Taking a mixed breed shelter dog out for a walk, Ava Abood (12) poses
for her NHS proof picture. Abood volunteers at the Capital Area Humane Society multiple times a month in order to fulfill her required NHS hours. (Photo by Courtesy )

When I was invited to join National Honors Society (NHS) during my sophomore year, I knew it would be a good opportunity to make my college applications more appealing. While I was interested in the service aspect of the organization, I had only really heard about the benefits of having it on my resume. While I was mostly just expecting to do small local community service, I ended up at an animal shelter to get the majority of my hours. I had the opportunity to volunteer here before being a member of NHS but I did not consistently go until I had the responsibility of fulfilling the required hours. It was something that I truly enjoyed and it made me feel like I was making a meaningful impact. Because of NHS, I was able to grow a relationship with the shelter. With my obligation to the organization, I was making a difference within the community.

NHS is a community-valued organization that encourages service to others to grow yourself as a person. Students are required to earn 25 total hours over the course of the school year. 10 hours must come from a single personal commitment, repeated hours at the same place, and the other 15 must come from “single events” which are one-time acts of community service, including the 3 required main events.

However, I’ve noticed that instead of doing repeated beneficial hours, students seem to be doing simple tasks that get them the hours they need. While these opportunities are practical, they don’t really make a difference.

I believe that if students were required to submit 20 personal commitment hours and then complete their three main events NHS would be more beneficial to students and the NHS name as a whole.

The importance of the NHS is to create a relationship between students and the community. I think that building a community is more beneficial for students than acting on a single piece of kindness. This is important because students need these meaningful experiences to shape them as individuals and help them strive to make a difference in the community.

Instead of building a community through service, I see students treating it like a “chore” that bolsters their college application. I think it would be more beneficial to not build stress but to build opportunities.

On the other hand, the act of volunteering still has a positive impact on the community leading many people to believe that anything that counts for hours has a positive impact so it does not really matter where they are coming from. Although volunteering is beneficial to the community as well as themselves no matter what, it could be more beneficial if they were to gain hours through something more meaningful.

What we have to ask ourselves is: if we are not building relationships, are we gaining experience or just a title? The benefits of NHS cannot be taken for granted; it is how we use them and grow as people that matters.

Many local organizations such as nursing homes, homeless shelters, soup kitchens and animal shelters could benefit from constant volunteering.

In the future, I believe that If East Lansing were to change their chapter requirements to prioritize consistent volunteering hours over a more flexible approach, NHS would be more effective in fostering community and improving services.