Institute for
Public Affairs and Civic Engagement

 

Presidential Citizen Scholar Volunteer Experience Essay

[If you volunteered for a number of organizations,
you can select one of your volunteer experiences to focus on in this essay.]

Write a reflective essay (approximately 300 words) telling us what you think of one of your volunteer experiences.  You need not respond to all of the prompts (see below); just those which you think are relevant. 

Prompts:

  • What was the experience? What was your volunteer role?
  • Is the work that you did part of a continuing effort or a one time event?
  • How did your service help the organization fulfill its mission?
  • How does the organization impact the public community?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as you see them?
  • What public policy issues is this organization involved with and how would you assess their efforts in addressing those issues?
  • If you volunteered with more than one organization, how did your experience compare and contrast with your other volunteer experiences.
  • Did your experience affect, in any way, your ideas of civic engagement, government, or politics?  Was it different from what you thought it would be? 
  • What did you learn about yourself?