Cj Henry

2
nd

Ms.Ingram
Clubs & Community Service
The most crucial event from my high school years would have to be when I got involved
in the various clubs that I was in. Not only that, but the way I had to get my community service
hours to receive the chords at the end year had to be the most crucial. I was in a total of three
organizations: NAS (National Achievers Society), NHS (National Honors Society), and Club
Hope. I got inducted into NAS in the tenth grade and into NHS in the eleventh. I found out
about Club Hope by this girl named Anyela Arrelo who was in my NAS club and decided to join
so it would look better when I apply to colleges. You needed to be a minority with a 3.0 gpa or
higher in the previous year to be eligible for the club. The NHS club wasnt based on race but if
you had a 3.5 gpa or higher in the previous year. There were many things associated with the
clubs like, meetings, activities outside of school, but most importantly COMMUNITY
SERVICE!
Whenever the head of NAS talked to the members about community service, of course I
listened, but did not pay it any attention. I just got inducted, and I was a sophomore, which
meant I had two years until it really mattered! So, I decided not to actually listen until I was a
senior. The amount you had to have in order to get a chord at graduation was twenty hours.
Surprisingly, the next two years came by quick, and I really had to pay attention! Not only this,
but I had just got into the other club which required thirty-five community service hours. I was
loaded, and kept telling myself, I cannot slack off. I could have started back in the previous
years to get a head start, but I was lazy. I didnt really know what exactly to do to get them, but I
just wanted to get them over and lay back knowing I can wear some chords on graduation day.
There were many things you could do to receive the credit. You could help with different teams
after school with water and setting up for some games, but I wasnt feeling that. I wasnt
anybodys water boy. I also was employed at Lowes Foods while attending school, so I had to
work around that schedule. So, I looked up other ways to get the hours and saw that there were
activities I could do on the weekend, like help up set up for an event or clean up after events.
There was one problem: I worked every weekend and was unable to participate. It looked like I
wasnt going to receive any hours and get the chords after all. Luckily, one day Anyela told me
about this group that she was the president of and that I should join. They do a lot of work so I
could get community service hours. I thought to myself, Having this on my college
applications will look very good, and I do need these hours, so without hesitation I joined. We
did a lot of things and had many meetings where we would make things for the children in
hospitals and I earned some community hours for it! But this was only a few, I needed thirty-
five! It was April, and getting down to the last couple of months of school and I needed to work
fast. I stayed after a meeting one day and asked if there was anything else I could do to earn big
hours quick. Anyela told me that I could go tutor kids at the Boys & Girls Club down the street
after each day of school. I took that into deep consideration and before I knew it I was going
every day.
I had to work around my schedule for my job. I usually worked 4-8 or sometimes 4:30-9.
I could work these days back to back or either every other day. The days I had to work I stayed
at the Boys & Girls Club for an hour, and the days that I did not, I stayed for three hours.
The Boys & Girls Club was a center for elementary and middle school kids that
contained a common area, a computer lab, a gym, and a library. It had a good atmosphere and
every little kid had big smiles on their faces, well most of them. Others could have had a bad
day or werent feeling too good. Each day I went, I knew more and more kids who were
involved in the club. By the second week, whenever I came in the door, there was one boy
named Tyler and he would say Theres Cj! and a group of like 3 or 4 little boys would run up
and follow me and ask What are you going to do today? Sometimes I would go into the
library section and help anyone who needed any help, or play with some kids in the gym. When
I tutored, mostly the middle school kids didnt need any help, but the elementary school kids
came in thirty minutes later, and thats where most of the questions came from. The kids that
were in the same grade had the same homework so I could help a couple kids at one time.
Tutoring was ok, I mean I knew how to help and all but sitting there for hours could get
boring easily. One day I decided to switch up my teaching skills and make it fun. A student
named Madison Crater had a 3 in her class, which was sort of a B in high school, and if she
passed this next test she would have a 4 (A). She came up to me and asked, Could you help me
study for my test?, and explained the severity of this test and I said of course. So for the
vocabulary we made flashcards and put the word on one and on another card the definition and
we spread the cards out and had a matching game with the words. We played this until she
mastered it, which took four times. Then she read me some things and I asked her questions
about the topics and for every answer she got right I gave her a starburst candy piece. We
studied for a total of 2 hours and as I helped her pack up her work I told her, You got this, and
you can do it. She looked me straight in the eye and said, I know, it would only be right if I
did. We put a lot of work in. The next day she came in and gave me a big warm hug and told
me that she got the best grade in the class and that she now had a 4. This made me feel real
good, because it made me feel like I actually helped someone out in the time of need.
By that time, it was mid-May and I had thirty hours combined. I finished the last five
feeding the homeless at The Helen Wright Center in downtown Raleigh. When that day was
over I went to both of the heads of the groups that I was in and turned in all of my hours that was
recorded on slips of papers with a big grin on my face. I felt so accomplished and walked across
the stage to get my diploma on graduation day with two chords on my shoulders.