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I recall the afternoon I sat down to edit my resume for my grad school application packet. The  school wanted a list of volunteer and service involvement, but to provide that information required a particular definition of service. I asked myself, "In the eyes of the admissions review board, what counts as community service?" A spring break service trip to Abique, New Mexico? Coordinating a book club for battered women residing at Lydia's House? Visiting nursing home residents with my grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer's disease? Certainly all of those activities would be looked on favorably by the admissions committee. Of course, giving my time to help others is community service; however, looking at all of those activities listed on my resume did not seem to convey the breadth of my involvement with the community. |
Using obvious examples of community service - cleaning dirty neighborhoods, mentoring individuals, comforting the sick and invalid - kept me from articulating less obvious yet equally beneficial local involvement such as: attending ethnic festivals and art exhibits; choosing to eat at the Hill instead of Olive Garden; watching local theater instead of going to the movies.essentially supporting local culture.
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"My definition of community service is any activity or effort by a person to improve and support the surrounding community." |
My definition of community service is any activity or effort by a person to improve and support the surrounding community. Going to the St. Nicholas Church's Greek Festival each Labor Day weekend and buying a kebob lunch is a way for me to directly reinvest in the community, to show my support for its members and to get to know my neighbors. Making reservations at locally-owned restaurants such as the Hill's Leonardo's Little Italy ensures the identity of my community with my patronage, an identity that makes St. Louis distinctive from other cities in America. If everyone ate at chain restaurants, there would be no Hill, Soulard, Loop, or Central West End. Similarly, watching movies at the Esquire instead of going to venues that showcase local talent endangers arts development in such areas as Grand Center which strives to become "the cultural soul of the city." Making such conscious choices on a daily basis allows me the opportunity to "break the bubble" of ignorance surrounding who my community members are and how I can serve them. Although we generally refer to the Wash U bubble, the state of living in oblivion of St. Louis outside of the Clayton/U-City campus, "the bubble" can continue to encapsulate students wherever they go if they continue to define community service without placing emphasis on "community." How can we serve those around us if we don't know who we are serving, if we can't articulate the identity of our community?
Limited by page length and definition, I submit my resume with only my most obviously compelling achievements listed during my four years of undergrad. What goes unmentioned is how through these larger activities - the service trip, book club, and nursing home visits - my concept of community service has evolved into a lifestyle choice, a commitment to support the community with everyday choices most people take for granted. I feel that what has made my undergrad experience so fulfilling is that I took the time to support and appreciate the distinctive culture of my new community, the city of St. Louis.
Libby Rolwing
Class of 2004
Washington University in St. Louis
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