I teach at a school for audio engineering, and my areas of focus are film/television sound and certification for Pro Tools (an industry standard software). Community service in this field isn't easy to explain to students, as they all seem to think they're going to make the significant jump from student to multi-award winning sound editors/mixers by next week; the reality is that they need to create a client base, a work ethic, and beyond reading texts and manuals, get their hands dirty and make mistakes.
I consistenly tell them that they should be meeting film students who need sound work done for their final projects, find bourgeoning youtubers who need better sound, and offer to help those content creators with their projects. The unfortunate truth that so many students can't seem to understand is that the first few years of a career in sound (music, film, or games) is typically done for free. It's a learning tool for interaction with creators, the platforms (film, music, or video games), and the processes behind each of them.
All of that is to say, that's the closest parallel I can draw between my areas of instruction and the usefulness and benefit of service learning.
