Shahrin Islam-fg0159

HONORS-SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT

December 8, 2016
SOCIOLOGY 2000

Service-Learning Site Time Log for

Islam

Shahrin
Student Name (please print)

Total Hours Needed for Requirement: 25

Site/Location Name: Asian Pacific Islander American
Site Supervisor Name: Rebeka Islam
Telephone Number: (248)346-6123
Date

10/01/16
10/02/16
10/08/16
10/09/16
10/15/16
10/16/16

Time Served
(e.g.: 10:45 am11:30 am)

Total Hours
Served Daily
(e.g.: 45
minutes)
11:00 am-1:00 pm
2 hours
11:00 am-1:00 pm
2 hours
11:00 am-1:00 pm
2 hours
11:00 am-1:00 pm
2 hours
11:00 am-1:00 pm
2 hours
11:00 am-1:00 pm
2 hours
Total Hours Served: 12 hours

Supervisors
Initials

The above hours are an accurate accounting for my time spent serving the above
named organization.
________________________________________
Student Signature

_____________________
Date

The above hours are an accurate reflection of the time the student spent serving my
organization.
_______________________________________
Site Supervisor Signature

_____________________
Date

Service-Learning Site Time Log for

Islam

Shahrin
Student Name (please print)

Total Hours Needed for Requirement: 25

Site/Location Name: Youth Leadership Cores
Site Supervisor Name: Sana Khan
Telephone Number: (313) 671-5855
Date

10/24/16
10/25/16
10/26/16
10/27/16
10/28/16

Time Served
(e.g.: 10:45 am11:30 am)

Total Hours
Served Daily
(e.g.: 45
minutes)
4:00 pm-5:00pm
1 hour
4:00 pm-5:00pm
1 hour
4:00 pm-6:00pm
2 hours
4:00 pm-5:00pm
1 hour
4:00 pm-5:00pm
1 hour
Total Hours Served: 6 hours

Supervisors
Initials

The above hours are an accurate accounting for my time spent serving the above
named organization.
________________________________________
Student Signature

_____________________
Date

The above hours are an accurate reflection of the time the student spent serving my
organization.
_______________________________________
Site Supervisor Signature

_____________________
Date

Service-Learning Site Time Log for

Islam

Shahrin
Student Name (please print)

Total Hours Needed for Requirement: 25

Site/Location Name: American Red Cross Club Cass Tech Chapter
Site Supervisor Name Julie Phenis
Telephone Number: (313) 263-2000
Date

11/07/16
11/09/16
11/11/16

Time Served
(e.g.: 10:45 am11:30 am)

Total Hours
Served Daily
(e.g.: 45
minutes)
4:00 pm-5:00 pm
1 hour
4:00 pm-5:00 pm
1 hour
4:00 pm-5:00 pm
1 hour
Total Hours Served: 3 hours

Supervisors
Initials

The above hours are an accurate accounting for my time spent serving the above
named organization.
________________________________________
Student Signature

_____________________
Date

The above hours are an accurate reflection of the time the student spent serving my
organization.
_______________________________________
Site Supervisor Signature

_____________________
Date

Service-Learning Site Time Log for

Islam

Shahrin
Student Name (please print)

Total Hours Needed for Requirement: 25

Site/Location Name: Al-Islah Islamic Center
Site Supervisor Name: Rubel Amin
Telephone Number: (313)872-0186
Date

11/21/16
11/22/16
11/23/16
11/24/16

Time Served
(e.g.: 10:45 am11:30 am)

Total Hours
Served Daily
(e.g.: 45
minutes)
3:00 pm-4:00 pm
1 hour
3:00 pm-4:00 pm
1 hour
9:00 am-10:00 am
1 hour
9:00 am-10:00 am
1 hour
Total Hours Served: 4 hours

Supervisors
Initials

The above hours are an accurate accounting for my time spent serving the above
named organization.
________________________________________
Student Signature

_____________________
Date

The above hours are an accurate reflection of the time the student spent serving my
organization.
_______________________________________
Site Supervisor Signature

_____________________
Date

Organization: Asian Pacific Islander Americans

Hour Count:12
What is sociology? How does it impact us? As I began to take this class, I began to
answer this question based of the definitions provided in class and the lectures presented to me.
It was not until I began to do this service learning assignment that really began to answer my
unanswered questions. As I was doing these volunteering activities I began to see that everything
around me related to sociology and everything connected to me and my community. According
to asanet.org, Sociology is the study of society a social science involving the study of the
social lives of people, groups, and societies, the study of our behavior as social beings,
covering everything from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on
the street to the study of global social processes, the scientific study of social aggregations,
the entities through which humans move throughout their lives', and an overarching
unification of all studies of humankind, including history, psychology, and economics . In
this context my community and the people in it really helped me in completing my service
learning assignment. Service learning assignments are placed to teach us through active
learning and usage of our surroundings. Keeping all this in mind I decided to begin my
journey with an organization called Asian Pacific Islander American.
Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) is a nonprofit organization which focuses
primarily on the needs and diversity aspect of Asian Islander Americans living in America. I had

the great pleasure of volunteering with this organization during their voting season these past few
months. My first encounter with this organization was during their last voting campaign in 2012.
This year my experiences were completely different, being this voting season was very crucial.
Being a part of APIA gave me the chance to explore many aspects of campaigning, voting and
the voting system in general. It opened up opportunities for me to engage with people who are
just like me. I myself am an Asian American and this gave me a chance to go out and convince
my people to vote. Throughout our own campaign, we focused on getting citizens to vote. Our
main goal was not voting for Hillary or voting Trump or any third party. Our main concern was
getting the voice heard. We wanted to make sure that everyone had a say in the future of
America.
We did this by phone call surveys and door to door campaigning. The surveys that we
conducted included helping voters identify their voting polls and informing them of
Multilanguage voting ballots being offered. In the beginning of my survey calls, I would return
very upset because of rude people on the phone or people refusing to talk to me, but eventually I
realized that many of the voters were very insecure about the letting their views on politics be
public. Even though we were not interested in knowing their political views, they refused to let
us speak because of fear. Regardless of the rude people there were also very helpful voters as
well. These voters were very supportive and really appreciated youth who were volunteering
their time to make sure citizens knew how to get their voice heard. These voters gave me more
comfort and support to continue volunteering my time for this organization and not feel defeated
by the few people.
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Along with the phone surveys we worked with citizens through going door to door and
aiding in voting information. We went off a registered list of voters and targeted homes based on
voting polls. We were all divided into voting polls and asked to follow up with citizens within
that area. Many of the citizens did have questions, but these were questions based on their
political views and we were not capable of answering them. Once we explained the reason
behind our visit, they began to cooperate with us and ask questions based only pertaining to our
range. Some of them asked questions entertaining to how to obtain an absentee ballot. Others
worried that absent ballots had a possibility of being a fraud and maybe its best to just vote in
person. Another question that a lot of voters had was the concept of early voting and we can
assist in that. However, Michigan is one of the states that does not have early voting polls open.
The only form of early voting is through the absent ballot.
It was another experience to walk door to door and see different faces in the community.
We lived in the same community but never realized that they even existed. The best part about
going door to door was talking to citizens who spoke the same language as me. Instantly these
individuals began to talk to be in my own language. We sensed that these individuals found a
sense of comfort speaking about voting in their own language. We could tell their English was
weak and being able to communicate with them with their native tongue really made a difference
at the end of day. Every door was different but we got our voice heard and were able to clear
confusion among our own community regarding the voting system.
Living in a pluralistic society, I have realized we often adapt to what we see. We use
the different cultures around us as a backbone and integrate it into our own culture. In the
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same sense as I was going door to door, often times I found myself trying to communicate
through my own ways in order to get the word on voting out. I was using my own terms
and relating them back to my own culture and explain through my own experiences as to
why voting is important. This experience of going door to door also made me really
concerned at time. Every household was different. Some were completely Americanized
and others still valued their traditional culture and norms. Some refused to talk to step
outside their comfort zone simply because they did not think talking to people of other faith
was ethical. I even got to see people who were from the same background and ethnicities as
me behave in totally different manner. They were adapting to the new cultures around
them. Likewise, they behaved in a way that it was hard for me to believe that they are from
my community. Setting foot into their household made me immediately realize their newly
found values, norms, and customs.

Organization: Youth Leadership Cores

Hour Count:6
Growing up in a small city, I always felt as though I knew everyone and I knew what was
going on in every corner of the city. I realized how wrong I was when I began my volunteering
career. Even though I lived in the city of Hamtramck, I attended school in Detroit I started
looking for places to complete my service learning in and I wanted to keep the service within my
city because I really wanted to do community work for my city. While I was doing volunteer
work with another organization I came across YLC. They are based in various high schools. The
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mentors are based in Ann Arbor and Flint. Just like me, the mentors are college students. These
college students would come from Ann Arbor and Flint to talk to the high school students in my
city. I felt like it was my duty to step up and take part in what they started. The organization
would hold a small program that lasted an hour. These programs would be held after school to
accommodate the needs of the high school students. I attended this program over the course of a
week, and this one week felt like a month to me. The amount of knowledge that I acquired from
being their just a week is more than I could have acquired from being there in the course of an
entire year.
On my first day of the program, I was completely amazed. The students I saw were all
new to me. I had the idea that I knew everyone in my small community but I was wrong. I did
not know these brilliant students existed in the mist of my community in Hamtramck High
School. As I watched on the first day, new aspects began to unfold within those sixty minutes. I
realized that these kids were the future of my community. Before going into the program, I
assumed that just like any other after school program, they would focus on mentoring the
students and I would work with students on their academics. I was once again wrong. Not once
did the students or the mentors mention school subjects.
The program was set to build leadership skills. It was set to encourage youth to aid in the
building of their community. Being new to the program, I just observed on the first day and the
amount I learned just by observing was incredible. As these kids were being mentored on taking
a role in the community, they too were the mentors of others in the community. These high
school kids served as mentors for elementary students who came to Hamtramck Public Library
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on a regular basis. They were already implementing what they were learning. Thats how I knew
that this program was definitely doing great things.
On my second day of the program, I was able to get comfortable and actually start
working with the students. I am not ashamed to say, but these students were more motivated than
I was. I felt like I was getting mentored by them instead of me mentoring them. Being with them,
I was able to get more insight on my community than I would have ever imagined. All my life I
have been only seeing the exterior of my community and not the interior. I was only seeing what
my two eyes saw. I failed to see what lay beneath the surface. This program not only focused on
community work, but also unveiling history of the city. They had monthly trips to various
historical sites within the city. Of these sites, one was a museum. I never knew this museum
even existed in this city that I claimed my home. On my second day, we focused mostly on the
history of the city. I had missed the visit to the museum, but being part of the group discussion
with the students, I felt like I was getting a tour itself. Being in that setting, I was able to tell that
these kids really cared about their community and being a part of it. They inspired me to make
efforts to try to take part in community engagements.
On my third day, while working with the students, I got to be part of a very inspirational
event. Along with leadership skills, the students work on community activities such as cleaning
the park, working at the community garden. During this time of the year, they were clearing out
the garden. From the group that was present at the program, half of them had went to garden to
clean up, while the other half went to the library to tutor elementary students. I spent my time in

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both areas. The community garden and library are connected so it was convenient for me to
experience both aspects. One thing that really stood out to me was the way the students worked
together. They all were helping each other out. When one student took lead everyone else
followed without asking questions and when another student was confident in another section, he
then took lead and everyone else followed. It was nice to see such teamwork that is hard to find
these days. Our day ended with pizza and snacks. After the long two hours, everyone seemed to
just enjoy each others presence as they reenergized off of food.
On my fourth day there, we were back in the classroom and back to working with each
other build and enhance our skills. We worked on mini team building activities. Every now and
then the old mentors explained to me that the group would do ice breakers. Even though we all
knew each other, they believed it was a way to strengthen communicate and leadership among a
group. During these sessions, every week a new person would lead and this would give everyone
a chance to organize and lead these sessions so that they are comfortable to lead in real life
community settings. During my fourth day, we worked on the human knot. Everyone stood in a
circle and held hands by crossing them. The objective of the activity was to work together and
untangle everyone without letting go of each others hands. During this activity, we worked on
our listening skills. If we did not listen to each other than there would be no way to overcome
this obstacle. We began to talk all at once and we realized that everyone trying to lead was not
going to solve the problem. When we began to let each person lead and listening to one another,
we saw that the once tangled mess was becoming a civilized group. This activity really
physically showed the importance of listening to one another and taking turns in leading.
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On my fifth and final day, it was completely relaxed and in a comfortable setting. We
discussed the entire weeks progress and everyone shared highlights of the week. It was an
informal discussion. Just as we celebrated everyones accomplishments, we also went through
the group and discussed each others downfalls. It was nice to see everyone give advice to each
other on how to improve. On Fridays they also made a plan for the coming week. The next
weeks plan consisted of improvements on the current weeks failures. Saying failures would be
the wrong term. These students and mentors celebrated their shortcomings. They did not see it as
defeat rather it was a means of them knowing what they needed to improve on. During this
discussion everyone seemed more relaxed and engaged. As they each took turns describing their
eventful week, everyone listened with calm ears and waited for their turn to speak. The
discussion really summed up the week for me and opened up my eyes for my own community.
All in a days work, this community service went from just volunteering to building
lifelong friendships. I am still in touch with these amazing individuals and I know that I can go
back any day. Volunteering my time and effort to mentor these students really impacted me more
than I was supposed to impact them. I was told to mentor them but I think that for the most part,
they were mentoring me. I learned more from them than I was able to offer. One thing that really
stuck with me was how involved these students are with their community. They not only help the
future generation to come by aiding in tutoring in various subjects but they also help in educating
the bilingual seniors in the community. At the same time, they were digging up history about
where they live. These kids that were younger than me showed and taught me a very valuable

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lesson. They taught me to love my community and cherish it. They taught me to work for my
community and work within it. Foremost, they taught me that there was more to be seen in my
community. Alongside all this they taught me that I live in an amazing community.

Organization: American Red Cross Club Cass Tech Chapter

Hour Count:3
When we hear the name of American Red Cross we always think of one thing. The first
thing that comes to mind is donating blood. At one point of my life I too thought that. It wasnt
until I volunteered there that I began to see the sea of opportunities the American Red Cross has
to offer. I teamed up with my high school to work with this amazing organization. I was given
the option to volunteer on my own but I knew that I would get more out of the experience with
the aid of more volunteers. The Cass Tech Red Cross Club always held their meeting after school
so it was very convenient for me to attend their sessions. They offered a wide range of activities
to do. Along with the high school students who organized the club, there were also mentors from
the main American Red Cross branch who would come assist in these projects. We worked on
projects including making greeting cards for soldiers at war who could not come home for the
holidays. Alongside the cards, we made care packages for families who were impacted by natural
disasters.
My first day started with working on greeting cards for the soldiers. We were told to
make holiday cards based of a general addressee. The cards were not designed to go to a specific
soldier; rather they were targeted to be distributed anonymously and randomly. As I was writing
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out my thoughts on each card, it made me feel very emotional to think that a family member
would be missing from several homes for the holiday season that comes once a year. These
soldiers are protecting us while we sleep and at the end, the least I can do is make a greeting card
that will bring about a smile on their face. These greeting cards varied from ones relating to
thanksgiving and others relating to Christmas. Some of them were general holiday cards as well.
We were given a due date because they had to be shipped overseas by a certain date. This made
me really joyous to know that I was able to take part.
Alongside the greeting cards, we also worked on care packages. These care packages
were made for victim of natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes. They always stocked
up on these care packages because a natural; disaster can happen at any moment and devastate a
family. The care packages that we made consisted of towels, first aid kits, soap, shampoo, hand
sanitizer, lotion, and toothpaste. These packages were made to give to a single family. We tried
to include items that were needed to stay clean and hygienic. When a natural disaster strikes, it
becomes hard to maintain good hygiene because everything is torn apart. Keeping this in mind
we focused more on the hygiene side rather than other amenities. At the end of the hour we made
37 car packages.
Organization: Al-Islah Islamic Center
Hour Count:4
Growing up in a Muslim household, my family always cherished our religion. My
parents instilled me that I should pray five times a day and other religious customs. At the same

15

time, growing up among a diverse group of friends, I always questioned my religion and why I
do certain things that my friends did not have to do. After this experience, my thoughts
completely changed. This opportunity let me explore my own religion at the same time help out
the elders at the center. Al-Islah Islamic Center is the worship house of many elders. Majority of
these males are the age of my parents and if not, my grandparents age. On weekends, they are
open to youth and little children who go to the center for Islamic Studies. These kids are taught
by people from the community who are my age. As I started attending sessions at the center to
help the elders, I felt a connection to my religion. These elderly men spent the vast majority of
their day worshipping. When it was time to eat, they would go eat and return. Sometimes they
needed help with paperwork.
While my visit at the Islamic Center, a gentleman approached me and began to weep. He
later explained to me that it was very touching for him to see that the youth cared about them. He
stated that he would ask his kids to help with his paperwork, but they would refuse and make
excuses. I then offered to help the man. He was rejoiced knowing that I would help him. While
working with these elderly people, I realized one thing. I realized that we often neglect the
seniors in our community. We fail to recognize our roots. It is because of these elderly beings
that we have and stand in the place that we do. While doing this favor for this gentleman, I also
realized that I am too at fault. Being in that setting, I was able to see that I should be more
grateful to my parents that I already am. Sometimes I refuse to do things my parents ask of me,

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after that incident I was able to see the wound created by the refusal to simple favor. I learned a
lot of life skills from being there just one day.
On my second day there, I spent more time with the younger kids then I did with the
elders of the community. These kids began to open up more to me because I was closer to their
age. They were very excited to know that I was going to be working with them for that day. I
realized they felt a little relaxed. At one point I felt like they were taking advantage of the fact
that I was younger than their instructors and were not going to listen to what I was going to
instruct them to do, but then I realized that the only reason they were more relaxed was because
they were used to the strict nature of their instructors and were delighted to be around someone
who would understand them a little better in terms of work load and the capacity of knowledge
they can intake. To speak honestly, I was more comfortable with them then the elders who were
on the first floor of the center. Eventually they began to listen to me and engage in the activities
that I was assigning them to take part in. It was nice to spend time with them and see them
develop their skills.
On the third day, I would say I learned the most. This Islamic Center was started by a
Bangladeshi Muslim individual and what I have realized was this. Even though it was an Islamic
center meaning its home to all Muslims, majority of the followers and people practicing were
from the Bangladeshi community. I have been to other Islamic Centers in other cities and
communities and they were more diverse and integrated with other cultures. This Center
primarily had one group of followers. When I asked the Imam of the Center the reason
behind this, he further explained the concept of many of the traditions in the Bangladeshi
17

culture that led to this. He explained that the Bangladeshi community made a lot of the
norms in their community to become a religion aspect. By this he meant that a lot of the
rituals followed in the religion and primarily in the center are those that have been
followed by their ancestors and those ancestors have no links to the ancestors of another
group of Muslims. It is because of this that majority of the followers at the center are from
one background. Since the norms differ from one regional area to another, individuals
refuse to attend centers where culture influences religion and religion does not influence the
way of ones culture.
My week with this center ended on a Thursday because Fridays were always busy for
them. Fridays are the holiest day for Muslims and in this specific center women were not
allowed to attend the Friday prayer. I was very hurt to know this because I have been to mosques
where women were allowed to attend the Friday prayer and there were separate ablution spaces
and praying spaces available for the women. This once again tied back to the concept of
Bangladeshi women being neglected of their rights. It was traditionally accepted that
women were to worship in the house and men were to worship in the mosque . This followed
to the Bangladeshi community today and because of this people still today consider women
being able to attend mosques for prayer to be against the religion .
Overall my experiences at the center were worthwhile. The mentors and tutors for the
youth were all volunteers. That being said I knew that at the end of the day I was able to help the
center with my skills. Volunteering doesnt always have to be giving food to a shelter or working
at a soup kitchen. Volunteering can be supplying your time and effort to a place that lacks the
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skills that you carry. One thing that this service taught me was this, just because my views and
opinion are different from a group of people does not mean that I have to follow their views. It
was welcome to be able to express my thoughts freely to them and ask questions. Most
importantly, I realized the values of the center and what their importance was in. It may be
in their culture more than their religion but thats what makes this center unique and
different.

Bibliography
1. "What Is Sociology?" American Sociological Association. N.p., 23 May 2016. Web. 01
Dec. 2016.
2.

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