We’ve been working really closely in class with the essay that we are currently working on, so we wanted to take the weekly post in a new direction. Now that the year is winding down, we though it would be a good time to reflect in both a general and specific matter on what we have been doing in this class.
What kinds of community service work did you do in before college? Did you work more closely with people, as we did during the community work portions of our time with project Angel Heart, or did you do work for the organization as we did with our oral history project?
If you did do community service work before college, has your opinion of what it means to volunteer changed? If yes, how so? If not, what is your opinion of what it means to volunteer, and contribute personally to the public good?
Finally, has this class inspired you to continue working in the community? Have you learned anything about volunteerism and working for the public good that has made you want to find or identify a cause or organization with whom you want to volunteer in the future? If so, how do you see your volunteerism grow and progress as time goes on? If you don’t believe you will continue to volunteer in the community, what measures do you think could be taken to help engage students in community work?
Before college, I did a lot of work with a major hospital in Colorado Springs. I volunteered in a few different areas, often helping visitors and patients find their way around, but also helping the staff work with supplies and office work. I also did work with the leadership of the organization with which I volunteered. Though I generally enjoyed my time volunteering there, I originally began because I thought I wanted to be a doctor. After I changed my mind about that career path, volunteering became mostly a way for me to bolster my college applications and a way to network and make friends, so I never really had a strong opinion of what it means to volunteer in an ethical or abstract sense. I took this class largely because I had heard good things about the teacher, it wasn’t at 8 am, and it fit into my schedule anyway. Since I had volunteered in the past, I didn’t expect it to be too difficult to do again and, though I have enjoyed this class immensely, it has not really had an impact on my sense of volunteerism and community engagement. Though there are a handful of issues for which I would be happy to advocate, I don’t think I’m really going to actively seek those opportunities out in the future.
ReplyDeleteIn high school I did a lot of volunteer work. A small portion of it was with school organizations but most of it was with the Boy Scouts of America, and the National Ski Patrol. With both of these organizations, I worked much more with people than with the organization as a whole. With the Boy Scouts I have done various work days and projects. I have also worked as a instuctor with special events and for one of the troops near where I live. With the ski patrol the work is very people oriented. I took care of people both on the hill and in the aid room.
ReplyDeleteI don't think my views on volunteering have really changed with this class. Most of my volunteer experience has been helping people while doing something that I enjoy and being around people that I'm close to. I also don't think this class has changed my drive to volunteer more. The thing I learned the most about through this class was the actual running of a non-profit. I had done promotional things and fundraising for various organizations, but I had never really see that go into action. Talking with the executive direcor and a board member for Project Angel Heart really opened my eyes to the amount of work that goes in to make things run smoothly.
Before college, I did a lot of volunteer work as a way to explore different fields as well as doing something to place on my resume. I volunteered regularly at the public library as well as the hospital, working to do jobs that no one else really wanted to do. However, it helped me to realize how much work actually goes on behind the scenes. I tended to work less with people and more with the running of the organization. I also volunteered as a mentor and a tutor, which was much more people oriented. So in a way, I have had previous experience in both areas.
ReplyDeleteThis class has only changed one thing on my outlook on volunteering. I have learned that you truly need to be passionate about something in order to commit and make a difference. In the past, I had viewed volunteer work as good no matter what you did. But during this class, I realized that if your heart is not in it, you are not doing as much good as you could be doing. I hope to continue to volunteer in the future. It seems that the challenge lies in finding what organizations or projects I am passionate about. I hope that my service will grow into something more meaningful to me than what it has been in the past. Although I have enjoyed it, it has never changed my life drastically or opened my eyes to a significant problem.
Throughout middle school and high school volunteer work was always a major part of my extracurricular activities, almost all of it involving working with people. I coached a gymnastics camp every year, I was a Bible School crew leader every summer, I volunteered in a nursing home, I was a retreat leader, and spent a lot of time doing volunteer work for NHS.
ReplyDeleteThrough our work with Project Angel Heart, I realized that my volunteer work in high school had a double meaning. Not only was it a way to give back to the community, but it also was something to add to my college application and resume. Now that I am in college though, my volunteer work has lost that second meaning and in a way has become more personal. I enjoyed my work with Project Angel Heart, and I was especially inspired by the passionate attitudes of the people who work there. I hope that in the future I can find an admirable organization that I am as passionate about.
Before college, the majority of the community service experience I had was through an organization I co-started in Arkansas with one of my best friends. This organization was TOPS, Total Outreach Program for Soccer. We coached mentally handicapped kids of all ages soccer every Saturday. I worked directly with people in this case and learned many valuable lessons. I also learned about the hard work and dedication it takes to run an organization like this. The reason we originally started the organization was a combination of community service requirements we had to fulfill for school and our passion for soccer.
ReplyDeleteThis class has reinforced my belief that when doing community service, it should be something you enjoy and have a passion for. I have seen this through the interviews I did of Jon and Don. They both have an undeniable passion for their service work and without this, I don't think they would have left the same kind of impact.
Before college, most of my volunteer work was with animals. I fostered animals and volunteered at a veterinary office throughout high school. Volunteer work with animals has still been carried through to college because I currently volunteer every week at the Dumb Friends League. In high school, I also volunteered every summer with my church. We would do various mission trips to places either in the U.S. or in third world countries like Mexico. In Mexico, we built houses for families in Juarez in a week. I did this numerous times because I loved it so much.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if my opinion or view of volunteering has really changed much since being in college. If anything, I have realized that volunteering isn't much of an answer to fixing society's problems. While I think is it helpful and beneficial in certain ways, volunteering seems to be more of a short term solution than something that really gets to the root of the problem. However, like I said before, I still believe it's important.
I think I will still volunteer in the community because it's something I enjoy doing and my volunteering makes the dogs that I help a little more comfortable and a little happier. But I think I will also find other ways to impact and work toward social change and social justice. This is directly related to the fact that I'm a part of the Social Justice LLC but I feel that social justice is something that we need to work toward.
Before I came to college, I had some experience doing community service. I was vice president of National Honors Society, a big part of which is, obviously, community service. I was never extremely involved with it, however, and I never found something that really appealed to me. Some of my volunteer experiences include working as a group leader at Vacation Bible School at my church, working as a volunteer at my high school’s annual craft fair, and working as a scorer for basketball at the Special Olympics. These were all interesting, yet I was not passionate about any of them. After working with Project Angel Heart, my view of community service has not much changed. If anything, it has been expanded slightly to include work that is more indirect, as with writing the oral histories.
ReplyDeleteI am very excited to start doing community service regularly. In two weeks, I am having an orientation for a service that I have wanted to work for for years. It is at an avian hospital – a place where hurt birds of prey are taken to be rehabilitated. This is something I have always been very passionate about and I am excited to take a more active role in it.
Before college, my volunteer work was solely through my church. I go to a Unitarian Universalist church, and our main beliefs center around doing good for ourselves and each other, and respecting each person's inherent worth and dignity. Volunteering and charity work were the easiest ways for youth at church to give back to the community, and we did it often. We have made sandwiches to deliver to PADS, held bingo/chili fundraisers that is donated to a charity of our choice that year, rebuilt parks, cleaned up our community, and so on.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on volunteering hasn't changed, I still feel the same about it. You go out, you do good, you feel good. Simple as that. I hadn't done much community service work since coming to school. In fact, before this quarter I hadn't done any. But this class and others have helped me realize that I can stay involved and volunteer away from home and my church, and I plan to do so. I have also recently volunteered through my sorority, which raises money for our philanthropy. This IS a different type of volunteer work than I was used to. It is different because instead of working with the organization, we worked with our peers, to get people to donate to us and in turn participate in a fun activity, in our case it was a rowdy game of capture the flag. Seeing how much fun everyone had, and knowing all the money we raised by simply organizing something fun will go to an organization that is worthwhile was a rewarding experience.
Before I came to the University of Denver and volunteered for Project Angel Heart the only community service I performed was at a summer camp for kids in California. I volunteered at the camp for an entire summer and took away important leadership experience. It didn't really feel like community service to me though. The kids I was working with were not underprivileged. I have now come to understand that community service can take many forms, and they are all important in contributing to the community.
ReplyDeleteThis class has really helped expand my views on community service and I really do want to try to be more involved. I would like to continue to volunteer at PAH, but if its there I would like to find another place where I could volunteer. Giving back to the community is important, not just to help the people are giving back to, but to acquire important, irreplaceable experience as well.
In high school, I volunteered a lot. I volunteered in nursing homes, at the court house,at a homeless shelter, at a local organization for autistic children, at my church, and at various events through the community. I've always enjoyed volunteer work,so often community service was not a burden for me.
ReplyDeleteNow that I am in college, and I have more obligations, however, I am finding it much more difficult to make time to volunteer.
Because community service took the place of other assignments in our class, I was obviously very able to find time to volunteer at Project Angel Heart. I really enjoyed that work, yet, in the course of our class, I have learned a lot about community service, and my perspective about it has changed slightly. From the material we covered in class, and especially our various good and not so good experiences, I learned that the dynamics of community service are much more complex than just taking the time to go somewhere and do something for free, or etc.
As Project Angel Heart showed me, the people that comprise an organization determine the type of impact, if any, that the nonprofit will have. While these people make volunteering a more complex experience, they also make it more meaningful. After interviewing two long-time members of Project Angel Heart, I realized just how shallow, if not completely empty, my past service has been. Instead of volunteering at a dozen places, I learned I would do much more for myself, and for specific individuals, by being a dedicated volunteer at one or two organizations.
Like a little butter spread far too thinly over a large peice of bread, I never really believed I made much of an impact with my past experiences. So, this class, while altering aspects of my writing for the better, has also altered my view on the importance of consistentcy and dedication in the nonprofit world.
I did a fair amount of service work before coming to college. I tutored/mentored an ‘at-risk’ elementary student for two years, visiting him weekly during my lunch hour. I was also very involved with my church, and worked as a mentor for the younger teens, specifically by planning and putting on retreats for them. I suppose in planning the retreats I was working for the organization (my church/youth group), but most of my service was working directly with the people whom I was serving. Since coming to college but before this class, I have continued to volunteer as a tutor/mentor at the Bridge Project and have volunteered at soup kitchens or homeless shelters occasionally. These also involved working directly with recipients.
ReplyDeleteI think this class opened my eyes to some other forms of service work that I hadn’t considered before – I never really thought of writing for a non-profit as a way to serve them. However, I don’t think it really changed any of my opinions about service. I think (and have thought for quite some time) that doing community service is very important, if not something that we are morally required to do, then something that will still ought to do. I also think that it holds a lot of benefits for the volunteer, both emotionally and in creating a more aware and accepting citizen, constituting another important reason to volunteer. I still prefer the kind of service work that gets me involved directly with those whom I am serving, as I feel that it does more for me as a volunteer and that is the direction in which I have always been drawn. It is wonderful that there are people out there who enjoy volunteering through writing projects, or who pursue careers in business or as researchers – these people are still contributing to the public good, and our society would not be able to function without different people with different skills filling distinctly different needs in the community. However, I have always felt drawn to work directly with the people in the most need, to prepare and deliver meals, to work in non-profit organizations directly with clients, to go build houses in third world countries. I believe that this is my calling, but our world could not function if everyone took this path. Thank you to those of you who will pursue other callings and ensure that our society will not crumble.
As a Jesuit high school student, I was consistently encouraged to partake in service work. My high school held annual service days and was abound with service opportunities throughout the year. However, in choosing to spend more time sleeping or hanging out with my friends, I rarely took advantage of these opportunities.
ReplyDeleteThere were, though, several occasions that I did find myself doing service work, and one of these occasions took place during two weeks of my senior year, in which I took time off class to volunteer at a local grade school. I spent these two weeks working very closely with teachers and students, and it was a great joy for me to discover the joy of working for and with others that I would not otherwise connect with.
Since starting college, my opinion of service work has not changed greatly. Of course, it is an excellent thing to do, not only for the people being served, but for the people serving as well. I believe that volunteering is an excellent way of giving up of one's self, and discovering the inexplicable joys of working for others.
In all honesty, though, I am not sure how much I want to volunteer in the future. As the school year winds down, so do all of my volunteer activities . I will certainly try to pursue more opportunities, though, especially in education. As of right now, I plan on going into teaching after college, so the ability to work today for schools is not only an excellent way to give to the community, but to bolster my future as well!
Before college I did volunteer work through my high school and on my own. Through my high school I worked with elementary students, tutoring and teaching drug awareness, and was a camp counselor. On my own, I did some work at soup kitchens and homeless shelters, and I also went on three service trips, one to the Dominican Republic and two to Haiti. On those trips I mostly did construction or worked in a health clinic.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion of what it means to volunteer hasn’t really changed since being in college. To me, volunteering means spreading the wealth around. I think that those who are more fortunate have a duty to help those who aren’t as well off. Because there are a lot of people in the world who are suffering, and there are probably just as many living in excess.
I do plan to volunteer in the future, but my desire to do so comes from my personal values and ideas about the world, not from class. I plan to continue doing international service work, through Engineers Without Borders here at DU and then Peace Corps when I graduate.