You've probably heard it said thousands of times : " College is the time to find yourself". In many ways, this is true. You may start your college years undecided and unsure of your future and while at graduation you may still be uncertain, you will hopefully have a better idea of what you want to spend your life doing. You may have even gone into college believing you would do one thing, but by the end of it , you may be on a completely different path.
On top of academics and career choices, college is the time where people tend to push themselves out of their comfort zone. With the wide array of sports and clubs to join, many students discover hidden passions or strengthen those passions already there.
In addition. college is the first time that many young adults live away from home. They are figuring out how to exist in the world as a 'semi-adult'.
With all these new aspects, college can feel a bit overwhelming sometimes. Believe me, I know. I am a college student. That being said, I feel it is important that we take hold of the service opportunities that are ever so ready for us as college kids. Everyone has a busy life but what would the world be like if everyone felt they were too busy to help others.
I'm not advocating that you spend every waking moment doing something or doing something for someone else but it is important to recognize that life only gets busier and you will probably never have this many service opportunities offered to you again. It won't kill you to give up one Saturday every once and a while to go serve at a soup kitchen or to spend a couple afternoons a month working with kids.
In an ideal world, forming the habit of putting service to others in your schedule now, will form a long lasting - life long habit.
While we're on the subject of service- While service is rewarding and fulfilling, it may not feel that way all the time. I think that is something often forgotten. Service should be done because it needs to be done, not only because it provides you with prride in yourself.
I challenge you to not post every service day you are involved in. Yes, post some and encourage others to get involved. If you truly had a good time on a service activity, then post about it but maybe you can give a homeless man a hot meal without posting about/filming him for instagram likes.
My food for thought.