My eyes followed the pendulum as it barreled lazily across the entryway like it had done every day since I could remember. Its faded gold still glinted brightly in the afternoon light even as the sun disappeared behind a puffy cloud. The pendulum, being enormous in size and a prominent feature of the palace, was just one of the few signs of how our world really works underneath the natural facade that was created so long ago. The whoosh of the air felt cool in the warmth of the day as the contraption counted yet another second of our lives gone and passed. The gears clunked slightly as a minute floated by and as the piece swung towards a second minute I heard the first series of shouts. I rose from my seated position against the wall and listened intently for any sign as to why they let out such cries and surely I heard it. The eery grown of metal on metal as the hinged muzzle first appeared around the corner. Frozen, I stood and gaped in fear at the one thing that truly scared people who resided in the castle such as myself. A hulking body connected to the muzzle followed suit and in a couple shuffling steps the beast had fully rounded the corner and locked me in its sights. It assessed me as I gawked at it. The body structure was that of a canine with powerful legs and claws of serrated steel topped off with teeth that could shred a full grown tree to sawdust in the mere seconds that the pendulum slowly ticked away. One enormous paw inched forward as the monster lowered itself into a stance meant to carry it off its feet and onto me. A low grating noise tore from its throat as the gears inside the body locked and prepared to release into a pounce. At that moment my heart began to beat again with the extra punch of adrenaline that kicked in just as the gears and springs in the creature's body released, catapulting itself at me. My feet carried me underneath the large projectile barely scraping my back as I ducked away and shot down the corridor not daring to look back. The ear splitting shriek it let out followed me as it realized it's failed attempt and the whine of its gears became louder with each stride it took carrying it back in my direction. My breath came fast as the hunt moved deeper inside the palace walls. A safe room for these kinds of attacks was close enough for me to get to but the beast gained on me with every bound. I skidded around several corners nearly knocking myself flat but the animal followed suit flying into the opposite walls on account of slower reflexes. My heart nearly exploding, I rounded the final corner and with the safe room in sight, sped up till my legs pumped at their max but no matter my speed, the beast was faster. The shrill screech of the gears now rang in my head as I reached the passage. I punched in the code and slipped inside when the door whirred open just enough then jabbed the button to close it. Through the slit in the doorway I barely made out glowing golden eyes and steel claws just before the door thudded closed. Not a second later, the sound of crashing metal sounded from the other side then I was enveloped in silence and I was safe.

The dictionary definition for the term “bleeding heart” (in reference to humans) is “a person who makes an ostentatious or excessive display of pity or concern for others”. It is common for people to refer to themselves or others as having a bleeding heart but it seems increasingly rarer for people to act on this characteristic. There are thousands of charities and organizations just waiting for volunteers to take action, but many times, the only way a student would do community service is if they are forced because they may not see the good that it can incite for both them and others. If high schools could enforce 60 hours of community service, it could drastically change how most students view helping others.

Making 60 hours of community service a requirement for graduation from high school could help students plow over many “roadblocks” on their journey through life such as social interaction. So many teenagers today aren’t quite so fluent in both the silent and verbal interactions that take place every day. This could prohibit them from being able to work as a team for a common goal, sufficiently communicating to present thoughts, ideas, and feelings, and making important decisions that could affect more than one person. Doing community service could provide students with the opportunity to sharpen these necessary skills to make it through daily life and feel successful about the decisions they made.

Our world is filled with various, extremely unfortunate, circumstances that occur every single day. For instance, homelessness, trauma, disability, poverty, even animal abuse. For most people, this is just something that they hear about but never see so they can’t possibly grasp the idea of just how greatly these situations affect others. Encouraging students to volunteer with outreaching organizations could result in growing feelings of compassion and understanding for others. This may spur them to be slower to judge others by what they can only see and instead look for the facts or details. In turn, they could gain compassion and make community service a lifelong habit.

One final effect of doing community service, would be that students could develop a sense of accomplishment in themselves. Being able to help others and know that they are doing something right could very greatly improve a person’s sense of self worth. To be able to see the joy on another’s face because of something that they did could be extremely beneficial to a person’s emotional and mental health. This would be very helpful seeing as our society’s mental and emotional health seem to be declining ever so slowly. After all, a society built on sound minds could only be more beneficial to the health and well-being of the whole.

Making community service mandatory for graduation could have so many benefits not only for the students performing it but the others that it is done for. It could have good short term and long term effects and overall, result in a healthier community.

This last winter break was one of the better ones that I’ve ever had. It was a little boring though for much of the time being stuck inside our house with four other kids (occasionally more than that). Like all siblings we fought and yelled and kicked and bit and punched, but we also had more time together than we’ve had in a while. Thanks to the winter weather, nobody could really leave so we spent our time watching horror movies huddled on the couch and just talking about nothing special. The few things we did do, though, made up for whatever boredom we suffered. I got to go to the FBLA Christmas Party where we all hung out just as friends having a really good time. Later in the break I went Christmas shopping for my family with my mom, and two of my brothers. I got my twin, who is a major outdoors dweeb, a small hatchet, some matches, a match container, and some tablets that you throw in a fire and they burn crazy colors for up to thirty minutes. Needless to say, he loved it! On Christmas, I wasn’t so surprised to see that I got a lava lamp from my siblings (they really can’t keep secrets).Christmas day, we went over to our grandparents’ house and spent the day with family and had a great meal. We finally went home, and after playing with our new presents and gadgets, we settled down to watch our new movies and take naps. Over the course of the break, I got to go to church several times and even had a duet with a friend in the Christmas play. I was sooo nervous! Shortly after Christmas, my mom finally took me to the DMV and I got my lisence! Man, I was so excited to make it official when I got home that I just drove around the neighborhood because my mom didn’t need anything from the store. I did get to drive to Marvin’s a few days later though. Overall, this last winter break was one of tradition and change and the product of a year that was both revolutionary and boringly typical for the members of my family and the people around us. It had it’s highs and lows, happy and sad times, and failures and success. It was just like any other but one of a kind.