All throughout my life, I have been super involved and passionate about community service and philanthropy. From raising money for breast cancer, Children's Miracle Network, and the Starkey Hearing Foundation to going out into the community and spending time helping others, I have dedicated a large portion of my life to serving others.

Many people, unfortunately, look at this type of service as a punishment or as something that is usually forced. In high school, it became particularly evident to me that people are not nearly as passionate about philanthropy as I am or as we should be as a society. However, in college students have become exceptionally excited about certain philanthropies that they feel attached to through their particular organizations, greek or non-greek. This truly makes me happy as nothing has shaped my personality more than the community service opportunities I have participated in and volunteer groups I have been part of.

Personally, I have done most of my giving back through working with children. All four years of high school, I volunteered my time as a cheer coach. Putting in about 200 hours a season (about one semester) was definitely tiring, but so rewarding when you see little faces light up upon your arrival and a gold medal around your neck at the end of the season. There is a similar feeling that comes from being a camp counselor. Since the age of 14, I have been partaking in the wonderful camp counselor experience that many high school and college students have. For three summers, I did work with these camp organizations for free and I truly recommend this experience to everyone.

There is nothing like being rewarded through something other than money for your hard work. Seeing a smile, or hearing a laugh, or even feeling the excitement people feel as you return to accompany them is an indescribable feeling. I once read a Facebook post about doing good recklessly, which essentially means doing good things all the time and for no reason at all, just because you can. This trend is something that I have adopted into my daily life and that is largely in part to my love for philanthropy and charity work. Helping others and doing good for the sake of just doing it is something that can make you a better society member and I know all of my volunteering through different outlets has truly helped me find myself.

Now, in college, I have dedicated myself to raising money for Children's Miracle Network through Dance Marathon and for hearing loss and prevention/The Starkey Hearing Foundation through my sorority, Delta Zeta. I have committed myself to do good recklessly by giving back to these organizations and obtaining as many donations as possible to benefit their amazing causes.

As a big advocate for community service, I strongly encourage everyone to get out into the community and become part of something that helps others. Whether you tutor at a school, assist the staff at an animal shelter, or get out and plant a garden in your community, every little bit helps promote kindness and a more giving and loving world.