At Akins, we take pride in our work. We are a hard-working community of students, teachers, janitors, counselors, and APs. In my time at this school, I have been very impressed with our willingness to help each other and step up when the time is right. However, I strongly believe that we as a school should be doing more volunteer work. During the holiday season, we are especially inclined to volunteer and spread joy — should we not carry this sentiment year-round?
In order to show the value of volunteering, I wanted to gain some insight from one of our own teachers dedicated to helping students do just that. As the adviser of our school’s branch of Key Club (an international effort to build student’s character through service), Henry Perez believes that everybody should try to give back at least once in their life.
“It’s unfortunate that in the past we have used community service as a way of punishing kids,” he said. “We should recognize that it’s a way for them to contribute to society.”
Perez’s dedication to the program is a testament to the kind of work that I love to see done at Akins. In fact, it is not just his dedication, but the dedication of President Kaliyan Phany who has been a student leader in the club that is inspiring. In particular, Perez was proud of the fact that officers recruited more than 30 students for the club this year alone. This suggests that our school definitely has students who are willing to volunteer- we just need to get them on board with an organization that can give them service opportunities.
Leslie Tejeda-Pena is one of our student leaders who also holds this opinion. As the President of our National Honor Society chapter, she has many responsibilities. One of these is organizing community service opportunities for the members, which she finds especially important. To put it simply, she embodies our values and expectations of students in community and leadership. As a member of the National Honor Society myself, I have seen first-hand the way she has brought us together in a bigger way than has been done since before the pandemic. Working with our community extends beyond school groups though, as we can always think bigger than ourselves.
Helping those in need is rewarding because it can be an opportunity to create stronger bonds with those you help as well as with other volunteers. Fostering and nurturing social bonds is especially important for young adults who are making their way in the world. As a society, Americans are very focused on acting in self-interest and “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.” While this mantra has worked out well enough for economic purposes, it strays from the traditions most cultures hold of togetherness. As I mature I have realized so much of my life seemed like “myself” versus “them” when it should have been “us”. Working together to create a stronger community as a whole has been a goal of mine and my peers for the duration of my high school career.
In the past few years, we have attempted to return to life as it was before the pandemic, and though it can never truly be the same, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We can use challenges to create new and special opportunities to become a more united front. As a school we can benefit in so many ways from togetherness. Support for our local community will carry over into people’s attitude towards the school as well. In years past, our students have felt that we did not have much to be proud of as a community. While other schools excel in spirit, ours feels a bit dead. If we become closer and are able to look at ourselves more subjectively, I know that we can have that as well.
SAFE Austin (Stop Abuse For Everyone)
Junior League of Austin (Coats for Kids annual drive)
