By Josh Faber ’12, Staff Writer

Every summer dozens of rising juniors travel to Africa, Central and South America, or Asia for the express purpose of donating their time to those in need. They may spend thousands of dollars and weeks of time working in an exotic country, but in the end it all pays off with the sight of a few smiling children and a nice note on a college application.

One program, Global Leadership Adventures (GLA), takes students on an exciting trip to Tanzania where the teens teach English and Math while building playgrounds for their wards.  Of course the high schoolers also hike Mt. Kilimanjaro, go on a safari, and visit another five major destinations in 21 days. And the price tag? 4,395 dollars. In other words, the community service program is just a glorified vacation.

Although the students earn forty-five hours of community service, the huge sums of money could be better put to use just paying someone to work ten hours a day. Besides, if the children are so needy, why are only 45 hours committed to them in a three-week stay? The answer is simple: GLA does not build leadership; it builds a college application.

Even more troublesome, the better something like GLA looks on a college app, the fewer students serve their own country’s community. There are plenty of Native American reservations, urban centers, and even local schools that would greatly welcome and benefit from an eager high school junior. Unfortunately, the prestige of an abroad program is too enticing for nervous high school students looking to pump up their résumés. As a result, they enthusiastically head off to the opportunity (more like vacation) of a lifetime.

Read: What Makes Service Satisfying