Robert+M’s+2015+OpEd+Article

 Madeleine L'Engle once said, “To take away a man's freedom of choice, even his freedom to make the wrong choice, is to manipulate him as though he were a puppet and not a person.” It turns out that in a way we are being played as puppets. I feel that as adolescents at Foothill, we are expected to conform to a certain scholarly example. There are certain timeless and obvious restrictions to true freedom. However at the heart of America’s founding, there are unchanging principles: justice, liberty, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. Our forefathers toiled for us to enjoy such virtues. We Foothill-goers must complete 75 hours of service by our senior year. It is my philosophy that a student should no be forced to serve their community in this way. I believe this because I also believe that a student should be able to thrive on their own; each student should find his-or-her own avenue of success. It should not be forced one way or another. Community service is something that should come from within. A common theme in human history is people being expected to fall into place—a slave of society or another large and commanding system. But there is a special line of how far the makers of society go in saying that you must do this or you must do that. The requirement of community service disturbs me for the simple reason that it is a restriction on freedom and will. I am unable to break this stupid rule without putting my educational career in jeopardy. It even bothers me that we are required to learn Spanish, or perhaps another foreign language at VC, but that is beyond me to debate. The community service requirement is more than an attempt at molding us into the perfect scholars. The requirement aspect itself is the elimination of personal journey. A student who is passionate should say on their own, "I want volunteer my time." I see the community service requirement as a certain invasion of privacy. It is an invasion upon personal guidance, character, and domain. What if I’m shy? What if, while I’m doing 'service,' I feel that I am doing literally nothing productive? What if I felt wholeheartedly that my 'service' time would be much better spent pursuing the betterment of my life. As far as I know, there is no appeal or alternative route. In a way, we are all still children. We need to focus on the building of our mind, body, and character in the way we wish. In a free society, this 75 hour ultimatum does not belong. The solution is simple: make community service a recommendation. Allow people to be passionate in their own way; individualism, freedom of choice, freedom of personal journey. I am against the elimination of these things. Enough of this scholarly mold crap. As John Steinbeck once said, “Freedom is the most important thing in life, let me Be.”