It's 8:45 in the morning and you have to get to your Psychology 101 class at 9. You managed to get up in time to stop by the Front Room for a quick breakfast of one of those tasty blueberry muffins and a double mocha latte. A traditional start to an average day. The only missing piece is the day's edition of The Post. You grab your copy, hike halfway across campus to Morton 201, plop yourself in an empty chair and wait for the herd to arrive for class.

With the few free minutes you have before class, you devour your muffin and flip through the paper. You glance at the world news, but something else catches your eye: an ad in the bottom corner of the page. It reads:

Free! Free! Free! Free!

A GUARANTEED life-changing experience!

A chance to travel and see the world!

Laughing and smiling totally permissible!

Friends are welcome, significant others, too!

Gain valuable skills! Build your resume!

No experience is required!

Everyone is eligible! No purchase necessary!

For more information call 593-4007 or stop by Baker Center 033.

Free! Free! Free! Free!

Wow, you think to yourself, a pretty incredible offer, and it's all free, too. You wonder what it could be that could make such lofty promises. It's not every day you have an opportunity to travel and see the world and bring your friends, too.

You recognize some of your fellow classmates sitting around you, all reading the paper, and you swear you all are looking at the same thing. You hate the idea of missing class, but this all seems too good to be true, so you decide you better check it out before half the campus beats you to it.

After you hike back up Morton Hill and across College Green, you find yourself approaching the door of Baker 033. When you arrive, you find yourself standing in the doorway of one of the best-kept secrets on campus - the Center for Community Service.

By now you realize what the ad is all about. You realize that what is free, available to everyone, offers a chance to see the world, provides great opportunity to gain skills, builds your resume and is a life-changing experience, is service. You had never thought about all of the things you will get from helping others, but rather all the things it will require of you.

You had never really been involved in service, except for that one time in grade school when you brought in some canned goods for a food drive. Why hadn't you gotten involved in service anyway? A few of your friends are doing it and they always tell you how much they enjoy it. One tutors third-graders at Athens Elementary in reading and another volunteers at the animal shelter. It's not like you don't have the time. You are beginning to feel a little guilty about being able to tune into Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and Another World every afternoon. You don't need to watch that much television, you think to yourself, plus you could always tape it.

As you stand outside the center, grappling with the idea of actually going inside, you see a poster on the wall that declares April 18 to April 24 National Volunteer Week. This is it, you think to yourself, the perfect time to get involved. You look down at the newspaper in your hand and make your way into the office. A young woman sits at the desk and with a smile greets you, "Welcome to the Center for Community Service. I'm glad you decided to get involved."

Cunningham can be reached at ac302298. The Center for Community Service is located in Room 033, Baker Center.

Turnstiles are written by OU staff, students and Athens community members. They should be about 700 words, typed and double spaced. You may submit them to Sarah Wigdalski at The Post or send them by email to post@oak.cats.ohiou.edu.