Many teenagers today are all about making a difference. Whether it’s picking up trash at parks, helping homeless individuals at shelters or in their school communities, these young adults are devoted to making a difference in any way possible.

Service has always been a big part of campus minister and experiential service coordinator Jackson Ford’s life. Ever since he was a teenager he has always felt a special pull to the life of service, “As a teenager, doing service was some of the biggest learning experiences that I had and now I love being able to help facilitate those learning experiences for others and to see connections get made,” he said.

Service is not only about helping others in need in the community but it is also about creating new connections and relationships with people one may not talk to in their daily life.

Not only does Ford enjoy participating in service himself, he loves seeing students at DePaul Prep volunteer.

“My hope is to have the culture of why we are doing service to go towards giving back to our community as a community and to enjoy that. It is its own reward to give back and serve others. I know that it can feel like a homework assignment but it feels a lot less like one when we do it together with our friends and enjoy ourselves.” he said.

Being involved in the service world is not just a main part of Ford’s life, it is also a main component in teenagers’ lives as they grow up.

Sophomore Charlotte Gershman has 110 hours of service. She dedicates a majority of her free time to helping the homeless at Digs with Dignity, a non profit organization that helps homeless people find apartments and refurbish them.

She said, “It’s amazing to see the transformations because they show before pictures where it’s just a mattress on the floor and they come in and turn a house into a beautiful home.”

Gershman volunteers as much as she can outside of school and she believes that other teenagers in the community should as well because “it gives you a new perspective to the world. It can help you see a lot of different things in the world, good and bad, and you can think deeply about these aspects of life” she said.

To Gershman, volunteering helps people, teenagers especially, understand that a little goes a long way. Helping out in any way possible can make a significant difference in someone’s life.

“When I volunteer I feel so useful, helpful and amazing. It makes me so happy” she said.

Between balancing school work and social life, junior Bill Grammatis Cooke, still finds time to volunteer and be involved in both the outside community and the DePaul Prep Community.

He has 210 hours of service. He has served at Misericordia, Blessings in a Backpack, Red Cross and numerous DePaul Prep events.

Grammatis Cooke has always felt a call towards service and helping others. He said, “I do service because it’s not only fun for me, but I also feel like I’m living out God’s will to do good. I have always been one to help people and now that I’m older, I can get more opportunities like this to truly make an impact on the community.”

To Grammatis Cooke, volunteering is an opportunity that all teenagers have but not all of them use.

He believes that teenagers should volunteer because it is a life-altering experience that gives a different perspective at each service opportunity. Each organization around the city helps fix different issues and volunteering allows students to see many issues firsthand.

Gershman and Grammatis Cooke are two of many teenagers who love to volunteer in their community. Service to them is such an important aspect in their lives, one they think everyone should be able to experience.

Service is not just a core value at school, it is a core value of life. Throughout the city of Chicago there are many different organizations available for teenagers to volunteer at such as food pantries, homeless shelters, hospitals and school events. Teenagers are the future and volunteering is just the first step of making the world a better place.