Doing Service During the Summer

Being members of CKI, we are all addicted to service. We can all see that by the thousands of hours of service that we all put in every year. With the school year coming to a close, we all have two words on our minds: SUMMER VACATION. For many of us, that involves being hundreds or even thousands of miles away from our campus where we do service. Even though we are away from the place we know and love to do service, that does not mean that we have to stop doing service. Here are some great ways to stay involved during the summer.

One way that will work for the first part of the summer is to find a CKI club where you are during the summer and do service with them. This will only work if that school is not out for the year. It would be amazing if this happened, and it would allow CKIers from different schools to meet!

You can also find a local Kiwanis club and attend some of their service projects. Kiwanians always love to hear about CKI, and there is no better way than to do service with them. In fact, I am going to be helping out a local Kiwanis club this summer with their fireworks stand they put on every year.

A third option if you are near your school is to organize a summer project and let all of your members know. There may still be members around campus during the summer, and this would be a great way to interact during the summer.

Don't forget, there is LSSP and the blood drive before ICON to get that little dose of service. Yes this is a plug, but a worthy one none the less.

No matter where you are this summer, find some people and do some service. I just gave you a few ideas on how to go about this, but there are obviously many more ideas you can take advantage of to do service this summer. Just remember one word over the summer: SERVICE.

Written By: Cale Middleton

If Only I Knew: Key to College

I have several days left till my graduation from college. I would have to say that this as been one of the best times in my life. Not only did I receive a higher education but I also learned about new studying habits, management, budgeting, and cultural diversity. Luckily, I have an older sister who taught me most of this so I didn’t have to worry too much about my transition from high school to college. However, not many newly high school grads have that same resource as I did and would most of the time have to experience it the hard way: actually being IN college. And I’m sure you have experienced that sometime of your college life, thinking…man, I wish I knew about this before. Making the lives of future college freshmen easier and more knowledgeable, Circle K International has designed a program to help with the transition from high school to college called Key to College.
Key to College was created to help mentor and advice high schoolers about college. The program doesn’t just target high school seniors but also those students who are interested in going to college afterwards. Additionally, students don’t have to be part of Key Club to attend.
Through this program, Circle Kers give high school students an insight about college. We can tell them about a normal day in school and can advice them about how to time manage studying and fun. We can also provide tips such as what to expect living in a dorm, how to schedule for classes, and how to study. Not only is this program aimed to inform what is coming ahead but also to help get into college. Circle Kers can help explain the application process and provide hints to make a great application.
Overall, Key to College is a great program to help prepare high schoolers for college as well as encourage them to continue working hard to get in. Talk to your CKI club about setting one up in your area! On the international website, we have resources to help you out, which include a pre-made flier and Powerpoint presentation, but you are more than welcome to create the program your own way. So let’s help out those high schoolers get into college, and maybe…just maybe, tell them to join Circle K International as well ;).

Written By: Melissa Kong