Waite House Reflection

My nature to serve attracts me to the Houston Methodist Summer Teen Volunteer Program. My goals are to gain experience and knowledge about careers in medicine, and to give back to the community. I would like to learn a lot about how people live by the ways they get hurt or how they deal with being sick. It’s a good study of human behavior because you see people at their highest and lowest extremes of emotion. To further my goal of pursuing a career in medicine, it is important for me to get hands on experience of serving people and executing work in a responsible manner. When a person donates their time, they give hope to someone who needs it. I feel that I will be also benefited because I get to see how my contribution has made a difference.

“We are Chicago's Jesuit Catholic university - a diverse community seeking God in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.” In attempt to fulfill this mission as a student of Loyola University of Chicago, I decided to volunteer at the Lakeview Pantry. Personally, I believe that this was the most efficient way to effectively volunteer while being myself. I aim to either cultivate or participate in physical change, and at Lakeview, I could.

In class, we read the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This book was about the crazy childhood Jeanette experienced. Jeanette had to become independent at a very young age, since her parents didn’t seem to take responsibility for their children. She learned how to do many things on her own, like boil hotdogs at the age of three. Jeanette’s family was also always on the move; they drove miles and miles until her parents found a small town where they wanted to settle down for a little while. She became familiar with her dad’s term the “skedaddle,” which means they would just pick up and leave in a hurry. Because of all these sudden changes in Jeanette’s life, she had to start a new life for herself everywhere she went, such as starting a new school, making new friends, and adapting to the way of living in that

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is an autobiography about a young woman’s journey in life. It delves into her childhood, which was as dire as it could become, and how she was able to break her family’s habits and achieve her dreams of becoming a reporter/journalist. There were several significant lessons throughout the story, but what I deemed to be the most valuable lesson was that struggle is important. In the book, struggle is what built Jeannette into who she is today. It drove her to be successful in life, taught her that hope is always out there, and formed her character.

After searching for hours over the internet and sending many emails, I chose the Washington United Youth Center (WUYC) to volunteer at . It was simply perfect; there were many eager students at the school, located in a poor area, waiting for help. It pleased me to see many students

Volunteer work has always been a prominent activity that occurred within my life. Growing up with a father that was involved in the community so much that it felt like it was his job, I was always surrounded by community service and helping others. At the young age of six years old, I decided to do my part as well, feeding the homeless in a local church in New Bedford, Massachusetts. From that year on, I believe a majority of my most valuable characteristics derived directly from my volunteer work. Now, almost thirteen years later, I am involved in over 100 hours of community service per year and am ready to apply it into a new field- as a Resident Assistant.

Throughout my four years of high school, I worked with a non-profit organization called Shirts Across America. It worked to send high school and college students to New Orleans, Louisiana to help the community rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. For my junior and senior year, I worked as a core team member; my duties included marketing, fundraising, planning and organizing the trip and facilitating a group on the actual trip. I took on the responsibility to bring more people of color on the trips and making it more accessible for these students who may have been looked over. This past summer I worked as a teacher’s aid for the local YMCA in Seattle. The school that I was working with served a low income, diverse community.

I started volunteering at Visually Impaired Preschool Services and Kentucky School for the Blind for a service in high school. I loved working with students there and that I wanted a job that I would love to going to everyday. I also feel that students with special needs are seriously underestimated and I want to help those students succeed.

I chose to volunteer at Lakeview Health Center in West Salem, Wisconsin. Lakeview Health Center is a long term care facility that provides care for adults with special behavioral or mental health needs. At the beginning of the semester I listed ways that I thought Lakeview Health Center would enrich my knowledge in the field of psychology and goals that I intended to accomplish during my hours spent volunteering. I believed my knowledge would be expanded in the areas of mental health, the process of socialization and altruism. I will now reflect on this list and on the goals that I hoped to achieve.

Lee Hysan Hall is the first hall I had stayed, and the members in Lee Hysan were the first group of people I have met since the beginning of my university journal. These experience eventually strengthen my thought to stay in Lee Hysan, and contribute my utmost for the hall.

Camilla Care Community is a nursing home that I started volunteering at during the summer of 2013. As a volunteer, I was not assigned to any specific duties, so I took the initiative of helping out any nurse or resident when needed. Eventually, my routine consisted of folding laundry, setting up cutlery, transporting residents in wheelchair to the dining area and organizing games. All these little tasks added up to help the nurses tremendously since the work was done quickly. I was very committed, as I spent five hours at the nursing home everyday. Through this volunteer experience, I was able to make a difference in residents’ lives and apply my teamwork and leadership skills in certain situations.

CM conducted a face to face meeting at EMYL for Jason (youth). In attendance were Jasmine Alexander (CM) and Jason (youth). CM was informed that youth feels stressed and alone at EMYL; youth reports he wants to transition from the program. Youth has been witness numerous peers going into crisis and youth does not feel comfortable in the program. Youth explained to CM that he “tried to get high off of Benadryl and escape from reality”. Youth expressed that he did not try to hurt himself. However, youth attempted to take multiple pills of Benadryl. Youth expressed that his family and EMYL is not supportive. CM encouraged youth to remain positive and soon he will transition to Hunterdon Group Home. CM discussed youth’s insurance and explained

Thank you very much for the feedback. Unfortunately, I didn’t receive Boston Rd Patients from the Care Transitions Team since 06/21/17 (my last notification was sent on 6/20/17).

I have had experienced volunteering my abilities to my club and school community. I have also recently experience service learning at Eldercare Trowbridge House in Payneham, completing 24 hours in 4 days between the 4th to the 7th of October, 2016.

Over the summer, I volunteered at a Habitat for Humanity Restore on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays; each session would usually last for three hours. The store regularly accepts donations, such as furniture, and then resells them at a heavily discounted price for low-income families to purchase. After spending over 50 hours storing and organizing donations, I realized the store was very dependent on volunteers because the staff was very limited. My experience at the restore taught me that volunteers are crucial for the well-being of communities as they make beneficial programs, such as the restore, possible.