Community Service Reflection

Civics is a Grade 10 course where students learn about our political system, how public decisions are made, and the entitled rights and responsibility for a citizen who legally belongs to a country. In a course like civics, students critically investigate local, national, and worldwide issues with a political perspective. One aspect of the curriculum is personal action on civic issues, by which means students are to analyze a civic issue and develop an action plan to address it. Through this, our class worked with an organization named DILA (A Day of Information for a Lifetime of Action), an organization that aims towards engaging youth in Ottawa by encouraging hands-on engagement in their communities, addressing civic issues that individuals are passionate towards, and to increase the importance of the democratic decision-making process. A DILA project main objective is to simply empower the young millennials, by giving them a chance to let their ideas, imagination, and voice shine.

Since I decided to bring my case into the light, Leadership and Student Council has become more welcoming to students of diverse backgrounds. After Executive and Class officers went through mini-courses about what prejudice and discrimination looked like in the workplace, my presence in the class became more accepted. Likewise, the tension has now diminished between the officers and I, and we now work together on various school projects such as the Honor Flight, assemblies, Homecoming Week, and Diversity Week.

Many think that community service is just something you are forced to do for school. To me, community service is a way of giving back. I like making people feel as though they matter, and it gives me a warm feeling at the end of the day because I feel I have made a difference. I grow as a person each time I do community service. Some people do community service because they have to, but I do it because I want to. I have volunteered about 52 hours of community service in the READ program at a local elementary school on east 3rd street and ave S.

According to Kathleen Flecky and Lynn Gitlow, service-learning is defined as, “learning that occurs in experiences, reflection, and civic engagement” (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011). In recent years more universities are implementing service learning into their curriculum. A key concept of service learning is civic responsibility. Civic responsibility can simply be defined as your responsibilities as a citizen. As will be shown later in this paper, service learning can have many benefits not only to a student, but also to the community members

As a prospective scholar, I wish to adhere to the definition of the Shawn Carter Foundation’s core philosophy of service. Through activities of service within the school and community, I have began the foundation of the inspirational person I dreamt of becoming. Being actively involved has granted me with the image of a dedicated and caring individual, and also a service-oriented leader.

Community service is a voluntary work that its primary focus is to provide back to the society and working to help and uplift a positive community. This community service course gives students the opportunity to acquire life skills and knowledge, as well as provide a service to those who need it most in the community in which it builds a relationship between us the students and the community. The main aim of this community service course is to make students not to forget or neglect the community that is around them and show or teach them how to respect what it is they have and appreciate life as well as view life from a different angel from other people’s perspectives of which is their normal everyday life. I got the joy to work with Total Rehab Center which is located at Kasarani in Nairobi County. Total Rehab is a non-profitable community based organization registered with the ministry of sports activities, gender, culture and social services. It specifically focuses on enhancing the welfare of disabled kids with intellectual mental disabilities to achieve their optimum independence as they are integrated into the society. Total rehab mission is to empower disabled youngsters to most effective overall performance in their everyday activities via provision of great care and rehabilitation, where as its vision is to be a leading rehabilitative center that empowers disabled youngsters with vital skills and know-how that will enhance their quality of life.

For my biology related service learning, I performed two tasks to help out the community and still relate it to biology. For one of the tasks, I volunteered in Millbrae by picking up trash around the city for three hours. We started in Central Park and we worked our way all the way towards Mills High School. I did this activity with a fellow AP Biology student, Calla Yang. We took buckets for trash and bags for recycling and picked up any trash we saw around the city and made sure to separate according to trash and recycling. We uses the little alligator grabbing tools in order to effectively pick up the trash in a short amount of time. The grabbers helped to reach trash in bushes and in hard to reach spaces. My second biology related activity took place at a carnivorous plant nursery in Half Moon Bay, I participated here for fifteen hours because the person I participated with, Frances Claesson, had no hours so I stuck with her so she could get all of hers and I could roll my extra hours over into the second semester. At the plant nursery, we planted all types of different carnivorous plants, learned how each one functions, helped with maintenance around the green house, and how to clean up the look of plants. We usually took small plants that were either pitcher plants and sundews and transported them in four inch pots so they would be able to grow into their full and natural size. We had to make sure the roots stayed intact and that that soil

Don’t you hate it when you notice someone is going through a rough patch in their lives, and all you want to do is help, but don’t know how to help or if you even can help? Well, there is always a way to help someone, but it might be difficult, at first. There are several ways to help someone through a difficult patch in their lives, and all you need to do is talk to them. Talk to them and ask them what’s going on, and how you can help? At first, they might be oblivious about the fact that someone is trying to help them, but sooner or later, they will come around if they truly want help. Since starting this opioid unit, I have learned a great deal about my community and the people who live in it. As a result of my work in this unit, I have paid more attention to the crisis in Scioto County, and have wanted to find a way to help. Let’s start by explaining what my experience has been with this unit, so far.

I chose as my subject University of Cincinnati, the dining halls, the workers there, their personal communities, the interactions between the workers and the students. and lastly, I am interested in the workers that cross the bridge between worker and student and take advantage of the free classes. At first I was interested mostly in the interactions between students and workers. Every time i walk into a UC dining hall I am struck by the sense of community among the workers. Its so full of energy I always want to be apart of it. By observation I want to better understand what its like to belong to this specific community. Like all discourse communities, there is a common vernacular or dialogue, that I would like to understand a little more clearly. I want to learn more about it, and understand better the work life balance of this commune of labourers. And how UC helps to better the environment. Does UC take steps to make the environment comfortable and enjoyable, and do the employees enjoy their job? Because what the workers get out of their jobs directly affects the community in and around UC and Cincinnati at large. I learned more about the jobs and the university’s role in these peoples lives. I would like to see how the university helps to improve these workers lives. The university provides over 15,000 jobs to the Cincinnati area, and is one of the largest job providers as well. I am curious to see if there are any other benefits and improvements to the community

Don’t you hate it when you notice somebody is in a rough patch in their lives, and the only thing you desire is to help, but don’t know how to help or if you can help? Well, there’s always a way to help an individual, but it might be difficult, at first. There are several ways to help somebody through a difficult patch in their lives, and all you need to do is talk to them. Talk to them and ask them what’s going on, and how you can help? At first, they might be oblivious about the fact that a person is trying to help them, but sooner or later, they will come around if they truly desire help. Since starting this opiate unit, I have learned a great deal about my community and the people who live in it. As a result of my work in this unit, I have paid more attention to the crisis in Scioto County, and have desired to find a way to help. Let’s start by explaining what my experience has been with this unit, so far.

In 2014, while living in Bermuda, I attended a youth conference with my two sisters in Baltimore, Maryland. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and when we arrived back in Bermuda it was all we were able to talk about for weeks. So much so that our aunt thought it would be a great idea to host a youth conference on the island. When she got the approval for the conference to take place in 2015 she told me that she would need my help in organizing it and I obliged since I love to plan big events.

Don’t you hate it when you notice someone is in a rough patch in their lives, and all you want to do is help, but don’t know how to help or if you can help? Well, there’s always a way to help someone, but it might be difficult, at first. There are several ways to help someone through a difficult patch in their lives, and all you need to do is talk to them. Talk to them and ask them what’s going on, and how you can help? At first, they might be oblivious about the fact that someone is trying to help them, but sooner or later, they will come around if they truly want help. Since starting this opiate unit, I have learned a great deal about my community and the people who live in it. As a result of my work in this unit, I have paid more attention to the crisis in Scioto County, and have wanted to find a way to help. Let’s start by explaining what my experience has been with this unit, so far.

Saturday, October 7, 2017, from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm I volunteered with the organization Habitat for Humanity at NAZ. I was accompanied by six students from the group Blue Key Honor Society that morning, to the residence of a man whose home was in need of renovations and cleaning. Greg Webb from the organization Habitat for Humanity was the main coordinator of the event and he assigned each of us a job. Before beginning the service we received a detailed procedural description of what was to be done and how to go about doing it efficiently and securely. The tools and protective material we were to use, such as gloves and goggles were provided to us by Greg before beginning. To begin with, the first half of the service I was scraping off dry and damaged caulk from the exterior surroundings of the trailer home. I also helped Greg measure and cut boards to replace the flooring of the patio and steps leading up to the front door. The rest of my time in the service I helped two other students scrub and power wash the exterior surface of the home as a result of an accumulation of mold and algae over the years.

Imagine struggling to afford the ‘mandatory’ three meals you’re supposed to consume a day. It would be hard and stressful right? I met over one hundred hungry people that have to feel this emotion every day of their life, struggling to provide enough food to make a meal, fulfill their hunger, and stay healthy. On October 17th my senior year of high school I volunteered at a place called “Broad Street Ministry” a Christian based community church. They have many community service opportunities that you can get involved with. I helped with feeding the homeless or those who cannot afford to eat. A teacher at my high school introduced me to this opportunity and I took away a lot of memories I will cherish with this event.

On Wednesday October 10 2017, all Freshmen boarded buses to perform community service for the sick, elderly, children, Earth, and the environment. For Freshman service day, I went to the Children’s Discovery Museum. At the Museum, I helped prepare and create projects for the children to complete about la Día de los Muertos, of the day of the dead. In addition to helping with the crafts, I also helped to complete the new expanded garden in the back of the museum. However, when performing service it is important to keep in mind three fundamental aspects which make us human; how we can use our hands, head, and opening our hearts towards other.