With the school year coming to a close, members of clubs like the National Honor Society (NHS) are wrapping up their activities as well. NHS requires all of its members to complete at least ten service hours per semester, which are due on May 8 for seniors and May 15 for juniors. With busy schedules and a lack of service opportunities, many members are finding themselves scrambling to complete their hours.
Junior Christopher Bolles has found it particularly challenging, saying, “I haven’t had much time to do it, and it’s been off my mind.” The problem is that with such a wide time frame to complete hours, many students thought they had plenty of time until it was all gone. With so much going on, it can be easy to forget about something that doesn’t seem to have an immediate effect. Bolles also points to a lack of opportunities, explaining, “there were a lot [of service opportunities] in the beginning [of this semester], but lately it’s been kinda scarce.” Having the time available is just one step; the seemingly more difficult step is searching through the already insufficient number of opportunities to find one that fits into that free time.
Senior Lucas Wannemacher explains that his difficulty in finding service hours is “the fact that it’s the second semester–which means sports are gearing up.” Many members are engaged in multiple other activities and are “trying to find work and starting jobs,” Wannemacher added. The balance of service hours and countless after-school activities can be challenging to manage. For some students, this was less of an issue at the end of the first semester when it was cold and not many sports were taking place, but now in the spring semester, with so many sports in full session, it makes the quota even more difficult to meet.
Despite this, junior Ethan Uzzle points to a lack of time management as the issue, saying, “I think it makes sense and it’s doable if you don’t put it off until the last minute.” Uzzle does admit that with sports going on it can be more difficult than last semester. However, he does still point to time management as the issue. Uzzle explains that this could be fixed by “at the beginning of the year, having [service opportunities] all planned out so people can plan around them.” This would help a lot, but, unfortunately, service opportunities usually just come up as people need help, and not on a specific schedule.
With so much going on this time of year, completing service hours is just another thing to worry about, especially when the process of finding them is as difficult as it is. The deadline is quickly approaching, so, for some, these last couple of weeks will be a scramble. Juniors who are experiencing this may become more cautious about falling into this situation next year.
