The Value of Public Service

Parents are often surprised that public service plays such a large role in the post-graduate success of their young people. It is the close second to academics in attracting college scholarship money. It is a vital element of building a network for entrepreneurship and post-graduate work; the business you helped will be happy to help you and when they need an employee or free-lance consultant, you will be tops on their list. Public service is also one of the most important stimulants to developing compassion and maturity. And, if you are looking for positive peers for your teens, the other young people who engage in public service become a social network of extraordinary vigor, usefulness and delight.

Yet public service is not well understood by most families. We don’t sit around the soccer field discussing service opportunities like we discuss employment opportunities or college entrance exams, but service will benefit our teens far more than either of those. Most of us just don’t know what public service could look like on a teenager.

The Power of Young Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs serve their communities in another way.  Young people who start their own businesses while in high school learn that they never have to wait for someone else to give them a job. They will never be the ones taking a welfare handout or lining up for a government bailout. They develop the habit of seeing what needs to be done. The enthusiasm and vigor of young people bring a refreshing energy and high sense of ethical idealism to the marketplace. Not only are these young people the ones paying for their own extras as teens, but they are often the people making opportunities for others to make money.

The teen years are the ideal time for a young person to learn what it takes to be his own boss. During the course of starting a business, young people usually begin to develop the professional mentors and network connections that they will continue to  mine throughout their adult work life.  Young men are able to experiment with innovative business models and ground-breaking product ideas without worrying that wives and children will be injured if the innovations fail.Young women can establish a reputation and clientele for a home-based industry before they will interfere with family concerns. Scholarship committees, employers, and potential business connections sit up and take notice when a young person has taken the initiative to start her own enterprise. Teen entrepreneurship is the next best thing to being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

The Carpe Diem Cadre

Countdown to College will recognize teens who either become business innovators or who provide significant service to their communities as members of the Carpe Diem Cadre. “Carpe Diem” is Latin for “Seize the Day”, and we would like to honor those young people who don’t’ wait for some magic age to begin taking up their places as contributors to their world. We will tell their stories on this blog, and award a graphic for them to post on their own websites, digital signatures, Facebook Flair boards, etc. They will receive a FREE copy of the new audio CD, Resume Development for the Real World, and when Countdown to College comes to their areas, the Carpe Diem Cadre will be invited to attend the workshop for free and to speak about their service during the seminar!

Get Involved!

If you know a teen who engages in extraordinary entrepreneurial interests or public service, nominate him or her for the Carpe Diem Cadre. Click  here or on the Carpe Diem Cadre button on the sidebar for a nomination form and instructions. We’d love to hear from you!