I had done a lot of volunteering work in high school, most of it so that I could get into then remain in honor societies. This kind of mindless punching of volunteer hours tainted my view of the whole thing; having community service as a meritocracy undermined to whole idea of helping others simply because it’s the right thing to do. With this prior perception of volunteering, I went into this seminar hoping that it could answer the question posed as the event’s title: what’s the point? Certainly the point wasn’t so that students could have something nice to put on their resume, whether it be the volunteering itself or the organizations that allowed them to join. The exercise that stuck out to me was the one where each of us wrote on the board what the concept of “giving back” and giving forward” meant. It seemed that the concept of volunteering as “giving back” was led by a love of the community; giving back to the place you were raised so that others might have similar opportunities that you did. The reasons for giving forward were a little more varied. They ranged from inspiring others to do the same (pay it forward) to a desiring to see a change in the world. Giving back is more about gratitude for the past, and giving forward is about giving hope for the future.

This past Thursday night, I attended the Rose House event titled “Community Service: What’s the Point?” I feel like a broken record when I say this about all my Rose Scholars events, but this event was definitely not what I was expecting. This time, however, I feel like it was for a different reason than before. There must have been a miscommunication prior to the event, as the representative from the Public Service Center had though that she would be working with Rose House’s Service Scholars. As such, she wasn’t entirely prepared to work with us. Despite that, I was still very glad that I attended the event. We had some very impactful discussions about why we, as people, engage in community service, in addition to reinforcing why it is important do personal reflection after doing community service.

There is one part of our conversation that I find incredibly problematic, though. We had a brief discussion about what a society that didn’t need community service would look like. I posed that this would be the ideal society—nobody would have to worry about having their basic human needs met (shelter, food, water, education, etc).

However, some others proposed that without community service, we would lack culture. I want to push back against this. I find the idea that the existence of marginalized communities somehow develops our “culture” to be abhorrent. Culture is derived from so many different factors of our lives, ranging from all the different art forms to our shared lived experience. Culture does not exist because of the socioeconomic stratification of our society. Community service is about working with those who have been disadvantaged to give them the same opportunities that you had; it’s about reaching a level of equality that we’ve been striving towards. I engage in community service because I want to see our society reach that level of equality. Equality does not mean the loss of culture.

I have never reflected before on what I hoped to gain from participating in community service or why I was doing it. In my mind it has always been to just help out in the community, not expecting anything in return, but this seminar showed me that gaining something from the experience can actually be a good thing. This way you can use your new profound skills or the initiatives that were taken at one community service work to another. It is easier to come to these conclusions as was presented in the seminar by reflecting. This is something that I did a lot in a Global Citizens course I took at Cornell my first semester. The professor encouraged us to actively write and do journal entries to reflect on different experiences, including a community service one. As I’ve learned, it is useful for me to write down my thoughts or share with others things I have done or am passionate about.

Amy came to speak to us about helping out in the local community. She mentioned that Ithaca was a very interesting city because it has the highest community service per capita, which was something I didn’t know before.

For most of the discussion, we talked about the difference between giving back and giving forward. Although both come with the same intentions, there was a general consensus that the two have different connotations. Most people agreed that giving back means doing something in return for something that was done for you in the past. Meanwhile, giving forward was doing something without previously being prompted to do so by similar options. In the end, I think we all agreed that the actual definitions don’t really matter but the importance of wanting to help others is more significant.

Amy also stressed the importance of reflections because it puts meaning behind what we do. It can be in the form of art, music, or even just conversations to figure out what we did, why we did it, and its significance.

This past Thursday, I joined fellow Rose Scholars, SA Sabrina, and guest speaker Amy to discuss the importance of community service and how to get more involved in Ithaca.

One of the main topics we talked about was the concept of “giving back” versus that of “giving forward.” A lot of people looked at the two as similar actions with different incentives. That is to say, “giving back” is more due to an opportunity afforded to you by the community that you want to repay, while “giving forward” is for the purpose of others having that same opportunity. We all came to the conclusion that the two aren’t very different, and you can give back and give forward at the same time.

Another point that Amy brought up which I thought was really resonant was that we live in the city of Ithaca, not just Cornell University, and while we are living in this city we should do all we can to embrace its culture and this community. This can mean different things to different people. I found it particularly impactful because there seems to be a bubble around Cornell that a lot of people (including myself) have difficulty getting out of. Amy talked about a lot of service opportunities that can offer that connection.

In high school, community service was a nuisance where we just checked off the hours we put in. However, during the seminar, we discussed the importance of community service. Originally, community service was broken down into two categories: giving back and giving forward. What’s the difference? Giving back was defined as being helped by the community and returning the favor by helping the community, whereas giving forward was about helping others without being helped beforehand or expecting anything in return. Ultimately, the lines between giving back and giving forward were blurred and it essentially results in helping other people. We attend a university that encourages us to pursue our passions. After this seminar, I see community service as more than just a punch clock; instead, it is the opportunity to channel our academic interests into projects that better our community. Cornell produces people who are not only great at their respective field, but also utilize their knowledge to make the world a better place.

Community service serves as a continuous cycle between giving back and giving forward. Giving back means an action that is reciprocated. For instance, if someone gives you something, then you give something back to them. Giving forward means to initiate an action that will inspire or create opportunities for people. For instance, paying for someone’s groceries when they did not ask just because you wanted to. The ways that you can give back or give forward at Cornell and Ithaca is by contacting public service center at Cornell. They have programs where you can create exciting project that will interest elementary school students in science, computing, or mathematics fields. You can volunteer at the local hospital to talk to patients, in order to take their mind off of the hospital and brighten their day. Another resource that students can use is education.cornell.edu where students can field various programs around campus that will connect you with service activities globally or in the Ithaca area. As someone who is a member of the service fraternity on campus, I think it is very important to serve the community that you live in because you not only help people in need, but you can inspire change within the community. For many people being involved in community service projects can be difficult, students expressed difficulty in finding various opportunities on campus that were not through the Flora Rose House. Attending this event has allowed me to gain the information I need to help the community that I live in. The programs that are offered in the public service center has something for everyone. You just have to take the first step of seeking out these opportunities.

Community service has always been something that is important to me and I have been involved in community service projects since middle school. In fact, community service helped me meet some of my first friends at Cornell as the first organization I joined on campus was the service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. Thus, today’s seminar was really interesting to me because although I engage in community service quite often, I rarely reflect on my experiences. Of course, after a community service shift, I will think about how I felt about what I did for a little bit but I won’t delve into why this work was important for me to do. Thus, I was really interested when Amy suggested that we take a moment to reflect on our community service in whichever way felt most natural and comfortable to us – such as through painting, conversations with others, or even writing a song! For me, I think that I would like to reflect on my community service by talking to others and teaching them about the cause that I raised awareness for and learning from their feedback/comments to me. All in all, I really enjoyed this seminar and hope to apply the reflection skills I learned after my next community service experience!