Seniors should not have more service hours then freshmen. Without a question, those students in their last year of high school  should be rewarded with the fewest amount of required service hours.

Seniors have had three years of previous service hours. Each year the requirement increases. I would think it should be the other way around, considering the different levels of curriculum throughout the grade levels.

Seniors already have enough stress on their plates. They have to fill out applications for college, visit those colleges and then make a decision on where they want to go for the next chapter of their life. Another important part about college is waiting to get accepted and then fill out forms for certain scholarships and their FASFA. Seniors stress over whether they will get into the college of their dreams or go to their second or third choice or even get stuck going to Purdue.

I have experienced this myself as I still have not gotten accepted into my dream college. I wait every day for an email or letter in the mail, and picking up trash, painting a wall or serving food to the homeless — all worthy events, but events that I already have experienced — are not at the top of my list. Service hours add a component of stress that I am the fellow members of the Class of 2017, as well as future Senior Classes, simply do not need.

Colleges love when high schools students challenge themselves. That is why many seniors enroll in AP or IB classes senior year. These classes are college level courses that could result in college credit. The curriculum for these courses are demanding. The freshman curriculum is less challenging than that of the seniors. Every year in high school the classes have gotten more difficult and the stress levels rise. I remember thinking as a sophomore how easy senior year would be and much spare time I would have. Wrong. Senioritis is real.

Once accepted into college during the first semester, many seniors start to lose focus, and service hours are put off due to this. That being said, why give the upperclassmen more hours when they will just blow them off?

The increased service hours requirement also is a challenge for varsity athletes. Most underclassmen do not play a major role on a varsity team, but this is not the case by senior year. Seniors involved in sports usually practice every day after school and often compete on the weekends. The only day left is Sunday, and that should be for family, not for service hours. Freshman and JV sports are competitive, too, but not as much as at the varsity level, therefore leaving more time for community service for those athletes.

Service should be from the heart and not forced upon us. Seniors are getting ready to leave home and go out to the real world. Underclassmen have more time to complete more service hours, and each class’s requirement should reflect this fact.