They Say, I Say

                In the first article that we had to read, “Serve or Fail” by Dave Eggers, it is stated that college is too long and students have too much time on their hands. Students in fact have so much time on their hands that they could become a professional foosball player. Eggers says that people should not have this much free time while going to school and they should do something that is more productive. He then leads into the fact that colleges should have a mandatory service requirement for all students. College students have time to volunteer and would benefit from it because they would learn a lot from volunteering. He states that it wouldn’t work in all colleges because some colleges only have part time students, and volunteering interferes with their requirements. He says that if students just volunteer say 10 hours a year and if 6 million students were to do that, 60 million volunteer hours from college students would be contributed. He uses a lot of statistics which is a really great appeal to logic. However he uses a lot of examples which cover up what he truly wants to get across. I mostly agree with Eggers points however I do not agree that all students have too much time on their hands. Some college students take so many classes and have so much work that they don’t even have enough time for a social life. The thesis is that students will benefit from volunteering if they are required to give back to the community. I agree with Eggers that it is a great learning experience.

                The second article, “’Service Learning’ more than just a fad,” is more centered on Minnesota’s students.  It states that even though the college budgets are tight, people are still more than willing to volunteer. The article says that volunteering might even help to cure some of the issues of tight money. In Minnesota, there is a “service learning” compact that encourages students to volunteer through their colleges in many different ways. Not only does this article talk about students volunteering, but also faculty. By having faculty volunteer alongside students the fact that they are volunteering for a purpose gets put into their heads. The thesis of the article is that if both students and faculty volunteer, the idea will eventually build up to something larger than it already is. I completely agree with the points of this article and I wouldn’t change a thing. The author uses pathos to persuade and inform the reader which is a really effective technique. Overall I believe this article is effective in telling the reader what they need to know.

                The last article, “How to reduce student dropout rates: link volunteering to studies,” by the Monitor’s Editorial Board says that volunteering can reduce student dropout rates.  In this article the author states that the most effective way of volunteering is service learning. They say that if service learning is started early enough, then it will benefit someone throughout their lifetime.  It will benefit a student because what they learn when they volunteer will influence then with their academic instruction. Also while participating in service learning, a student can relate their schoolwork to the things that they do in life and that will continue to make the students want to go to school. The thesis of this article is that if students are involved in service volunteering, they will better understand situations in life. I also agree with this article that service learning is beneficial for a student; however, students should try different types of volunteering as well. Students should not be limited to only one kind of volunteering because they need to be open to the world.

                If all three of the authors were to sit at a table together and compare their thoughts about volunteering, there would be three main points that they would agree on. The first point is that without a doubt volunteering benefits a student. Students can learn life lessons through volunteering and also relate the ideas to school concepts. The second point is that all school systems should in some way instill a volunteering requirement. By being required to volunteer, students will get a broader concept of life. The last point they would all agree on is that volunteering benefits the community. By students seeing the community benefiting from them it feels as if they have a purpose. The thesis of the three authors would be that volunteering benefits a student and their community through learning. I agree that volunteering benefits students and it is a life changing experience. I also agree that students should be required to complete some sort of service hours unless they absolutely have no way to do it. Service hours help one learn and they help the community to grow. The three authors agree that volunteering benefits the students. However they disagree at what age the volunteering should start. One article says that volunteering needs to start at a young age and the other two articles say that it is more important that they volunteer at all in their lives.