Kathleen Cahill Service Learning Summary

A Service Learning project is one of the project requirements to complete the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree through Ferris State University (FSU). My Service Learning experience was completed at the VA Medical Center (VAMC) in November, 2014. This paper includes details of the facility along with the contact information for the coordinator of the project. A description of my role as a volunteer, critical reflection of my experience, and a synthesis of the Service Learning are also included.

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).

The critical difference of service learning and the traditional learning style is that students are learning and addressing real needs in the community. Which connect students to the community through meaningful interactions with others, safety, and educational needs. This specific course includes readings, discussions, and activities to support

When I began my Civics class, thinking it potentially difficult and boring, I did not initially look forward to this project. However, as I did each activity, I found myself enjoying each and every one. From sitting in a board meeting to collecting trash, I discovered something new in all of the ways I volunteered. Not only did the people I volunteered for gain something through my service, but I feel that I gained a lot as well.

For this service learning assignment I devoted my time and energy to working with Brooklyn Cemetery, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, and Athens Technical College. I participated in MLK Day of Service, which was created with the intent to “celebrate and honor the birthday of the famed civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr” ("There's Still," n.d.). This day of service stood to serve many different aspects of the community and benefited a wide range of populations, mostly in the form of environmental cleanup. Much of my time was also spent volunteering with The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, whose mission is to “work toward ending hunger as part of an overall community effort to alleviate poverty” (Growing Seeds, 2016, p. 2). Through

In order to gain the necessary skills needed for social work, service learning is necessary due to the fact that it serves as an introduction to skills that may be utilized later in the field. Completing my service learning hours at Harvest Hope Food Bank provided me with the necessary experiences to ensure I am able to impact clients positively and in a more professional and ethical manner. Values and ethics, connections to generalist practice, and experiences with the organization all shared important roles in helping me comprehend the importance of interactions with others in communities, resulting in being able to better understand the various clients I may encounter.

Tulane, being the first private research university in the nation to institute a public service requirement for graduation, clearly attracts students who are similarly motivated towards civic engagement and public outreach. As an active member of the Service Council at the William Penn Charter School, I have witnessed firsthand the value of learning outside of the classroom and engaging with the world. One of the projects I am most involved with is providing meals for the hungry at the St. Francis Inn soup kitchen. As a food server at the Inn, I have learned more about mankind and interactions between people than would ever be possible in a classroom alone. Penn Charter high school, through its Quaker philosophy, has inspired me to seek out a life devoted to the common good. As a result of service learning courses at Tulane, such as Conservation Biology and Pathways to Urban Sustainability, I will be learning, applying knowledge and making an impact before I even graduate.

As I read through the article, “Service Learning: The Process of Doing and Becoming an Occupational Therapist”, one of the things that stood out to me when reading the student’s reflections, was how service learning fosters greater civic awareness that one would not otherwise know about. For instance, a couple of days ago, I was speaking to a friend who participated in a Health Occupations for Positive Emotions (HOPE) program where she helped pregnant teens continue their education. My friend being raised in a loving; protective family was not aware of the high percentage of teen

College students need a practical environment to apply theories they learn in classes to real life experiences. Service-learning courses that have increased dramatically, as Kathy O’Byrne, the director of the UCLA Center for Community Learning said, created this engaging opportunity for the UCLA students. Cited in their website, “the Center supports courses and programs that stress the importance of global citizenship, diversity, leadership and social justice” (uei.ucla.edu). Based on my experiences in Santa Monica Boys and Girls Club (SMBGC), service learning is a valuable and fruitful commitment that provides benefits to each party that gets involved within the site. More precisely,

In Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, college students participate in a service learning project to earn college credits at a New York City community college. During this international service learning opportunity, students perform service work and conduct research to examine and address health and social problems in resource-poor communities. Students design and implement health education skits and workshops, conduct health assessments in local neighborhoods, and work at the local hospital. Program requirements include a daily journal, evening reflection groups, a report that communicates the results of student research and a final reflection paper which includes a plan for future action.

Service learning has given me the new opportunity experience helping others and including myself. I enjoy volunteer work because It’s a way of giving back to the community, but also I’ve become confident in public speaking. In addition, volunteer work is a great rewarding experience, and it 's also helped me develop social skills, by supporting others. The contribute can make a positive impact in many ways, Barack Obama said, “ the best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the work with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” There are element that could promise will succeed in life, however, I believe to learn and discover. I will continue volunteering work whenever I can, and I strongly encourage people to join volunteer work because the meaningful impact the lives of their and help thousands of the students confront in reading. It was a great pleasure for me to contribute to the organization to the development of the community through Political Science class volunteering work. The impact that was able to make our community better future.

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

Service learning is an up and coming method of teaching in many universities across the country. Community service and volunteering are very similar to service learning, so similar in fact that people tend to get them confused or believe that they are all the same thing. Although, they are similar to service learning projects, they are not at all the same. Service learning projects are educationally based projects that are not only beneficial to the community in which students and educators are working in, but it is also beneficial to the students and educators who are working with the community (McDonald & Dominguez, 2015).

Serving the common good has been one of the most influential classes I have taken since coming to Viterbo. It teaches us the importance of service learning and the impact it has on our community, which we are able to experience first-hand through our own service work. These hands-on experiences are what make this class so beneficial for the Viterbo Students. It gives us the opportunity to see how rewarding a life of serving can truly be. Throughout this paper, I contemplate my own service work, and reflect what service-learning means to me at a deeper level.

The term ‘‘service-learning’’ means a method (A) under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that (i) is conducted in and meets the needs of a community; (ii) is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community service program, and with the community; and (iii) helps foster civic responsibility; and (B) that (i) is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students, or the educational components of the community service program in which the