The University of Kisubi has challenged its 2026 freshmen to look beyond earning a degree and begin thinking about how their education can be used to serve others and create positive change in society.
During a Service Learning orientation session, the new students were invited to reflect on a simple but important question: If two graduates have the same degree, what makes one stand out?
The answer was not simply academic performance. The students were encouraged to see service as an important part of what makes a graduate different—someone who can take knowledge beyond the classroom and apply it to real challenges in the community.
The session introduced freshmen to Service Learning as a way of connecting classroom knowledge with community needs. Rather than viewing university as a place where students simply acquire qualifications for themselves, they were challenged to see the University as part of the wider community, with a responsibility to contribute to solving the problems around it.
“Who benefits from your education besides you?” was one of the questions posed to the students, reinforcing the idea that education has a wider purpose.
The freshmen were also challenged to identify problems within their own communities that concern them. From water and environmental challenges to social and economic concerns, students were encouraged to recognise that many of the problems facing society require young people who are willing to step forward, organise others and take action.
For many of the new students, Service Learning also offers an opportunity to build relationships. University life can be a time of uncertainty as students adjust to a new environment and make new friends. Working together around a shared community cause, however, can create stronger connections and a sense of purpose. As the presentation noted, people often bond faster when they work together for a common cause.
The students were further reminded that leadership does not begin with holding an official position. It begins with recognising a problem, mobilising others, taking action and creating positive change. In that sense, every community service project can become a practical leadership laboratory where students learn by doing.
Through volunteering and community engagement, students can also gain confidence, public speaking skills, networking opportunities, references and recommendations, career direction and personal fulfilment. For some, engagement with communities may even help them discover a career passion that they had not previously considered.
The challenge to the freshmen was therefore to consider what kind of university experience they want to have. Will they spend their years at university simply consuming opportunities, or will they also create opportunities for others?
As they begin their journey at the University of Kisubi, the students were reminded that education is ultimately about more than personal success. It is about becoming useful.
“Education is not only about becoming successful. It is about becoming useful. The measure of a good university graduate is not simply what they know, but how they use what they know to serve others.”
