How do you celebrate the holiday season? Everyone has different traditions and ways of commemorating this special time of year. If you don’t already, I suggest incorporating service as one of your holiday traditions! Volunteering is always great, but it’s especially rewarding during the holiday season. Whether or not your service actually takes place during the holidays, this is a great time to reflect on everything that you’re thankful for and start thinking about how you can make a difference in the lives of others. Luckily for you ladies, Ohio State offers tons of ways to get involved and serve the community! I could never list all of the volunteering opportunities at OSU and around the community, but here are just a few of my favorites.
Participate in MLK Day of Service! MLK Day of Service takes place right here at Ohio State on January 21, 2013 to celebrate the life and mission of Martin Luther King Jr. If you’d like to take a larger role in this event, apply to be a site leader (applications are due December 10th). Last year, my friends and I went and we had a blast doing service together. So, tell your girls and mark your calendars for this awesome event! Go to this site for more information: http://ohiounion.osu.edu/get_involved/csls/mlkday
Sign up for a Buck-I-Serv trip! Buck-I-Serv trips are scheduled during winter, spring, and summer breaks. The trips happen across the globe, across the country, or even just across the street and cover a wide range of services for everyone’s interest. Buck-I-Serv trips are especially fun because they allow you the opportunity to go somewhere new and meet new friends, all at the same time! Applications are due January 12th. Check out this link to learn more and see the available trips: http://buckiserv.osu.edu/
Enroll in a service-learning course! I think that service-learning courses are one of the hidden gems here at Ohio State. Basically, these are classes that teach you about social issues and then you get to perform service as part of the classes. How cool is it that you can actually get credit hours for doing service?! If you need to take an extra class, I definitely recommend looking into one of the service-learning courses. Check out the full list of courses here: http://service-learning.osu.edu/spring-term-2013.html
Register for Buckeyethon! Buckeyethon is a dance marathon that raised over $450,000 last year alone for children’s cancer research. This year, Buckeyethon will have two shifts – either February 8th at 8:00 PM to February 9th at 8:00 AM or February 9th from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM. So, get your dancing shoes and help end cancer by dancing all night long with your friends! For registration and more information, check out this link: http://buckeyethon.osu.edu/
As you can see, there are many ways to get involved, and no time is better than the holiday season to begin. Other ways to get involved are donating to a local food drive or gifting toys to a Toys for Tots location in your community. Volunteering doesn’t have to only take place during the holidays, though! Go to http://payitforward.osu.edu/ to sign up for the Pay It Forward newsletter to receive a weekly update about service opportunities and organizations around campus. So, collegiettes, are you ready to change the world?
Image source: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011…