Reflection Of Service : The Principles For Success In Service Learning

Service is simply an act of helpful activity and the transferable skills that are gained from service illustrate the importance of being involved. By volunteering in my community and taking part in organizations that are centered on service, I am able to strengthen my understanding of my surroundings, and I am taught more compassion for others. Being involved presents unlimited opportunities to give back to others, and with the skills instilled by service, I am able to make a difference in the lives around me. Experience gained with service creates characteristics in a person that can shape the direction of my life, and I will value that in the future.

When I was asked to speak about service, the first thing I had to ponder was what exactly is service. In the world we live in today, there is so many different ways to serve those around you. Whether it is giving back to your school, local community, or even across borders the goal is always the same. Give a little piece of yourself for a greater good while expecting nothing in return.

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).

Before deciding where I wanted to do my service learning, I knew I wanted to do something that had some relevance to my degree that I will be receiving in healthcare management. I was eager to gain more experience and become more knowledgeable of how an organization operates as it relates to healthcare management. I was able to secure an opportunity to volunteer at the Dallas Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital. After completing the required VA forms, I got partnered with Mr. Alonzo Price Jr. who is a Management Analyst in Ambulatory Care, which is the department that oversees the Primary Care Providers.

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

Often, we never see the effects of our actions. Sometimes, we find ourselves comfortably distancing acts of service from why they are committed and whom they impact. I never genuinely understood what lies at the root of service until my freshman year of high school.

The benefit of service learning for the student and community is again a better inform civic minded individual who may use his experience from service learning as a launching pad for career opportunities to better serve within that community. In an article published in the College Student Journal its author noted that with service learning “students gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility" (Strange,

Experiences in service offer more opportunities to be taught than for your deeds to make an impact. These experiences have established and strengthened the fundamental moral principles that I live my life by. Throughout my education, they have been challenged and developed by academics, missions, and cultural experiences. Education can only carry one so far if it’s lessons are not implemented in service to this world. Through fostering a love of people and the world, I have found that learning sparks curiosity, curiosity kindles exploration, exploration illuminates discovery, and discovery ignites

For my service learning hours, I decided to assistant coach at Four Corners Charter Upper School. When I took on this task, being tremendously excited to work with the girls there and give back to this school. My role consisted of being the assistant coach to my sister Amanda Ramirez, helping her to guide and train the girls to learn the sport of lacrosse. Having experience in coaching high school girl’s lacrosse, I came in with drills and strategies to be the most effective assistant coach. The girls that decided to come out for the team haven’t ever heard of the sport, which became a good thing for coaching, giving us the upper hand for coaching and teaching the sport to the girls.

My role in my service learning position is at Tri-City Church (also Community Bible Church... as there is currently a merge going on) of Vista, CA. My position is primarily to care for the needs of children while the mothers are able to take a break to meditate on the sermon. This care includes feeding children, playing with them, soothing them, taking care of their toileting needs, and helping sign in and out the children to their parents or family members. While I am already fairly comfortable with this routine (as I have been doing it for some time now) there is still the occasionally apprehensive moment. Occasionally I have trouble connecting with the parent's if their new to the area. Earning parents' trust can be a difficult thing to do.

Today I met with Teri to present my service learning project to her. I explained to her that I had made a brochure to present all the information about depression to her and that she could keep it. I felt nervous and anxious about presenting. In my brochure I included a brief definition of what depression is, predisposing factors, signs/symptoms, complications, treatments, medications, prognosis, ways to relieve stress/anxiety, and resources to gather more information on depression. As I was presenting my project I began to feel more relaxed and at ease. I tried to make my brochure as brief as possible, so that it was easy to understand, but include all the information needed as well. I feel that I did a pretty job of meeting this goal. I went

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

For my Community Service Learning placement, I am volunteering for PAAL, which is a program for children and youth with physical and intellectual impairments. Their vision is to offer individuals who otherwise may not get the chance, an opportunity to participate in a wide variety of physical activities.

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

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