College Success: Helping Others to Help Yourself

October 26, 2019

 

help-yourself/50622learningenglish.voanews.com/a/college-success-helping-others-to-12.html

  Before reading:

I.  Brainstorm.

Work in pairs. The heading of the article you are going to read is “College Success: Helping Others to Help Yourself”. What do you think it gives information about? Share your ideas with the rest of the class.

Read the text

College Success: Helping Others to Help Yourself

In this Tuesday, October 11, 2010 photo, Monica Zheng, an 18-year-old volunteer and student at the University of Chicago, tutors Joshua Williams, 11, as he does his homework outside the Blackstone Bicycle Works in Chicago.

Editor's Note: This report is part of a continuing series offering advice to students at colleges and universities on how to be successful throughout their educational experience.

  While reading:

II. Choose the appropriate form of the verbs (in italics) in the Present tense.

In some ways, higher education is / are / being a self-serving experience.

People often seek / are seeking / seeks a college education because they want /are wanting / have wanted t o improve their lives. Or, they want / wants to increase their chances at gaining well-paying, interesting and meaningful employment.

Even if a person wants to find cures for major diseases or solve homelessness, they must spend years gaining knowledge and training for themselves before they can help / helps others.

A person’s college years are /have been /is usually very busy. It may not seem like they have /are having / have had the time or the freedom to serve anyone but themselves.

But Connie Snyder Mick says /is saying /has said they actually do.

Mick is /are /is being the academic director of the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame in the state of Indiana. Centers like hers exist /have existed at many colleges and universities in the United States. Mick says / is saying the centers help students seeking an experience that may not be directly related to a student’s academic progress, but that is / are still important: volunteering.

This November 14, 2009 photo shows Dr. Bill Collins, right, working on patient Mendy Johnson as University of Louisville student volunteers Emily Harding, center and Farzan Pouranfar watch during a clinic held by Remote Area Medical.

Volunteering is /has been not uncommon in higher education. Many campus groups organize /are organizing /has organized volunteer events or fundraising efforts for different causes. Officials in charge of student housing often organize /have organized such events to help build a sense of community.

Involvement in these kinds of activities is/has been being good for students, Mick told VOA. For example, the busy nature of college life can create a lot of stress for students. Doing something completely unrelated to a student’s studies or other work can help calm /to calm them by putting their mind on other things.

For a deeper more meaningful addition to their college experience, Mick urges /is urging students to visit centers like the one she heads.

She says/has said these centers exist / are existing to create volunteer opportunities that are /has been more complex and meaningful than just a day spent cleaning a local park, for example.

College students often spend /are spent little time getting to know the local community just outside of their campus, Mick notes /have noted. Higher education is /are been all about introducing students to new ideas, she says. And these communities may be full of cultures and people that are /is very different from what the students already know/ has known.

Campus volunteering offices often partner / are partnering with local organizers that serve /have being served the people of the nearby community. These partnerships help make sure the volunteer efforts are meeting/have met the real needs of that community.

In this March 16, 2016 photo, Ohio State University students Kayla Devan, Brianna Brown and other volunteers scrub gravestones at Chalmette National Cemetery in Chalmette, Louisiana.

Even for students with little interest in finding a connection with the local community, there is /are still value in what volunteer centers have to offer, Mick says. She notes /has been noted some opportunities can push students to use /use what they are learning / has learnt in the classroom out in the real world. And having that kind of experience can /is can make a student appealing to employers in the years to come.

“Imagine teaching computer science at a center for … people with disabilities,” Mick said. “To think about how to apply, more directly, what you’re studying in the classroom in ways that sort of push you to think about it differently can really be /is a creative … space.”

Volunteering does /do not necessarily mean finding extra time in the evenings or weekends, she says. More and more schools are asking /has asked professors to design courses that include volunteer work.

“The research shows /have shown that when a student goes /have gone and has /is have an experience, the learning happens /has happens in the reflection, and reflection happens in coursework,” Mick said. “So … you’re getting /have got that academic credit, but you’re also having an … experience that’s thoughtful, that gives you times to... do research and to think deeply about that … in a way that’s connected to your academic interests.”

Campus volunteer centers can help students identify /to identify classes that offer /is offering these kinds of experiences. The centers also can let students know/ to know if their school offers /has offered any volunteering-based trips during breaks between study terms. Mick says such trips can be a meaningful way to spend /to have spent free time and explore other places.

After reading:

 Study the vocabulary:

academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education

campus – n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school

fundraising – n. activity done to collect money for a political party, charity, school or other group

stress – n. a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life and work

opportunities – n. amounts of time or situations in which something can be done

introducing – v. presenting something for discussion or consideration

apply – v. to use an idea, method or law in a given situation

creative – adj. using the ability to make or think of new things

course (s) – n. a series of classes about a particular subject in a school

reflection – n. careful thought about something

credit – n. a unit that measures a student's progress towards earning a degree in a school or college

 

III. Comprehension questions:

1. Why do people often seeka college education?

2. What kind of experience do the centers help students seek?

3. What is Higher Education according to Mick?

4. What partnerships are being spoken about in the article?

5. Is volunteering uncommon in higher education?

6. What can volunteer centers offer to students?

7. DoesVolunteering necessarily mean finding extra time in the evenings or weekends?

8. Why are more and more schools asking professors to design courses that include volunteer work?

 

IV. Multiple choice quiz: