Non nobis solum … As a newcomer to the LCC community, a few short weeks ago those words were nothing but latin to me.
On the 20th September, myself and several of my Pre-University classmates took part in a walk for the Farha Foundation to raise money for the prevention and treatment of AIDS; a vicious incurable disease, sweeping through Africa and many parts of the developed word.
The fight against AIDS has always been of interest to me. As an incurable disease that affects the entire world, it represents, in my opinion, one of the greatest challenges that mankind has to face in the modern day.
The day was sunny, and the walk was calm and pleasant. I was surprised to find that many of my Grade 12 ‘fellows’ had already completed their obligatory community service hours, going as much as 25 hours above the call of duty.
It occurred to me at that point that the value of mandatory community service is not in the immediate value it has for society, but in the values it promotes in the individual. To give a student a sense that it is important to help others for no direct personal gain is not only good for his/her social development, but also good for society as a whole in the long term, as the amount that he/she will eventually contribute to society will far dwarf the 20 hours of service spent over one year. By pushing students to help others, it seemed to me more that LCC was encouraging them to help themselves.
Leon Dunkley-Clark (Pre-U ’10)
Very nice blog. As newcomers to LCC ourselves we are trying to find out the true meaning of those latin words you mentioned. With a 7 year old boy in 2nd grade who barely knows how to skate it would be nice for a grade 9 or above to teach our son how to skate as part of their community service & as a mentor/mentee type of relationship (a hockey player would definitely make his day). Since we are new to Montreal & we have never experienced winters like these, all winter sports are new to us.
It’s nice to hear that children are being taught to care for others and not only for themselves.
Keep up the good work!