Whether it’s playing around with kids at summer camps or helping out at senior care homes, many students at Edina High School are involved in community service. Nonetheless, volunteering, an act that should stem from selflessness and love, has been turned into a tool used by students to boost their academic profile. Today, many students don’t participate in the Community Service Volunteering program to help people out of their own benevolence. Instead, they are only looking for a letter to paste onto their college resumes.
Students have been recognized for their altruism at EHS since 1997, gaining a letter in community service for 120 hours of volunteering. Since the kickoff of the community service letter, there has been a steady increase in the number of students lettering each year, climbing from about 150 students just 4 years ago to a record number of 214 students lettering last year.
Community service is widely known to be an academic tool when applying to college, boosting a student’s chances of getting into good schools. A survey of college admissions officers and staff, reported by Forbes, showed that community service is a valuable asset to have in getting admission into a college and can serve as a tie-breaker between competitive applicants.
Unfortunately, the high value of community service on college applications has changed some students’ motivation for volunteering from goodwill to selfishness, focused on collecting as many volunteer hours as possible instead of caring or appreciating the work they’re doing along the way.
As a whole, EHS is an academic powerhouse, known for its students getting into reputable and competitive colleges. However, all this prior success places a standard of perfection onto the shoulders of students. They are pushed by both internal and external pressures to engage in any and all activities that may bolster their resume, especially community service, which is an activity sure to help any college application. However, when college becomes the only goal, students lose sight of the true meaning of giving back. Volunteering becomes a means to an end, rather than a fulfilling act of compassion.
In all, students must make sure not to do the right things for the wrong reasons. Community service has benefits for not just the organization aided by volunteers, but also the student doing the service work. Although, these advantages can’t be realized until the student can take college out of the forefront of their mind and focus on making a difference in their community.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on April 9, 2026
