Community and social service has become an extremely problematic topic for students as it gives them more to worry about outside their studies, but without it, they can not graduate.

Colombian Law requires all students to complete 80 hours of  community service for graduation, but with their heavy academic workloads, many TCS 11th and 12th graders have a hard time. Thankfully the school offers a large variety of opportunities to help students, an example being GIN and NHS.

“This bimester is all about getting back on track from vacations, but the second and third bimesters will be harder and have a bigger work load which is something to consider,” Nicolas Vergara, 11th grader, said.

The school has been working with different organizations like Techo, Heroe Camina, Soñar Despierto, TOM, that give students the opportunity to make positive changes and help people in the community. It gives the students the initiative to strive for making a positive impact in the world and the people who aid a change are receiving it.

“I have friends that graduated that have talked highly about Techo and said that it is the best option to complete the 80 hours,” Emiliano Montoya,11th grader, said. 

Students should maintain awareness of any news about community service, for example registrations and other important dates. Once you register you will then be put on a list of approval to then be put into a whats app group where you will be given detailed information about the projects, dates and locations that you will be participating. It will be extremely important to start as soon as possible as you shouldn’t let the hours stack.

“It is recommended to distribute the time between 11th and 12th grade, you don’t want to leave them all for 12th grade,” Andres Rendon, High School Counselor, said.

While some of the students see it as a pain in the neck, but others look at the bright side and make an unbelievable experience out of it. The students that don’t seem to enjoy it forget to understand that this process will help you develop some crucial social skills and that you might as well make it something worth going through.

“I see it as both, as an obligation as it is something that I am obligated to do, but I also think of it as a learning experience,” Montoya said.