[Community-service] Conversation starter…

[Benjamin Vercellone]

Hello again.
About my last email, where I replied concerning the online article about community service, I just wanted to clarify my views. After I spent much of my email criticizing some people's attitudes, I realized I kind of was tending toward some accidental blanket statements. To clarify a little, when I mentioned the financially comfortable in the beginning of one paragraph, I really was thinking more on the lines of some people, including but not limited to wealthy individuals, who seem unwilling to help others in need. I should have clarified my view then, since it definitely does not apply to the majority of people. I admit my language was a bit extreme and generalizing in some cases, especially since a great deal of our nations people do not fall into the category just described. Basically, I was ranting about what might be a somewhat small percentage of our population. Also, concerning academia, the more I reflected on what I wrote, the more I realized the same kind of generalizing on my part. In other words, the majority of people who are passionate about education care a whole lot about helping in their own ways. To be honest, some of the people I grew up near and with prior to college helped give me the somewhat negative view which I displayed in my last email, concerning wealth, helpfulness, and academia. But reflecting more on my recent undergraduate experience, which largely involved different people than some with whom I grew up, I realized that many academic people are quite enthusiastic to use their knowledge in a way which will help communities and the world. So while I stand by what I said in the last email, much of it applies to a narrower group of people than my way of writing suggested. My apologies for some criticism which was aimed too wide.
Ultimately, I believe that most people desire to be helpful, but I think that we need to be sure we are willing to help even when we must exit our comfort zone. I believe that most people will enjoy helping out in the manner of community service once they get started, and that just this little bit of help will encourage most people to continue.
Thank you,
Ben

On Jun 20, 2013, at 11:48 AM, ds94124 at aol.com wrote:

> I wanted to share this article with you all, please let me know your thoughts… Is this true? www.politico.com/story/2013/06/national-service-is-key-to-national-strength-93069.html?utm_source=ABC%20News&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=Social 
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