Community Corner

Anthony Masi, Trumbull High School in Trumbull

[Note: This is not the article where you should vote for this contestant. This is essayist No. 9, so in the voting article, which is here, just post a comment that says ‘9' to vote for this student. Voting is limited to one person per finalist per day, and closes at 11:59 p.m. on May 18. The finalist essay follows.] 

I am used to a world where people live behind electronic screens. At the dinner table, I am told that families used to have meaningful discussions and “pass the peas, please.” 

Today, glowing rectangles appear before every seat at the table. Heads are glued downward, fixated on the technology before them. And sure, we all spend some part of our day behind pixilated walls. However, many fail to see that a real world exists beyond them. Today, did you notice the homeless man sitting on the sidewalk? How about elderly Mrs. Jones, the lady next door, panting out breath from the walk to her mailbox? Did you notice, and if so, what did you do to help?

Community engagement is the most powerful medicine against the plague of inaction infecting today’s youth. It is a vaccine, renewing my belief that what I do is important. Tutoring third graders and running a can drive may seem like a drag, but I’m making a difference. 

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Power off, and take a look at the world. Why retreat behind the touch screen of your device when you can take a stand and get involved? Knowledge is power and action is change.

I’ve seen the power of change in my own community. Each year, the Center for Family Justice and the Trumbull Rotary Club, as well several other local organizations, come together and raise awareness about domestic violence through The Clothesline Project. 

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Every October when the project runs, individuals decorate t-shirts to express their thoughts and emotions about domestic violence. The shirts are then hung between the trees on the library green, for the entire town to see as they drive by. While subtle, these colored shirts are a vehicle for awareness and change, strengthening our community.

This past year, I realized the same model could be applied within the walls of my high school. Our school’s Interact Club organized its own clothesline, having students decorate t-shirts to highlight the issues of bullying and violence. 

This student-made clothesline was pinned high on the cafeteria wall, gathering much more attention than the unsightly bricks ever did. Over lunch, students would discuss the shirts on the wall, embracing their messages. A new mood had overcome the student body, and it was all because of some shirts on a string. Mission accomplished.

It is a common misconception that community service has to be difficult or time consuming. Sometimes, the simplest projects have the greatest impact. When I volunteer locally and organize service projects, I do not try to save the world. Rather, I aim to positively impact several lives, and let the change they feel ripple outward. In one way or another, everyone has been touched by the works of a local community leader. It is only right that we pay it forward and serve as beacons for change ourselves. 

My advice: reboot and put down those flashy screens. What’s stopping you?

[Note: This is not the article where you should vote for this contestant. This is essayist No. 9, so in the voting article, which is here, just post a comment that says ‘9' to vote for this student. Voting is limited to one person per finalist per day, and closes at 11:59 p.m. on May 18.] 


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