My political philosophy class was just discussing the concept of communal reciprocity, which is the theory that a society flourishes when its citizens care about one another, regardless of whether they get something in return. This theory could easily be implemented in our everyday lives, as students attempting to navigate college careers and newfound adulthood, or as active, functioning members of society.
I find myself thinking now and again that I don’t do enough for the community. Sure, I did community service in high school, but it was a graduation requirement. Like communal reciprocity, I want to help for altruistic reasons, and what better way to start practicing this than in your hometown?
People always talk about going far and wide to solve world problems, and although that is great and so, so needed, I think we often forget that people need help in our own backyards. How can we expect to promote peace, fix hunger and foster education on a global scale if we neglect our own local communities?
The Gainesville community is often overlooked, yet it deserves love and attention. Being that UF fosters a population of approximately 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students, and Santa Fe College is home to nearly 20,000 students, it seems only logical that students devote some attention to the city that now houses them. As students, getting involved outside the college campus can seem daunting. However, there are plenty of ways to put our skills to use around a town of this size.
As college students, we know about being hungry. Usually, though, it’s just a joke about only eating ramen noodles. The unfortunate truth is there are some local school children who actually do go hungry on weekends or holiday breaks when school lunches are not provided. Some schools have taken to providing breakfast to students who qualify, but there is only so much teachers and school boards can do to help children when they are not at school. If college students helped with food drives or provided food to fill backpacks for the Food4Kids Backpack Program, school children would not worry about going hungry.
There are also plenty of middle and high school-aged children who may need a tutor but are unable to afford one. Being a college town with not one but two major colleges, tutors could readily be provided. My parents participate in a mentorship program in which they are each paired with a middle school student and follow that student through their entire high school career, ensuring they are able to graduate and go to college. A similar program could easily be implemented on campus, but instead of mentoring, students could be paired with other students and help tutor them, whether on a specific subject or standardized testing prep. College students with specific backgrounds in certain majors could easily tutor high schoolers. A biology major could help one kid study for the AP Biology exam, while an English major could help another get ready for the AP Language and Composition essays.
Of course, volunteering should go beyond just college students helping local schoolchildren. There are plenty of other types of service to be done around town, and this doesn’t apply to just Gainesville. Wherever you live, find out how to get involved.
Leave everything better than you found it. That’s the Girl Scouts motto, and although my Girl Scouts glory days may be long over, that phrase reverberates with my every heartbeat to this day. I’d like to think that when my time in Gainesville comes to a close, I may have left this place just a little bit better than I found it.
Hannah Whitaker is a UF English sophomore. Her column appears on Mondays.
