“To lead is to serve” – PRINCEPS

When I was a senior in high school and deciding which college to attend, Longwood shined the brightest for me because of their commitment to citizen leadership through community engagement and service. Being able to participate in community events and volunteer has always been one of the most important aspects of my life. So, when I was informed that nearly every student at Longwood graduates with an average of above 100 hours of community service, I knew that this was the right college for me to attend. There are even secret societies that are dedicated to promoting service!

Within the CHC, there are many ways to be involved with service. From something as small as taking a prospective student to lunch, to organizing and leading a weekend service retreat, there are endless opportunities for everyone. A great example of the commitment to service that CHC scholars have is our Honors Student Association. I joined HSA my first semester at Longwood and quickly became very involved with it. For 2 years from my freshman to junior year, I served as the Community Service Chair. This was my first leadership opportunity at Longwood and I owe much of my growth and success on campus to this position. As the Community Service Chair, my biggest responsibility was organizing the semesterly weekend service retreat to Hull Springs Farm.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the Hull Springs service retreat was canceled for two semesters (spring and fall 2020). However, in the spring of 2021, I introduced a new type of community service retreat––volunteering at Virginia state parks and camping overnight! This new tradition continued into the 2021-2022 academic year with 2 service retreats happening each semester at Twin Lakes State Park. The relationship that I was able to foster between Longwood Honors and the State Park service has continued to blossom beautifully and in 2021, HSA was awarded the Volunteer Group of the Year award by the Virginia State Park service. My biggest hope for Longwood Honors is that we continue finding new and bigger ways to serve our community, state, and national parks.