Students! Community service is an important part of your high school career. Through service you have the opportunity to build character, make an impact in your community and develop a resume of volunteer experience you can utilize in your college applications.
After volunteering and completing service, you can reflect on the experience: what you learned, how it impacted you and more. This is an opportant part of the process because volunteering is more than just completing the hours and moving on. It also allows you to realize how your service is benefitting others.
The Official Service Transcript
This reflection process gives you the opportunity to share your opinions, your thoughts and experiences... things that cannot be measured in the classroom and things that universities look for in students when deciding who gets those acceptance letters. This is why the reflections that you write in x2VOL are included on the Official Service Transcript™ – an official document that can be sent to college admissions officers to showcase service experience.
The majority of college admissions officers state that service reflections are an important factor in deciding who gets admitted to the university. So you don't want to miss out on a chance to impress universities! The Official Service Transcript™ gives universities the opportunity to get a deeper sense of who you are by hearing, in your voice, what serving means for you.
A Quality Reflection
So, how can you make the most of this reflection? In reflections, quality is key. Writing a reflection that is well thought out with correct grammar and spelling is vital to impressing school admin the college admissions officers that will be reading these.
How to write an A+ reflection? Take a look at these examples of good and bad reflections.
Bad reflection: At the aminal shelter I learned that caring for animals is important and that it takes a lot of hardwork.
Good reflection: While volunteering at the animal shelter, I was able to develop a deeper appreciation for the individuals that work with these animals every day. While being able to play with puppies and cuddle with kittens is fun, there is a lot of physical and mental work that goes into caring for animals.
Notice, the bad example was high level and had spelling and grammar errors. The good reflection dove deeper into what the student gained from the experience and had no grammar errors.
Bad reflection: i volunteered at the soup kitchen and I learned it’s important to help people because other people are less fortunate.
Good reflection: Volunteering at my local soup kitchen gave me the opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes for the day. Getting to know the people there made me realize how fortunate I am and that I have an opportunity to serve others.
The bad reflection had grammar issues and didn’t really give insight into what the student learned. The good reflection showcased what the students got out of the experience.
Serve. Reflect. Repeat. Then, use x2VOL to showcase your service experience and leverage those A+ reflections to help you get into your dream university.
