Alternative Service Break Program Analysis

It is also a “boundary spanning” activity in that it requires active involvement from people both within and outside of the classroom context, often resulting in participant contributors who represent a variety of generations, ethnicities, social groups, and experience levels (Billig and Furco, 2002, p.vii). Service-learning is designed to reduce the boundaries between an institutional campus environment and the community around it. It is designed to connect learning to real experience through service and reflection (Ball and Schilling, 2006; Becker, 2000). As a baseline to facilitate this development, service-learning is distinct from other types of community service and civic engagement experiences in that the service-learning experience must not only have a service and reflective component but also be clearly tied to the curriculum through learning objectives and theoretical underpinnings (Bloomquist, 2015; Pritchard, 2001). As Barbara Holland, former Director of the U.S. National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, shared, “Service-learning is all in the hyphen. It is the enrichment of specific learning goals through structured community service opportunities that respond to community-identified needs and opportunities.” (Kenworthy-U’Ren, Taylor, and Petri, 2006: 121).

Last May, I traveled with Alternative Breaks to New York for community service. During this service, I worked with Meals on Wheels who dedicate their time to provide food for the elderly of Manhattan. As I delivered the food to the seniors, I got a sense of fulfillment because I made them smile by providing them with food. Thus, I chose MDC’s Single Stop because I wanted to make a difference in my home campus by providing and assuring nourishment to those that do not have it just like I did in New York. As my first two years of college comes to an end, I wanted to leave a mark of my own here at home at Miami Dade College North Campus. During the month of September, I decided to partner up with a few of my peers to serve at MDC’s Single Stop.

Taking time to volunteer at the many nonprofit organizations, homeless shelters, advocacy centers, philanthropic fundraisers, local schools and child care facilities in the inner city is not always at the forefront of young people’s minds while navigating through their college experiences. But, with a little push from student organizations, local nonprofits and passionate individuals, volunteerism and community change can start to take a front seat and become not just an opportunity, but also a priority in the lives of young people.

In order to graduate from Tulane, one must first complete a service learning course and give back to the New Orleans community. Through my own life, I have tried to find ways to give to my community by tutoring, volunteering, and being a friend, but at Tulane, I could expand my efforts greatly. Facilitating in a middle school outreach program, working with a group of students to revitalize decrepant areas of New Orleans, and researching ways to improve how one can most effectively give back to its community are all opportunities that I could envision myself doing at Tulane University. Peaking my interest even further, Tulane Community Service Fellows is program specifically for students, such as myself, who are interested in benefiting their community in substantial

Another need on our campus is the need for students to have volunteering opportunities available to them. Our campus is located in a high socio-economic community where students are blessed to be very privileged. Unfortunately, students are often very self-centered and don’t think of others who may have less opportunities. By developing a program that always students to leave the campus to use the skills they are learning in the classroom, students will become more connected to the community and less focused on themselves.

Since the 1990s, service-learning and volunteerism have become pervasive throughout higher education. Many campuses now have a center for civic engagement and have hired service-learning coordinators. Large organizations and initiatives have dedicated themselves to promoting and enhancing engagement research and practices. We even have engaged campus awards and designations at the national and state level. Civic engagement is a professional field of study and practice and it is our best hope for bringing in a discussion about sense of community.

Hopkinsville is a small town where schools and churches spin a web of contacts in which natives can find one another by tugging on the correct thread. The intimate nature between my school and the community provides me with worthy yet insular opportunities to volunteer, such as collecting for canned food drives, serving at school fundraisers, and working sports concessions. However, I prefer volunteer work that is continuous, serves the community at large, and satisfies my desire to learn and teach. Discovering such a position outside the well-worn paths was exacting. After searching through various community organizations, I found my solution in the Boys and Girls Club of Hopkinsville. There, I could satisfy my interest in teaching and serving my community, while pushing the edges of my comfort zone.

Author Yvette Boysen writes about the President’s Community Engagement Honor Roll initiative created by the Agnes Scott College, that recognizes volunteers on several different levels. JLP Prince, director of community engagement, suggest that if schools recognize volunteers and their service hours in the same manner they acknowledge those with high grade point averages, students will be more inclined to civically engage within their community. He provides several examples of what constitutes volunteer hours from group service projects to community-based research projects to internships with nonprofits or government agencies. Such a creative tactic developed by the university sheds a positive light on both the core values of the campus and

In 2013 Nazareth College located in Rochester, NY was awarded the Presidential Award for Community Service, based largely on an innovative education summer program for urban youth that included service-learning classes. In the same year this program was terminated and service-learning faculty had to advocate in order to maintain a director level for the Center for Service Learning. These paradoxical events indicate the ongoing opportunities and challenges for institutionalizing engaged learning, service, and scholarship at tuition-driven institutions. The case highlights strategic

I have continually strived to be a role model for my siblings, a good classmate, a leader, a loyal teammate, and committed community volunteer. As I prepare to graduate high school and enter the next phase of my life, I know I must continue to develop my personal characteristics in order to be a respected professional. I believe attending a service academy is not only an excellent avenue towards my educational pursuits

Throughout the course of my youth, I have been transfixed by the overwhelming urge to decipher the way others feel- continuously attempting to better the lives of those around me all the while bettering myself in the process. I have embraced this calling through my work in several public service organizations, most notably Children’s Trust and Health Initiative Project. Accordingly, FSU’s community of service oriented individuals greatly appeals to me.

Service learning helps me prepare for college with developing the traits of social involvement with others, organization, a consistently good behavior, and global awareness. These themes are commonly shown throughout 6 different articles involving service learning.

Life is filled with different types of experiences that enhance the growth of an individual. One particular life experience that have impacted me both positively and negatively was the year when I was selected as Single Service Chair for University of Nevada Circle K International. It is my duty to planned and executed one single service project that would impact the club as well as the community. It was a challenging position, but the skills that I gained are crucial to my development as a leader and as an active citizen. Since service was the main element focus, I was able to build on the previous service events that I have participated and expand it to a more ‘civil engagement’ approach. For the service event, I wanted to give a chance

I learned that the Compact service corps administers money towards students’ educations in exchange for community service. In addition, they also associate students with community agencies and volunteer opportunities. Since volunteer opportunities are an aspect of these resources that I want to focus on, this program stands out as one of the top priorities to start to get correlated with.

Although Tulane may be famous for its experience-centered culture, it is also famous for a far more important culture: one of community engagement. Having had both academic and professional experience in community service, it is eye-opening as a student to realize the service possibilities that arise out of attending a school like Tulane. Not only has the university placed such a large emphasis on public service, but has also made community engagement a core requirement of the undergraduate curriculum. The Center for Public Service, practically the first organization of its kind on the modern college campus, enables students to connect their Tulane education with its practical impacts in public