Don’t be selfish, seniors.

This community has provided you with countless opportunities to share your talents with others. It’s time to start giving back.

Service is a chance to do some good. A volunteer record gives students a great chance of getting into a good college, as it shows involvement and selflessness. Time and time again, we send students off into the world having little real-world experience.

The school should implement mandatory community service credits. This system would change the perspective of every student. It creates smart, respectful and courageous young adults.

On the other hand, another requirement might be difficult for sudents to manage. With extracurriculars, and academics, high school students have a lot on their plates. And, for lower income students, it doesn’t make sense. Why should a student do volunteer work when her family is struggling? A paid job would feed her siblings. Volunteer work would not.

While there are special cases that make it difficult to volunteer, there are tons of ways for you to give back to your community. We don’t all have to go overseas; anything as small as giving up a Saturday to clean up a park would be more than enough.

Service teaches selflessness. We often envision prisoners on the side of the road picking up trash when we think of community service, but it’s really so much more.