Traditionally, members of The National Honor Society (NHS) have been viewed by colleges as students who would excel. Many students enjoy the various opportunities and activities membership in NHS provides. Membership in the organization is not easy to achieve. In addition to rigorous standards for membership eligibility, once a member, students are required to complete numerous volunteer hours.
The National Honor society is an organization inside of multiple high schools. Its influence on how colleges look at students is significant. The adviser of the Pine Creek chapter of National Honor Society (NHS), Heather Scott, said that colleges have been looking for students who have leadership experience and are able to show commitment to their work. “A lot of [colleges] have started to look at leadership, service and scholarship in different ways and National Honor Society allows students to show that they are committed to their community and that they are willing to step up and be leaders as well,” Scott said.
Although other organizations encourage volunteerism, the National Honor Society requires a minimum of 35 volunteer hours in school or charities. “For the National Honor Society, students have to complete a total of 35 hours so it’s a lot bigger commitment,” said Scott. Nevertheless, this year has seen the biggest number of applications to the Pine Creek National Honor Society, well over 200. “Every year we usually have around 200 applicants. This year, we had our largest application group. We had over 240 applicants,” said Scott.
Students who join the NHS find the experience to be rewarding. Sonia Florek (12), one of the NHS officers, thinks it’s fun and a great way to be a part of the community. “I joined National Honor Society, because I value giving back to my community and I think being a part of NHS gives me and also incoming juniors the opportunity to volunteer and give back,” said Florek.
Gus Engel (12), another NHS officer, said that volunteering isn’t that fun, but the benefits of volunteering are worth it. “You get to do a lot of community service, which may not be the most fun thing at the moment, but it’s definitely rewarding in the end. And then again, it looks good on college applications,” said Engel.
While some members join to get looked at by colleges, Sadie Peroulas (12), said that she joined because she had done a junior version in middle school and liked it. “I joined NJHS which is like the junior version back in middle school and I was the president of that. I really liked volunteering, so then I decided to try it out in high school. It’s a good way to have volunteering opportunities,” said Peroulas.
