Here at Bowdoin, I have overheard students speak about a barrier between the rich and the poor. I would like those who are poor to try to keep in mind that being rich does not equate to greed or selfishness. Likewise, I should hope that those who are rich realize that poverty is not defined by ignorance and filth. Let us try to get beyond the labels that our social classes afford us. There is so much more to people than their income.
Community service is a difficult concept to define.
I think a quote by Hellen Keller synthesizes it well. Community service is about helping one another through life s obstacles and hardships and joining together to rejoice in the beauty that the world has to offer. Community service is not about giving money to some charity once in awhile to fulfill a quota of good deeds or about helping someone in order to show to someone else that you are a good citizen. Community service is helping one another to find hope in a world that is sometimes scary and bleak. It is a gift that we give to others, and thereby, give to ourselves.