In the Service of What? by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

1. "By engaging in meaningful service-whether tutoring children for whom English is a second language, helping patients in a hospital, doing difficult chores for the elderly, or supervising younger children's recreational activities-students will have opportunities to experience what David Hornbeck, former Maryland state superintendent, referred to as 'the joy of reaching out to others.'"
I chose this quote because personally I find joy in helping others. I think that everyone should want to lend a hand in whatever kind of service projects they're interested in, whether it involves feeding the hungry or building houses for Habitat for Humanity. When you go out of your way to help someone, you gain a sense of pride.

2. "The experiential and interpersonal components of service learning activities can achieve the first crucial step toward diminishing the sense of 'otherness' that often separates students-particularly privileged students-from those in need."
One of the benefits of helping those in need is that it helps to erase the divide. By bringing the privileged and those who need the help together, it allows a bridge to be built between the two communities.

3. "To be critical thinkers, students must be able to consider arguments that justify conclusions that conflict with their own predispositions and self-interest."
This can be achieved by performing service work. Many times the volunteers are able to interact with a different group or class which can sometimes change their perspective about the particular group of people. After working with students for whom English isn't their first language one can understand their side of the argument.

Overall, I found this piece to be very interesting. In high school I was part of the Key Club-a club that performs community service. As a memeber of the Key Club I participated in many volunteer activities such as tutoring middle school students and setting up for Father-Daughter dances. Even though I was required to perform 25 hours of community service in order to graduate, I went above and beyond this because I enjoyed helping others.