Doing community service will improve the overall quality of life for Apex High students. Community service, in general, offers students numerous advantages: social and emotional growth, development of life skills and academic and career benefits. Doing community service will certainly foster empathy for others, enhance chances for college applications and boosts responsibility. Doing community service will definitely turn a high school student into a more responsible and commendable person.

            ¨Community service helps students develop important social skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership, it also enhances emotional intelligence, since engaging in volunteer work enhances emotional intelligence by helping students recognize and respect others´ feelings while fostering patience and self-awareness.¨ says teencoachacademy.com. Doing community service helps students connect with people from diverse backgrounds, expanding their social networks, that can facilitate better social interactions and bring social growth. Students involving themselves in community service can experience emotional growth as well, since it might give them higher self-esteem and pride, because of their accomplishments gained through contributing to their communities. Some good places to visit for community service in Apex and surrounding areas: Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, Meals on Wheels, the Green Chair Project, Neighbor to Neighbor and Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen.

              High school students develop life skills through real world experiences, which can happen in community service, as it fosters communication, teamwork and leadership skills, in addition to developing responsibility. An Apex High student named ¨Rebecca¨ said, ¨Doing community service will help you gain real world experiences that will help you navigate life.¨ Community service develops problem solving skills and helps students learn time management and organizational skills. Students develop these skills, when they balance service commitments with academic and personal responsibilities, therefore developing life skills.

             Students participating in community service gain more academic benefits and career opportunities. It is said by econnection.mst.edu that, ¨Students who participate in community service tend to perform better academically, showing improvements in Reading, Science, Math and History, likely due to increased engagement with relevant real world applications.¨ Community service can also strengthen college applications, as admission officers value responsibility, leadership and commitment, qualities that are demonstrated to them when a student is shown to have done community service. Community service, in addition connects volunteers with nonprofit professionals and others, which can expand professional networks, which could lead to job references and potential employment. 

              Doing community service certainly has its own perks, that will be attained by students interested in volunteering for it. Students will have real life experiences, which will help develop life skills and improve academic performances. It will also improve your chances to enroll in a college and increase chances of more job opportunities, when you foster new connections. Community service invokes a sense of civic duty and empathy towards others, which will transform a high school student into a better person.