preview

A Reflection on Service Learning: Working at Easter Seals Child Care

Better Essays
Open Document

Monads Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Before this experience, I did not understand this quote; however, now I understand this whole-heartedly. The first time I heard about service learning at Saint Anselm College was when I took a tour in my Junior year in high school. As the tour guide was explaining what service learning was, it immediately sparked my interest. As a student, I learn better in a more hands-on atmosphere, and this experience seemed perfect for me. After arriving at Saint Anselm College and being offered to participate in service, I definitely knew that it was something that I wanted to participate in. I feel very fortunate to have had this experience, and …show more content…

I expected the work to be challenging and I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect and didn’t know what types of families the children would be coming from. I was also fearful of offending any of the children or parents, and wanted to make sure that I was respectful and understanding of the situation I was being placed in. All of these emotions were occurring the morning that I went for my first day of volunteering; however, as soon as I met the fifteen beautiful children, my fears turned into excitement to get to know each and every one of them. Before beginning my experience at Easter Seals Child Care, I was fearful, nervous and excited. After attending the service learning meeting, and hearing some of the stories that students had experienced at their sites, I was apprehensive and intimidating about the whole experience; however, once I became comfortable in the classroom, all of my fears and nerves disappeared. The first day I entered the classroom, the teacher that I was volunteering for, Miss Kelly, seemed intimidating and did not give me much direction as to what my duties were, so I had to go up to the children and introduce myself on my own which was very nerve-racking. Also, I was fearful that the parents may not like that I was playing with their children; however, the only experience I had with a parent was when they thought I was the teacher. A mother came up to me as I was making clay sculptures with three little girls and questioned,

Get Access