Service Learning Project Experience

The problem of pollution comes with the ever expanding human population. With this growing population our demand for products also increases. We live in a consumer society, especially in the United States, and making huge quantities of products generates a large amount of pollution and waste. American citizens love to buy, we represent only 5% of the global population but we use 25% of the world's resources. The unfortunate part is that all the resources we use to make products end up in some landfill somewhere because a huge amount of Americans don't understand the importance of recycling and reducing consumption of products. American citizens throw away 40% of the food they purchase. That number is ridiculous, especially since so many Americans

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.

Through out my service-learning project there were different activities and sites my cousin and I visited in the community. The first site my cousin and I had our activity in was in my home in Boyle Heights, where we had a conversation about his diabetes and talked about his experiences with type1 diabetes as a teenager. I decided to choose my home as our first activity because it was the perfect place to ask my cousin to participate in my project and make him feel comfortable enough to share his experiences with me. The second activity we arranged was a lunch date at Outback Steakhouse in Glendale. Having lunch at a restaurant was my cousin’s idea because he wanted to show me how different and difficult it can be from eating a home made meal.

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.

I volunteered at the food bank for my service learning experience. At this site we sorted food and prepared packages for the people who needed food at home. We worked alongside the head of the nonprofit organization Kimberly Forstrom. We also got to meet a few other the other people that helped make the program run smoothly. Their roles were to help with all the food, sorting and making sure everything is good to eat and there is enough for everybody. I also thought it was really cool to see someone who actually runs a nonprofit locally .She shared with us that the way she keeps the program running is by the donations of big name brands like Walmart, making very generous donations.

The meaning this service learning project provided me with was how important it is for us, the Hamline University, to build a meaningful relationship with Hamline Elementary. This was invoked because of the impact the students seemed to have due to us being there and working with them. The students were excited for a communal learning experience, and I think that is going to help encourage them to pursue a college career. Because I work at Hamline Elementary and have been doing so for the past 2 years, I have made strong connections with the students and faculty and think highly of them all. The experience was very similar to what I do at Hamline Elementary on a daily basis. Given this, I had a feeling that the content may have been a bit of

For the Service Learning Assignment, I decided to volunteer at Northwind Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. My current interest is working in the medical field that deals with babies. The service learning placement that best fit my schedule was Northwind Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. This organization works with mostly senior citizens that need special care at all times. There were times where individuals that were not senior citizens that came there because it is not strictly a nursing home. The residents are not able to care for themselves and need constant supervision to ensure their safety. Some of the resident may require physical therapy. My responsibilities was to interact with the different residents on each visit and complete

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.

Service Learning is an educational strategy set in place to enlighten students with instruction and experience, in addition to improve learning , teach responsibility, and support the community. Service learning is vital to the development of the student, given that it intertwines academic and personal development together. It is aimed to enhance a student’s learning in all aspects of life.

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.

My experience has been consistent with what we learned in class. This project brought light to the horrifying abuse that large number of children go through at a young age and this service learning project allowed me to better understand their suffering and their need for assistance. My service learning project made the course material relevant, because I could now better understand the necessity to provide support and comfort to children at a young age.

Throughout my service learning, I have mainly experienced working with children, at all different levels of skill set. There are several children in my classroom, who have Individualized Education Programs (IEP). I have worked with most of these particular students in small groups. One student I have spent a quality amount of time with is recovering from a serious brain injury. Although, my assistance has also been provided to all the students through teaching lessons and reading to the classroom. Thus, my service learning experience, has consists mainly of differentiating approaches, in order to provide support to students with a vast range of ability.

The next visit to service learning was in the afternoon. We had lots of activity. I spent outside with children and the wether was sunny and good for kids to get more vitamin D. We really enjoyed played around. One of the kids was so sweet and stay beside me all the time and asked me to play with him, I just felt happy and how simple that kids. They did not have resentment, hatred, and envy. Furthermore, It takes a lot out of me dealing with children because I have to remember they are not adults.

According to Felten and Clayton in the article Service Learning, they discuss with us how beneficial service learning is for students, staff, and community members.The effectiveness in Service learning includes the general community coming together to help serve a greater purpose. In regards to college, service learning serves as and experience to gain partnership and collaboration throughout the experience and community.For my service learning narrative, i chose to volunteer again with Ignite Church at James Monroe Elementary. From 2-4 we worked with a group of 4th graders on different activities that consisted of critical thinking, imagination, and problem-solving. The purpose of this afternoon was to connect with at least one of the students

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).