Community Service Opportunities

Instead of an actual final exam, we have to complete ten hours of community service. I like the idea because instead of taking a multiple choice test of A, B, C, and D, you can actually apply sociology to your life. And, with an exam you study the material, test, and forget everything, but with something like community service you will remember that and grow from it. One community service opportunity I had was going down to a soup kitchen in Chicago during the holidays and helping stack the pantries, serve meals, and play with the kids that were at the shelter. It's heartbreaking to see all these people with nothing. I saw how the people at the shelter are just worrying about where they are getting their next meal, and I'm worrying about trivial things like if my hair looks OK. It helped put things in perspective. But, the most memorable part of this volunteering experience was giving gifts to the little kids. It was right around Christmas and we got to give each kid there a little present. They weren't expense gifts, and probably not even what they exactly wanted from Santa, but it didn't matter to them. When they got the gifts it made their world a little better for a little bit, and that's all you can do. You can't make sure that all the kids in the world have presents under their Christmas tree, but you can still make a little difference and maybe brighten one kid's Christmas.