Reflection Paper On Service Learning

When I think of service learning, my parents immediately come to mind. From a very young age, I have watched them continually give back and be a part of something bigger than themselves. My first memories were singing Christmas carols at a local nursing home. I did not have relatives at the nursing home, nor family friends to visit. I associated those yearly trips as a fun activity that made older people smile. As I got older, the Christmas carols and holiday parties were still fun, made people smile, but something greater was happening with each visit. Not only in myself, but in each of the residents that we were touching with our smiles, laughter, and uplifting events. I started to see that these events were not only bettering their quality of life, but it was shaping something within me as a person. I did not see this as a service I had to perform, but more as something

Some of these included heat walks, assisting with college fairs, assisting with community events, internships, and a variety of additional events in which taught me many valuable lessons. But, there was one service learning experience stood out from the rest. This experience not only challenged us as students to apply all the lessons we learned inside the classroom, but also pushed us to look within ourselves to apply our creativity, patience, and overall character in order to make this experience a success. This experience involved working as a group of 2-3 students with a resident at Saint Joseph’s center, teaching them a variety of health topics. Upon choosing a resident, we were given a list of names with some labeled as more “challenging” than others due to their disabilities. I chose one of the more “challenging” individuals, not because I thought their condition was challenging, but because I saw it as an invitation to finally show and teach other students what I have learned and practiced throughout my