Education is a tool that can be used for a variety of purposes. Such an experience should not be limited to a structural environment, that of a classroom. There is no doubt that academics are an indispensable part of the evolving experience of knowledge acquisition; however, training empathy and communication and self-reflection skills is equally essential. High school experiences are the culmination of adolescents' holistic educational improvement; therefore, community service is of great importance and should be a mandatory component of students' educational experiences. Some opponents of this view might argue that prerequisites for future employers do not include community service. Indeed, these individuals argue that community service further decreases the time a student spends reviewing course material and, therefore, improves their career prospects. This is, however, a flawed argument. In an age where professional occupations are fluid in nature (due to both financial insecurity and today's mobile lifestyle), the most important skills a student can possess are their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, or communication and reflection. Community service enhances these qualities, allowing students to appreciate and recognize not only the circumstances of others, but also the ability to build relationships and truly value the other human beings “served.” Additionally, students are not only rewarded with reciprocity, seeing the effects of their service and how they have affected the lives of others, but also with the opportunity to further explore their interests, which allows them to continue their future professional training. aspirations.(source) Although the idea that compulsory community service...... middle of paper ......f school in which they were confined and, perhaps for the first time, discover abilities they never thought they had or would be rewarded for. In fact, many students may develop a passion directly for community service itself that would never have been revealed prior to their participation. Therefore, exposing students to mandatory community service is crucial because of its ability to instill pride and inspire adolescents who are underestimated by the standards of conventional academic views. Holistic education is by far the most valuable. The essential nature of community service in a student's learning is evident in its ability to provide professional skills - rarely or poorly taught in traditional academic institutions, to integrate appreciation of a diligent and thorough work ethic and to encourage students to pursue genuine interests, rather than limiting themselves to their core activities. topics