Summer vacation:

A time to do nothing and yet everything at the same time.

A basketball lands like a cannonball in the swimming pool, drenched the beaming faces of kids as they play water basketball. Children and adults lounge outside, soaking up the sun and relaxing.

Summer vacation:

The time when school is but a distant memory; homework, finals, and the stress of SATs are all forgotten.

At Glen Rock High School, some students have summer plans to go to Spain, others to France, and yet others back to Argentina. No matter where they travel, many seem to be traversing the globe and escaping.

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But not everyone have extravagant plans to go travel the world. Some stay home, others go on road trips, while a select few just lay in bed all day enjoying the carefree atmosphere of summer.

And then there are the people who go out and help others with no pay in return. Some of these locations include: town pools, summer school programs, and internships at offices and at kid’s day camps.

Throughout the months of summer, students from all over volunteer during their summer vacation, for different reasons.

“I volunteer because I need hours for school and summer is the best time to do it since I have nothing else to do,” stated a student from Academy of Holy Angels.

During the school year the AHA student says she focuses more on school work, her sports, and music while during the summer she takes advantage of having no homework and uses her time to get hours.

“Of course I like being there to help out and do service for people, but if you asked me if [I’d] rather be at the pool or at the beach I would have to say yes.”

And this stands true for many teens volunteering who check their cell phones and smile sadly as friends post pictures of all the fun that is going on without them.

But it isn’t always like this; there are people much like Glen Rock High School student Libby Myones, who do their work because they want to.

“I like volunteering. It’s great to see others be happy because you helping them,” she smiles and shrugs as if there are no words to describe the feeling of gratitude felt by the people she helps.

“It’s a great feeling.”

The whole point of volunteering is to go out and help others, and that’s exactly what Libby and many other students do.

“I volunteer in soup kitchens and with kids… it makes me happy and feel great to be able to take away from my personal time and with kindness and happiness help others get through their day, because even a smile can make someone’s day,” said Libby Myones.