Service

To me, service is by far the most important pillar of honor. Service means putting the needs of the community above your personal needs. Putting the needs of the whole first leads to a greater sense of community and cooperation, two necessary aspects of a functioning society. On-campus service organizations, like Chi, truly emphasize the spirit of service. I love Chi’s motto, “Service to the whole without seeking honor for the self,” because it represents my exact thoughts of how service should be done. It is easy to help someone when there is a reward or an opportunity for personal gain, but at its core, service lends itself to helping someone solely because they need help. During the Honors Leadership Retreat, I had the opportunity to volunteer with the Heartland Horse Heroes in Buckingham, Virginia. Heartland Horse Heroes is an organization that provides children with disabilities or other challenges in their lives an opportunity to participate in equestrian activities. While working there, we helped to build a small maze for the children to go and walk to relax. I enjoyed working with this group because I felt that their mission was admirable. After we were done building the maze, I felt an immense amount of pride. I knew in my heart that our hard work was going to help others with their hardships. I feel that we as humans should always have a “pay-it-back” mentality, where we use our strengths or our opportunities to pay-it-back to those who need help or are in less fortunate situations. By doing this, we can create a sense of camaraderie and cooperation, where people are more passionate and care about others’ struggles.