Community Service

I work at a High School and one thing (of many) that I greatly admire about this particular school is their graduation requirement of at least 75 hours of Community Service.  That's voluntary service (not getting paid), to help out the community as a whole.

We have a list of approved organizations which the students can chose from or they can even submit a proposal for a new organization that they'd like to be added to the approved list.

There are those who will just make it to the bare minimum, they will rush to get those last hours in at the end of their Senior Year to simply satisfy a requirement.  They will complain about it the entire time that they are a student here and their parents likely will join in the commiseration and possibly complain to the Community Service Coordinator, Teachers, Administrators, other parents, whoever will lend an ear.

Then there are those who go above and beyond the mere satisfaction of a requirement.  I am in awe of these students, they have truly embraced the idea of helping their community and they are humbled and touched by their experiences.  They grow and when they turn in their reflection papers regarding the service, they are beautiful to read.

In life, you will get out of anything what you've decided to put into it.  When you help the community in which you live, you are really helping yourself, your neighbors, your family, your friends.  I see this as an outward world view, these people will have an awareness for those around them and a compassion that can only be learned.  The others will have an inward world view.  They will go through life seeing what is in it for them.

Which kind of person will you be?  Of course, these are just silly predictions.  What do I know?  I just work here.

Welcome Back to Education!

So, I was working for over three years at a County Office of Education and was approached by the local Superior Court to come be a Records Clerk.  Seeing as how this new job offered the benefit of being only one mile from my house, I accepted the offer.
Not far into my new career path, I realized that even though the legal field intrigued me and I was (and still am) very interested in it as a subject, it was not the right path for me to be on as a career.  Two and a half years later I was welcomed back into the arms of my beloved education realm by way of a local high school.  I was hired to be the Senior Office Assistant covering the Registrar, Student Records, Media Center, College Visits, and Library!
This new job has been a God-send to me.  I have been here almost a month and I cannot imagine being happier in a job assignment!

So, it turns out I really was meant to be with education all along.  The former superintendent was right.