A record number of incoming students place an importance on community involvement, according to a recently released national survey.
According to the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey, which is conducted annually by the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, 30.8 percent of first-year students reported there was a “very good chance” that they would participate in volunteer work during college. Additionally, 41.3 percent of freshmen indicated there was “some chance” they would engage in volunteer work.
Linda DeAngelo, assistant director at the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, said the record numbers can be attributed to previous exposure to community service.
“I think it has a lot to do with more students having experience (volunteering) coming to college,” she said. “Students who volunteer in high school are predisposed to volunteer in college.”
Hannah Wu, a first-year business economics student and member of UCLA’s Community Service Commission, said volunteering in high school made her more inclined to do so in college.
“In high school, you’re in a smaller community so it’s easier to get involved,” Wu said. “But in college, there’s so many things going on at once that you don’t really know where to go to volunteer.”
Last quarter, Wu helped organize a Community Service Day. She said the process involved in doing something of this magnitude helps to develop important skills for the future.
However, one student said going from being forced to do volunteer work in high school to having a choice has left her unenthusiastic about participating.
“If it’s not a requirement, I probably won’t take the time to go out and do it,” said Janèt Morris, a first-year undeclared social sciences student.
When there is not a passion involved with doing it, she said, it is hard to keep up with it.
However, Morris said she is not completely adverse to the idea.
“It’s cool to get out there and help people,” she said. “It’s just a matter of taking the initiative.”