“We have to think about the future and take our health into our own hands,” says Lauren Eldredge, an eighth-grade student on the Voyagers Team.
That’s why Lauren decided to spread awareness about cancer in the RCMS community. For her service hours project, she began writing an article composed of three main sections: Causes of Cancer, UV Radiation, and Sedentary Lifestyles.
In her project, Lauren explained that while some causes of cancer are not able to be avoided, actions we perform throughout the day might increase your risk of obtaining it. Spending too much time on screens and sitting down too long are some things that can cause cancer.
Radiation is one of the main causes of cancer, which is why it is important to take precautions. Radiation can be found in things we see everyday, such as gym lights, fluorescent lights, and the sun. One way to protect yourself from the radiation is to apply sunscreen throughout the day.
She also mentioned that a sedentary lifestyle, not being active enough throughout the day, is something that will increase your chances of getting cancer. It is for this reason that it is recommended by many medical professionals to go outside or join a sport.
“I felt guilty writing some sections of the article, I kinda wrote it like I was the perfect person, which I’m not,” says Lauren. “I don’t always wear sunscreen and I usually sit more than I stand. I am trying to change as well.”
Earlier in the school year, eighth-graders were introduced to the Service Hours Project, which required them to get 15 service hours. Seven of these hours would be acquired in their civics classes, but the remaining eight would need to be earned outside of school.
Ms. Daniela Goldstein, the Civics teacher of the Voyagers Team, believes that bringing awareness to impactful topics is necessary in society. She also explained that every citizen should take part in trying to impact society positively.
“Bringing awareness to relevant topics is important to being a good citizen,” says Ms. Goldstein. “It is the responsibility of citizens to care about the world around them and try to impact it in a positive way.
Eighth-graders were tasked with picking a category which would determine the types of service they would be completing. Lauren decided to choose the Health and Wellness category, which matched her future goals.
“I want to become a doctor when I am older,” says Lauren. “That’s why I chose Health and Wellness for my service hours category.”
Lauren spent numerous hours searching for service opportunities, but most organizations were hard to contact and had age restrictions. Lauren explained that she was frustrated to find that many of the organizations she reached out to contradicted the information that was on their websites.
“They all took a long time to reply. When they did, they contradicted what they originally said,” says Lauren. “After trying four different organizations, I decided to make a difference in our local school community instead.”
Since Lauren spent most of her time reaching out to different organizations, it was difficult trying to finish her new project in time. She ended up deciding to spread awareness on cancer, since cancer is currently on the rise.
“I had a bit of trouble really starting it, but once I began writing it was much easier,” explained Lauren. “I also never really planned on doing this project, so the late start kinda made it difficult.”
Getting a late start on her project was one hurdle, but researching also proved to be challenging. Lauren browsed through numerous trusted sources, but was faced with differing information.
“There was a lot of controversy between the different sites,” said Lauren. “Cancer research is still a fairly new topic so people will disagree on it a lot.”
Finally, after a month of hard work, Lauren was able to finish her service hours project.
“You don’t have to create anything,” she says, “encouraging people to be aware is enough. Really just talking about it will make all the difference.”
In addition to creating an article, Lauren also invested her time into creating two posters about cancer. These posters have been put up around the school, in hopes of getting people to change their habits.
“I spent a lot of time contacting teachers to get these posters up on the walls. I was starting to get worried that I wouldn’t be able to get them up before the service hours deadline, but I was luckily able to do it,” says Lauren. “I thought I wouldn’t get enough service hours with this project, but I was proved wrong.”
Ms. Goldstein shared that creating posters about cancer and sharing them with the school community was something that Lauren was passionate about. She also explained that doing so would influence other students to obtain healthier habits.
“Lauren cares deeply about society being more healthy,” says Ms. Goldstein, “By creating posters for students to see, she helps promote healthy habits.”
While obtaining service hours proved to be challenging, Lauren was successful in achieving her goal. She was able to get a lot more service hours than she had initially expected. She shared that having a comprehensive plan before starting was key and waiting until the last minute to start getting hours was a bad idea.
“Remember even the smallest changes can impact the future,” says Lauren.
Read Lauren’s article.
