Imagine you are a kid or teenager, struggling with school and life, but today you get to spend time with a student-tutor from UNC. This person is your friend, someone you look up to and ultimately a positive influence on your life.
Now imagine that one day, that person stopped showing up. They said they were busy with exams, but that does not translate to your younger mind.
This is an extreme example, but sadly it is the case when we all fail to uphold our commitments to many service-based projects. It hurts both the organizations facilitating the work and the individuals being helped.
We all understand stress and how it impacts our obligation to volunteer communities. Exams, final papers, projects, work — this whole editorial could be dedicated to listing the obligations many students have.
With all these responsibilities, not to mention the late nights that come with them, it is easy to gloss over volunteering commitments and skip obligations that do not have long-term consequences.
While this decision is understandable, it could have unforeseen impacts on organizations and the work they do in the community that we need to be aware of.
Having consistent volunteers is important in community work where people are counting on the organization for assistance and support. The fewer people that show up, the less work that can be done and the less positive impact that can be made in the community.
This problem can simply be corrected by letting organizations know from the beginning any possible time conflicts you might have throughout the semester. They will hopefully understand and allow you to take care of yourself before returning. Simply put, at the very least have a dialogue before missing an event.
This is not to say students should feel bad or that this problem applies to all groups — it is just to say we should always strive to do better. This board applauds the volunteers who have been able to keep their commitments and not allow the stress of school to deter them from making positive impacts.
