My Community Service Experience by Cooper

My Community Service Experience by Cooper - April 2022 Scholarship Essay

My name is Cooper Keuroglian and I am a senior at Brush high school. My senior year is a journey for me because it’s opened many doors of possibilities of what I want to do with my life after high school. I’ve had really great support from my family, friends, and teachers in choosing what’s the best plan for my future. Throughout my middle school and high school career, I’ve always had an eye for community development, and I’ve always succeeded with the community by giving back to my city, and friends.
My community service experience has not only been a great influence on my friends but on other people that I know around the U.S. When I was little in second grade, I started my first community service project with my dad, church, and friends. I used to live in the city of Augusta, and that’s when CityServe and CityHope Alliance projects grew throughout the years. The biggest volunteer project I’ve been involved in was one when I was a freshman. That project was named CityServe. It connected through my church, other organizations around the city, and along with other churches. This project was a test for me being in my first year of high school to show how well my service skills were to the community and to show how much gratitude I had towards the city of Augusta.
I didn’t have the best attitude and experience starting out my first high school, but it improved along the way. This project included restoration projects across the city, planting, gardening, doing yard work, painting, and fixing up abandoned houses. This project lasted a few weeks, and we only worked on the weekends Friday through Sunday. I met people along the way and started to feel joy and gratitude growing inside me. Throughout the last weeks, I started to like to serve my city, and restore people’s needs. It was so heartwarming to see the happy faces of people as I walked down the streets. From painting, mowing people’s lawns, and reaching out to more people this project is going to hold a special place in my heart.
There are so many lessons that I learned from CityServe, but the most important one was to do anything with a clean heart, and don’t complain while serving. I’ve changed so much working in community service projects, from complaining at the beginning to being grateful and joyful for even being able to have the chance to be a part of something that will change the lives of other people like us. Another key lesson I learned is to stick together like family and grow together while helping each other on city projects like this. My serving ability has improved so much as well, and building generosity through the city of Augusta will never be forgotten. The last lesson I learned is by influencing the younger generation, and my friends on this project would only generate success in the future, and it will carry the willingness to serve wherever they go.