When Nick McGraw, EMgt’15, launched his YouTube channel, Nick’s Perspective, he pledged to do one hour of community service for each subscriber to
his channel.

Over the next six months, McGraw completed hundreds of service hours — all while producing more videos, many of which focus on volunteerism.

“I make a video every day about something that’s important to me,” he says. “The goal of every video I make is to allow anyone to feel like they were actually there and hopefully inspire them to try out an event on their own.”

McGraw, who had spent over 400 hours doing service prior to his YouTube commitment, decided to intertwine his volunteer activities with his love of video production.

“Originally, I saw my service and my YouTube channel as two separate endeavors,” he says. “I decided to merge them because the more relevant helping others and spreading positivity is to the viewers, the more likely someone is
to do it.”

McGraw has given back to his community through countless service events, from working with Habitat for Humanity to cleaning city parks. But his favorite service activities are the ones where he gets to interact with strangers.

“Being able to tell a stranger that whatever they’re going through will be okay can make a huge difference,” he says. “Helping others and spreading positivity is addicting.”

Since there may come a time when McGraw can’t keep up with the number of subscribers, he says he has a bigger plan.

“I will never stop my volunteering efforts, but there is no limit to the possible subscribers the channel could gain,” he says. “Given my lack of immortality, the goal is to inspire and recruit others to make videos about their volunteer efforts.”

Check out Nick’s YouTube channel at rol.la/NicksPerspective.