As a teen I participated in community service work. It was one of the best learning experiences I ever had. I learned the importance of hard work and helping those less fortunate than me. I am not the only one who has benefitted from volunteer work according to John Frank in his article "The Benefits of Community Service for Teenagers." Frank writes about the many benefits of volunteer work teens can expect to have, and my experiences with volunteer work show me that Frank is right.
Frank begins by explaining that many teens who perform volunteer work gain confidence and a sense of contributing something positive to the world. He writes, "One thing that comes as a surprise to many parents is how many teenagers and older children love to volunteer. After spending a summer building computers for disadvantaged kids, or building homes for disadvantaged adults, many go back...seeking a feeling of meaning and purpose that is often absent in today's consumer obsessed culture." It is true that many young people have a hard time feeling that they are important to the world and that their lives have meaning. Many of them think that having a lot of material things will make the feel good about themselves, but that is not true.
During my teenage years, I spent a lot of time focused on clothes and hanging out with my friends. I was always in competition with my friends to get the latest thing that all the commercials were telling you people to buy. The sad thing was that even when I managed to get something new, I was happy for a just a short time. Afterwards, I would not even care much about what I got. Now, it is clear to me that I was feeling unsatisfied about my life. I was not able to identify this feeling because I was teen, but it went away when I started volunteering.
During my sophomore year in high school, I volunteered my time to plant trees at parks in Brooklyn. I was surprised when I found out that I