 92-4. Introduction

Professional interaction over fifteen years between myself, an epidemiologist, and a lawyer started in 1974, when we were both in Washington, evaluating environmental health problems. The lawyer, recently disappointed with the outcome of a case which hinged on the testimony of an epidemiologist, began a dialogue about the criteria for use of probabilities in the scientific and judicial system. We agreed on the importance of making clear these differences, and he documented them in an article.

These differences can be misused in both legal and scientific procedures, under circumstances in which the failure to demonstrate conventional statistical significance (scientifically) is erroneously interpreted as meaning that preventing exposure would not be a reasonable public health measure.

When the lawyer started his private practice he sought expert epidemiological advice in the case of foreign service workers with cancer who had been exposed to microwave radiation in the US Embassy in Moscow.

The trail then led to a major investigation of health risks of Embassy staff by a leading U.S. epidemiologist. The report of this study was said to be negative but actually had some disturbing findings. The trail took a sharp turn when the lawyer provided me copies of documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, which indicated persistent cover-up and deliberate distortions of views of highly regarded scientists with respect to risks from these exposures. A published report on personnel risks from radar exposure in the U.S. Navy diluted the experience of increased leukemia in an exposed group with the low rates in a less exposed group, bringing down likelihood of a significant result and concluding that no effect occurred.

The ethical issues concern whether a scientist who inadvertently finds this evidence should disclose it, in light of security considerations among other matters. The trail, in this presentation, ends with an application of the legal use of probability in interpreting epidemiological evidence on the central scientific issue, the possible health risks from microwave radiation.

For the full paper: http://www.eubios.info/EJ54/EJ54H.htm

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The eurasian union ProjecT russian Eurasian Union—a New Name for an Old Integration Idea 2 By A Difficult Road to Eurasian Economic Integration 5 By Gennady Chufrin, Moscow

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Computer Science > Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

Title: llava-prumerge: adaptive token reduction for efficient large multimodal models.

Abstract: Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) have shown significant reasoning capabilities by connecting a visual encoder and a large language model. LMMs typically use a fixed amount of visual tokens, such as the penultimate layer features in the CLIP visual encoder, as the prefix content. Recent LMMs incorporate more complex visual inputs, such as high-resolution images and videos, which increase the number of visual tokens significantly. However, due to the design of the Transformer architecture, computational costs associated with these models tend to increase quadratically with the number of input tokens. To tackle this problem, we explore a token reduction mechanism and find, similar to prior work, that many visual tokens are spatially redundant. Based on this, we propose PruMerge, a novel adaptive visual token reduction approach, which largely reduces the number of visual tokens while maintaining comparable model performance. We first select the unpruned visual tokens based on their similarity to class tokens and spatial tokens. We then cluster the pruned tokens based on key similarity and merge the clustered tokens with the unpruned tokens to supplement their information. Empirically, when applied to LLaVA-1.5, our approach can compress the visual tokens by 18 times on average, and achieve comparable performance across diverse visual question-answering and reasoning tasks. Code and checkpoints are at this https URL .

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