Reason, Respect, Responsibility by Kassady

Reason, Respect, Responsibility by Kassady - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Most students today in my community are the basic teenager that will sit in class, play on their phone and care more about social media than real relationships. I think when students come out and break their molds is when they can truly begin to expand their horizons and reach new goals in their life with being off their phone and fixing real life problems.
I have done various acts of community service since I was ten years old from raking in parks to helping young children in school. Every year I do at least two acts of community service for myself and the community to help one another grow and prosper. I love the community of Hartland, Michigan, the small quaint village that used to be the center for travelers going from Flint to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The city’s’ history has always been a big factor of why I like to help people. My community has always brought up the three R’s: Reason, Respect, and Responsibility. These three core values have taught me that nothing goes without a reason. A reason to help the town library is to help out the librarian and show that students still care about the library and distributing books to families and children. A reason to help an elementary student who doesn’t understand their math is so that they gain confidence in themselves by getting the correct answer and growing a better foundation of math skills for higher education. The community also taught me respect for everything and anything, and no I’m not just saying using manners. I’m talking about the deeper respect you have for someone who is your age, not just older than you. When you’re in a group respecting their opinions making them feel a part of the group is important, being alone and isolated is not the community motto. By being connected with people who want to help the cause whatever it may be as much as I do give me respect for their desires and qualities to want to help the community making me even more eager to finish the project and see the families happily doing what we accomplished for them. The core out of it all is responsibility, knowing you have done this willingly not because you were told. You learn responsibility through acts of kindness not through authorization. Making sure the project is done on time or making sure that you fully helped your community during the time you were supposed to give you the smile of satisfaction of hard work paying off towards the community. That’s what Hartland has done for me, the smiles, the tutoring, helping me grow; Hartland made this happen and I would do anything to give a child the same opportunities I’ve gained through community service.
Nothing has changed me as much as community service. It was never for the hours that was needed for NHS or NHJS. I never filed my hours because I didn’t need someone to validate me and congratulate me on the hours I serve the community, the satisfaction of the people I help is validation enough that what I am doing is for the greater good.