Essay On Community Service Learning

For the fall semester, I have the privilege of being a community engagement intern for the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. My supervisor, Lateefah Williams—is the community engagement specialist whose main goal is to create a liaison with the Attorney General and the constituents of Washington D.C. As an intern, my main role is assisting Ms. Williams on programs that educate the constituents on issues that affect the community, administrative tasks, and the implementation of future events within the district. I started my internship towards the end of September for the sole purposes of comprehending the advocacy, awareness, and diligence that goes into building ties within the community.

I signed up to volunteer at a local nursing home. Because my father works there, I have been there many times before. However, volunteering there was very new to me.

What does community service means to me? Well, to me community service mean helping your community become a better place. When you do things for your neighborhood, it makes you feel like a better person. There are all sorts of activities you can do in your community. You can work with children at school, work with the elderly, or help people that are less fortunate and make their day very special. Community Service is very important because it gives you a chance to bond with the people in your neighborhood. It will also give you a chance to give back to your community , you’ll learn a lot from your experience, and you’ll make a difference in someone’s life. I recommend a lot of people to go out and make a difference.

My eagerness to learn and extend myself fostered a positive and trustworthy relationship with my organisation manager and staff. As a result, I was able to engage in a myriad of roles and activities such as; driving the company van to pick up food donations or deliver furniture to clients, supervising the community craft program, using the company credit card to purchase required resources, and operating as the receptionist and emergency relief worker. In addition, I was also asked to attend a network meeting as a representative of The Salvation Army Doveton, thus engaging with people from various organisations in the local community.

As a student, I have demonstrated many works of service to my community and school. Service opportunities have shaped me into the person I am today and these projects have made me realize how fortunate I am for all that I have. While I've been doing these service projects through the years, it has been a pleasure seeing the joy on the faces of people that aren't as fortunate as I am. Service projects that I have completed include managing the fish booth at the St. Leo's Parish Festival, being an altar server at St. Leo's Parish, helping cook dinner for the Ridgway Fire Department during carnival day setup, participating in the St. Marys Light Up Night by dancing, and Christmas caroling to local residents. I also participated in a zombie/princess

The service day on April 5th, really gave me a precious opportunity to have access to the life and health of immigrant persons from South America and their priorities in life as well as their consideration about health. This is my first time to help so many immigrant persons from South America check their blood pressure, height and body weight, and give them information about how to have access to free clinical and blood pressure control as well as weight management. I really thank Professor Raja, because it was she who gave us this precious experience to do service for and know this special population in USA.

The initiative focuses on how First Nation, Métis, and Inuit histories, cultures, and perspectives are being incorporated into many areas of the elementary and secondary curriculum. This will help both Aboriginal students and the rest of Ontario’s students. For Aboriginal students, the curriculum helps foster a sense of identity and positive self-image. For the rest of Ontario’s students the new dimension to the curriculum adds rich opportunities to explore, learn about, and appreciate Aboriginal communities and how they add to our province 's culture.

The high proportion of First Nations children being taken away from the care of their families is a contemporary challenge that has been present and widespread in Canada for an alarming length of time, deriving from the oppressive breakdown of the tribal structure and family values that colonization created. Little progress has been made in addressing this situation and the number of children in case has been increasing with time as Rousseau found in 2015:

This study investigated Ontario school council inclusiveness pertaining to Aboriginal peoples. A case study was conducted with a cross section of Native and non-Native Canadians who were directly or indirectly involved in school council-related activities. The study investigated school council inclusiveness pertaining specifically to Aboriginal peoples. The findings reveal the need of a school council system of Aboriginal parental, elder and community participation and involvement as a strategy leading to improved Native inclusiveness and education relevancy, excellence and equity in the public education system, pertaining specifically to Aboriginal children, youth and adults.

Whilst working for the Department of Social Services and Department of Immigration I managed grants that resulted in positive outcomes for Indigenous community members and people from other cultural backgrounds. I also assisted with staff events such as Harmony Day, Reconciliation week celebrations and NAIDOC week celebrations. Feedback indicated that these events successfully raised cultural awareness to staff.

At first when I found out I was going to have to do this essay I was not too excited. I had no idea what I could possibly write about because I did not know that things I did on the average day could be considered community service.

For this service learning project I choose to volunteer at a hospital. I went to St. Joe's Hospital on a floor called Select Specialty Hospital. On Select’s floor, they have patients that are in severe condition and most people that help out at that hospital cannot go on that floor. In my case, my mom works on that floor so I was able to be on the floor. For the first hour, some of the nurses and nurse aids gave me a tour around the floor. They showed me all of the different rooms, all the medical devices, medicine, and they answered any of my unsolved questions. After that, for the last 2 hours I went into patients rooms and took them their food. Then when they finished, I would take those empty trays to the kitchen, where I washed and refilled them with food. I admit that it was a challenge, but I did not regret a single bit of it because it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, the people on that floor are unable to help themselves and if someone reached out to them with a kind gesture it would make their day. Personally, if I was in there position I would deeply appreciate it if someone took the time out of their day and helped someone out that they don’t know. It is easy to donate money to organizations that help people, but it’s different to actually get up and go help that person face to face instead of waiting for

Looking back on the past few weeks of practicum, there have been many opportunities for personal reflection and connection between my placement and the course work. To describe my role, I am placed in the Outreach and Advocacy program at Chimo Community Services. From what I understand so far, I will have a few clients each day that come in with different issues. We assist them in navigating these issues an advocating for them when necessary. For example, some clients will come in with limited English proficiencies or disabilities and will need assistance filling out forms. Other times, clients need assistance navigating complicated government and structural applications like Canada Pension Plan, BC Housing, and Income Assistance.

The Society for Experiential Education defines service learning as, “any carefully monitored service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience” (Staton 1). Service learning is a great opportunity to get extra learning experiences while also experiencing the community around the universities campus. “Service learning allows students to apply what they are learning from their instructors, peers, and readings to genuine tasks that occur outside the four walls of the classroom while simultaneously helping others” (Staton 1). Universities are using service learning to expand beyond the classroom and provide students with experiences that will

Two years ago, when I first joined Pepperdine’s EDOL program, I had a personal goal of advancing my professional career. However, through the process of completing my coursework, my focus changed. What started out as focus on what my degree could do for me, has now transformed into a focus on what I can do for my community. This was an unanticipated change, however, a welcome one as it has brought me back into alignment with my personal beliefs of how as human beings, we are here to help each other. As a result of that shift, I responded to my city’s call for community volunteers and was appointed into the role of planning commissioner by the city council of my hometown of San Carlos, CA.