Service Learning Experience Papers

I decided to start volunteering at the local humane society because I’ve always been really passionate about animals and wanted to start benefiting them in the community. Prior to my service I was delighted because I’ve wanted to start volunteering for years and was glad the opportunity had presented itself. Throughout my experience I learned a great deal and met a lot of new people. Even though I’ve only just started serving my time at the Fox Valley Humane Association I can truly see the difference it has made in the community.

Academics is a large part of what determines the future of the typical college student. With an education and a degree, it is assumed that the individual will be an active member in a work space, a family, and the various forms of community that will be encountered after graduation. However, for an individual to fully participate and utilize their skills to the best of their ability, they will need to practice participating and helping within a community. This is what a service learning project is. This project will integrate the student's into a community, whether it be a town, church, school, and any other community. The student's will be given multiple opportunities that allow them to enrich the lives of the other members of this community.

There was a time she didn’t know how to describe a “white board marker” in Chinese, so she asked her class how to say it. “One girl, who went by the name of Tracy, eagerly told [Stephanie the word], and had a huge smile on her face” (Lam). Even though the language barrier was difficult, she and her students overcame it together with pointing and various other universal gestures and facial expressions. This way, the students were encouraged to understand English better to communicate with their teacher, and my cousin refined her own oral Chinese skills. The students “were kind and willing to help despite [her] poor Chinese, and didn’t judge [her] either” (Lam). The students were happy enough that she came all the way to Taiwan to teach them English. They respected this, and were eager to help her discover a new culture and improve on her Chinese abilities. The barrier was still tough for Stephanie, but thanks to the kindness of her students, it was much easier to bear through and succeed. It was a new and unknown world for my cousin, but she still made the most of her experience and discovered so much more about East Asian culture.

Born in the U.S., I was raised in China by my grandma from two months old until age four, when I moved to America to be reunited with my parents. Transitioning from Chinese to American culture was troublesome, especially when communicating. On the first day of school, I walked into the classroom with my pigtails and my Doraemon shoes, feeling like an alien entering an extraterrestrial planet. As a child never exposed to the English language, something as simple as asking to use the restroom felt impossible. Everything spoken was incoherent.

I had a little trouble getting assigned an individual to work with for service learning, but after communicating with the coordinator of service learning, I was able to be paired with someone. I have sat and talked a lot with the resident I am working with. We have talked about personal life experiences and her everyday life. As the resident began to open up to me she had mentioned that just prior to moving into The Hope House in January, she had gotten out of a marriage. She stated “I was unhappy the whole time I was in this marriage.” She didn’t go into much more detail. I began to be curious as to why she was so unhappy in the marriage and I felt sad for her. We continued talking and she said “I didn’t know it at the time, but I was really depressed while I was in that marriage.” The resident explained to me that she didn’t know she was actually in a depressive state until she had been coming out of it, here at The Hope

Service learning is a process of associating students with the community in significant service activities integrated with facilitated experience to their academic and personal development. College students can change the world in many ways. The best way to give back is through service-based organizations Such as, joining a cause, especially on campus, there are plenty of clubs and organizations to choose from. This assignment makes me nervous because this will be the first time I have gone to an educational event without a peer leader/instructor. Attending the senior health fair, I was most excited about meeting all the seniors and education them as much as I can. There are many things I can gain from this experience, such as communication skills and become more outgoing.

Briefly describe your activities this week: I was schedule to begin my service learning on Tuesday 3/14/17 at 1pm. I was given instructions to meet with volunteer coordinator prior to beginning my volunteer activity as she would take me for a walk through. I arrived 15 minutes early and went to the front desk where I was informed that Ms. Cannon was out of the office. The front desk person told me that he would take me to the food center and introduce me to Darrel the Manager of the food bank. Darrel was out of the office as he had stepped out to get lunch. Initially they told me to begin sorting some items and showed me how they pack things for the clients. Darrell arrived and introduced himself and later came to get me so that I could help

My service learning experience with the non-profit organization, Off the Front has contributed to my professional development and prepared me more for the business would by enhancing my leadership and communication skills. At every bike repair location, I enhanced my leadership skills by leading other volunteers on what they should work on depending on their level of skills on bike repairs and if they wanted to learn something new, and I knew how to do a repair on the bike, I would gladly teach them. It also enhanced my communication skills by knowing how to communicate to other volunteers and that each individual may require a different communication style and leadership style. It also helped me improve my writing and analysis skills. My writing skills has enhanced by being able to write my service learning marketing plan with my group and making smooth transitions since we got different part. Using my analysis skills to evaluate four years of Off the Front financials through Forms 990 and created balance sheets for years 2013-2016 and broke down the salaries amount by each staff.

Most Chinese who visited the dental office can rarely speak English. I interpreted for them about their appointment, information that needed to be filled out. Sometimes, I translated for them when they need to communicate with the dentist. One day, a parent brought her son to the dental office and she only understood a few words in English. I was at lunch time when she visited the dental office. Unfortunately, none of the front desk clerks besides me could speak Chinese. Therefore, they called me and asked for help with the translation. Later, I assisted the parent to fill out documents and interpreted the dentist’s suggestion for her. I acted as a bridge during the conversation between the parent and dentist. I knew the important role of being an interpreter because it required the deep comprehension in both English and Chinese. If I made any mistake during the dialogue, it can lead to enormous effects which might influence the patient’s

Then she came to the U.S to study english education at the university of oregon. She wants to teach english in China. Shiqi Wu said that she loves being outside in the U.S better than in china, because the U.S has a better environment, and there are trees and grass all over. She also likes how there are less people here, and how she can greet everyone she walks past, “In china, If you tried to do that, you would break your neck!” Before she came to the U.S, she thought that people would be so easy to get along with, because Americans are so open minded and there are so many different kinds of people. However, she found that it's hard to tell when people are being genuine or just being polite. She also said that americans communicate much more directly the they do in china. If an american wants something they say, ‘I want that’, whereas in china people tend to go about it differently and don't directly say what they want. Shiqi Wu has not found it hard to adjust how she communicates, she likes direct communication better because it's easier! It was great fun, and a great honor for me to interview

“Service Learning is a form of practical experience that enhances learning in all areas of a nursing program, and the experience of service learning reinforces the moral and civic values inherent in serving others (Ferris State University School of Nursing, 2015, p. 1). Consequently, to enhance my learning I completed my service learning at the Interprofessional Wellness Clinic, which focuses on diabetes education at Ferris State University. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to reflect in detail about my service learning experiences and how this service learning helped me achieve the nursing BSN program outcomes.

I studied tai chi and kung fu in different parks. I earned my acupuncture license through the Changchun Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) College. I taught myself Mandarin through reading books like The Art of War, the Dao De Jing and the Analects of Confucius. Needless to say, my interests were a mood killer for most Chinese people who were more interested in the NBA, business news or getting a promotion. Therefore, I was always keen to engage anyone who had interest or knowledge of history, religion and culture. For example, I took a 30-hour train ride to the Vietnam border from Changchun, which is near North Korea. I spent an entire day chatting with a nurse who had served the Chinese army during the Korean

A way of growing both mentally, and spiritually is through performing service. Service is an act of helping others, and it comes in multiple forms. Service can be as simple as giving comfort or helping to change and save a life. Service never fails to make us happy; it gives us a sense of growth, and maybe a part of ourselves that we have yet to discover. By performing service, we not only bring happiness to ourselves, but also to those we serve. Therefore, service should always be an act of kindness so that the happiness that is felt would not be cheated.

Service learning is defined as the student’s involvement in community service activities and applies the experiment to personal, professional, and academic development. The main objectives of service learning are related to community needs that planned in support with community partners and service recipients. Service-learning engages students in a three-part process: learning process according to classroom context, services activity according to classroom context, and reflection relate to service experience to specific learning goals. Service learning allows students to develop skills of team working, communication, and responsibility.

My first breath of air was in America, but my first words were in China. I spent the earlier parts of my childhood in a country on the other side of the world, making friends with faces I can barely recall and making memories that sparked a feeling of both clarity and vagueness. Although I had spent that time speaking only Mandarin, my mind started to absorb itself into English and dialect once I came back. Now, my conversations with my parents are a mix of dialect, Mandarin, and English – a parade of confusion for the untrained ear.