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" I like to think that I&amp;#039;m a compassionate person, but, to be honest, I&amp;#039;ve never been deeply involved in volunteer projects in the past. Sure, I have helped organize car washes or bake sales, but my commitment to my community was largely limited to surface-level, mindless gestures that raised a LITTLE bit of awareness or a FEW easy bucks.  Until now. Finally, after nineteen years of searching for the perfect opportunity to make a positive difference in the world (however small that difference may be), I&amp;#039;ve joined an incredible organization through Columbia called Peace by PEACE. Every Tuesday, I walk the fifteen blocks to a public school in Harlem and teach fifth graders conflict resolution.  And, as corny as I know it sounds, the time that I spend in the colorful classroom is the highlight of my stressful week. I really recommend &amp;quot;volunteer therapy&amp;quot; to any over-worked and majorly stressed student, because we DO have the time to commit to a program or project, and spending time with different groups of people puts our own crazy lives in perspective. When you&amp;#039;re in college, it&amp;#039;s easy to forget that there&amp;#039;s a world beyond your own campus, so I really urge you all to go out into your extended communities and meet people, help people, and give a couple hours a week to a cause or an organization you care about. But enough of my wordy hopes and lofty aspirations for a better world, I want this blog to turn into a conversation: what do you think? Do you have any interesting or inspirational volunteering stories? Is there a girl you want to recognize for her contributions to her community? Do you know cool ways to get involved? Or, be honest, do you think that volunteering is kind of a condescending idea and largely a waste of the volunteer&amp;#039;s time? Community service is an important issue that I want girls everywhere to proactively get involved in through a more-open dialogue, so make your voices heard here! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/advice/a4292/rachel-peace-by-peace/>