Date

Hours

Service Type

Reflection

9/2/10

1

Making Bears for CHKD

Even though I had not had any experience with sewing since I took a home economics class in my first year of middle school, I thoroughly enjoyed making teddy bears for CHKD.  During the experience, I learned that my favorite task was sewing up the sides of the bears after they had been stuffed. 

9/6/10

1

Making Bears for CHKD

This was the second time I made bears for CHKD. I found this experience particularly rewarding because I did it at home and I got to sew, which, as I stated earlier, is my favorite task. Performing this community service at home was enjoyable and it allowed me to work independently and to show my family my work. Also, just the fact that I was making the bears at home made me feel that I was truly going out of my way to make the bears for CHKD. I could have been hanging out/talking with my friends or family or just taking some free time, but I chose to do community service. That knowledge made this at-home community service experience that much more rewarding.

9/9/10

3

Tutoring in

Learning and Writing Center

at VWC

Tutoring in the Learning and Writing Center at Virginia Wesleyan College was exciting the first time I did it. Mrs. Genai Hill showed me the ropes, telling me everything that I was supposed to do while I was there for the three hours. All the while, I was eager to get my first client. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to tutor at all that day because no one showed up for tutoring in my subject. However, I chose to look at the bright side: at least I had time to do some homework! Overall, my first day tutoring in the Learning and Writing Center taught me two things. First of all, I learned that things don’t always work out the way you hoped. Second of all, I learned that, when things don’t work out the way you hoped, you have to improvise and make the situation work to your advantage. Otherwise, it’s just a waste of time and opportunity.

9/16/10

3

Tutoring in

Learning and Writing Center

 at VWC

The second time I tutored in the Learning and Writing Center didn’t turn out much better than the first. I still didn’t get to tutor because still no one showed up for tutoring in my subject. As a result, I started to feel as if I was in the Learning and Writing Center for nothing. Nevertheless, I stayed for the whole three hours doing my homework and hoping that someone would show up for tutoring in my subject. When I left, I told myself that I shouldn’t expect so much from only tutoring for two days and that there was a possibility that I could get my first client next time.

9/19/10

2

Campus Theater Work

in Hofheimer Theater

When I volunteered at the Hofheimer Theater at Virginia Wesleyan College, I was assigned the job of cleaning over fifty stage lights while the only two other girls were making stage platforms. Although I would have rather made platforms, I still had a pleasant experience cleaning the stage lights because it gave me a great sense of completion. This sense was due to the fact that, after slaving over all of those stage lights for about two hours, a bunch of clean stage lights and a very pleased Ms Tammy was the end result. This made me feel that I had been a big help and that I had chosen a good and profitable way to spend my time. Another reason that my experience at the theater was pleasant, I ended up learning about myself in that two hours. I learned that I like working by myself rather than with other people and that I am good at performing redundant tasks for hours at a time. Overall, the time I spent at the Campus Theater Workday was rewarding and a learning experience.

9/21/10

1

Volunteer Teacher's Assistant

at Bettie F. Williams

Betty F. Williams is my place of employment and I work there for two hours every week day that the school is open. However, on this particular occasion, I decided to stay an extra hour to help Mrs. DeVita, the school’s art teacher. Basically, my job was to help the kids, who were 4^th and 5^th graders, when they had questions and help keep the classroom in order. Working with the kids was fun and interesting. The fun aspect was that I got to help the kids draw pictures and I had some funny conversations with some of the kids in the class. The interesting aspect was that most of the kids accepted me so quickly and willingly even though they didn’t know anything about me except my name and the fact that I was a college student from Virginia Wesleyan. Not only that, but they also showed genuine interest in me and what I had to say. This was a new experience for me because, generally, people my age and older don’t show such interest in me unless I had something to offer them. Therefore, the attitude of the children in Mrs. DeVita’s art class was yet another reminder of the joys of interacting with children. Also, it was a reminder of how much we change, whether for better or worse, as we grow up from children to teenagers and beyond.

9/23/10

3

Tutoring in

Learning and Writing Center

at VWC

Well, my third time tutoring shed a little light on my first two disappointing visits to the Learning and Writing Center. I actually got to tutor two students back to back! They were a bit of a challenge because I had to decide when it was best to give the students the answer or just let them figure the answer out for themselves. Overall, I think I did pretty well for my first time because, by the end of the tutoring sessions, the students seemed to have a pretty good understanding of the concepts they had questions about before we began. However, I knew I still needed more practice at communicating difficult concepts to students who having trouble understanding them.

9/25/10

3

Marlin Make a Difference Day:

Campus Theater Work

in Hofheimer Theater

During Marlin Make A Difference Day, I was working in Hofheimer Theater. This time, instead of dusting hundreds of lights, I got to help with the construction of the actual set. During construction, I discovered my leadership ability by giving direction to the other members of my group when they were unsure of what to do. Also, I was able to help a couple of my group members who had no experience using a screwdriver by telling them what setting to set the screwdriver to when they were putting screws in and taking them out. As a result, I felt like an important part of the stage construction crew. However, I didn’t play the leader/teacher role the whole time. I had to ask for help from the other group members a few times and I had to take directions from the theater teacher that was in charge. Therefore, by playing both the teacher role and the student role, I learned what cooperation was all about; offering help to your fellow peers when you have the ability and seeking out help from your fellow peers when you need it.

Tutoring in

Learning and Writing Center

at VWC

My fourth time tutoring at the Learning and Writing Center gave me even more practice in tutoring and taught me a lesson about improvising. I was helping a student graph two lines on the graphing calculator and we found out that zoom fit wasn’t working for the particular lines we were graphing. After trying to get it to work for a few minutes, I realized that we had a limited time and had to move on. Then we encountered ANOTHER problem: I had no idea how to do problems with profit, revenue, cost, etc. Therefore, I had to look over how to do them really quickly and then teach the student how to do it. In the end, I was able to do just that, which made me feel accomplished. As for the zoom fit problem with the calculator, after the student left, I found an alternate way to get the screen fitted to the graphs of the lines. I then sent the instructions of how to do this to the student in an email. I got another great feeling of accomplishment when the student sent an email expressing her thanks. For the first time, I truly understood why teachers are teachers, despite the fact that they do not get paid nearly enough for the job that they do.

Tutoring in

Learning and Writing Center

at VWC

On my fifth time tutoring in the Learning and Writing Center, it was a slow day.  Unfortunately, no students showed up for tutoring in the math sections I tutor at all.  However, since I didn’t have anyone to tutor, I had a great opportunity to get some homework done.  Therefore, my fifth time tutoring wasn’t a total loss after all.  Also, Ms. Genai, my supervisor, asked me to pass on a message for her to anyone who came to the Learning and Writing Center looking for her.  To me, that was a small sign that Ms. Genai she thought I was reliable.  As a result, I was given the feeling that, by tutoring, I was not influencing only the students I tutor, but also the staff members I come into contact with when I’m in the Learning and Writing Center.

Tutoring in

Learning and Writing Center

at VWC

No students came in for tutoring in the math sections I tutor again on the sixth time I tutored in the Learing and Writing Center, which meant three hours of homework time for me again.  However, like most of the other times I came in for tutoring and didn’t get to tutor any students, something happened that is worth mentioning.  I was at the computer typing up some assignment for one of my classes when I saw a jump drive plugged into the computer next to mine.   There was no one logged onto the computer, so I figured that the jump drive had been left by mistake.  With that realization, I unplugged the jump drive and plugged it into my computer.  Then I opened a back-up copy of an assignment to get the name of whoever left the jump drive.  After I got the name, I just shot the person, who turned out to be a student at VWC, an email saying that I would leave the jump drive with the receptionist at the Learning and Writing Center.  Later on, I received a thank-you email from the person.  As a result, I feel as if I had a very rewarding day at the Learning and Writing Center even though I didn’t get to tutor at all.  Also, this event was another confirmation of the fact that I influence more than just the students I tutor when I’m tutoring in the Learning and Writing Center.

Tutoring in

Learning and Writing Center

at VWC

On the seventh time I tutored in the Learning and Writing Center, one student showed up for tutoring in Algebra.  I found that tutoring this student was a bit easier since I had experience with tutoring and because I knew the concepts the student was inquiring about very well.  As a result, I was able to communicate the concept in a way that the student could understand with minimal difficulty.  In fact, the tutoring session went so well that the student I was tutoring gave me many compliments during the course of the session.  Also, at the end of the session, the student thanked me and told me that I was a great help.  Needless to say, I was very proud of myself when I left the Learning and Writing Center that day.

Tutoring in

Learning and Writing Center

at VWC

The eighth time I tutored in the Learning and Writing Center was another day that I did not tutor at all.  However, I got the opportunity to help a visually-impaired man print out a document on the computer.  I thought this was so cool because the man had a little computer that translated Braille into words.  The man used the computer to save a word version of his document onto a jump drive, which I then plugged into a standard computer.  I then pulled up the document, formatted the document the way that the man wanted, and printed the document out.  After the man left with the document I printed for him, I was amazed because I had no knowledge of the awesome technology that was available for visually-impaired people.  Therefore, I got to help someone in need and to learn something new in the Learning and Writing Center that day.  Also, after experiencing eight eventful days in the Learning and Writing Center, I began to wonder if there would ever be a boring day there

Total Hours Served to Date = 32