SPC

Service Learning

Zachary Rainville
1. Service learning is a style of learning that teaches the student through means of

community service. Community service is a major component of service learning,

however, the difference lies in the volunteers reflection. To be considered service

learning, the student must reflect upon their experience and observation. Through this

reflection, the student can learn hands on and make correlations to many concepts they

have studied. This learning strategy also provides opportunities for the student to use

what they have learned in class to solve real life problems. Through service learning,

students often gain a better understanding of important issues that live amongst the

community while simultaneously getting a chance to apply and/or observe many things

taught in the classroom.

2. For my service learning project, I decided to volunteer at an assisted living center

called Brentwood. This facility houses people of all adult ages who need some level of

assistance throughout their everyday life. Many residents were old and most likely living

at Brentwood until they die. However, other residents of much younger ages were living

there due to many various reasons spanning from chemo to heart transplant. As a

volunteer, I helped serve food, played the piano and conversed with many of the

residents.
3. Through my experience, I was able to make many correlations to concepts that I

have learned in the classroom. For example, an instance of ethics arose while I was

present. As I was serving food, I overheard staff members contemplating a very

controversial issue that they witnessed between two residents. The incident was between

an elderly man and an elderly woman who had dementia. A staff member caught these

two residents in a room partaking in sexual activities. This facility is equivalent to home
 for these residents, therefor, it is their right to have intimate relations. However, does the

fact that the woman has dementia negate her consent to sexual activities? Can this act be

considered rape? And, what should the staff do about it? To me this was clearly an issue

of ethics, with unique qualities of controversy.

While observing and conversing with many people in their last stage of life, I was

able to make correlations to Eriksons stages of psychological development. I noticed that

many of the elderly were either very pleasant or complacent when interacted with, or they

seemed quite rude and bitter. The pleasant residents were eager to talk to me about their

life stories and family members etc., while some others couldnt be bothered to say a

word besides negative comments. Upon reflection I classified this circumstance to

Eriksons final stage of life. It seemed clear who felt fulfilled with life and who felt

despair.
4. Working & observing all different types of people is a fascinating experience.

Volunteering amongst a living facility provided a chance to observe all sorts of different

people. I saw a woman who looked to be in her 30s who was living there due to having a

heart transplant. I also got to meet a 50 year old vet. He found himself sick and homeless

even after his booming career. The government now pays for him to live there. I later

found out that he had a heart attack a few weeks back and was taken out on a stretcher.

Moreover, this reminded me that sickness and hard times have no prejudice on a persons

background and age. I also noticed that some of the residents would treat certain nurses

different than others based on race & vice versa. I was even informed that some residents

refuse to have a black nurse. This taught me to dismiss any judgment I may receive based

on race.
5. I was able to absorb many things from my experience. First, not to stereotype the

elderly. Though looks may be deceiving, elderly people were once just like you and I.
 Some had marvelous lives loaded with experiences I would have never guessed had I not

expressed interest. An example of this was a woman I spoke with who at first seemed

very reserved, but after talking to her I soon learned why. She was a flight attendant her

whole life, and spent her life traveling the world because of this. She felt that she had

nothing in common with any other residents because of her career. Yet the stories and

memories in her mind were fascinating.

Another vital understanding I took from my experience was how forgotten about

many of the residents are by the outside world. The excitement displayed when I played

the piano and interacted with the residents was dumbfounding. The residents are either

too elderly to live an independent life or just too disabled for some reason or another.

However, at some point they were contributors to our society in many ways. I couldnt

help but to notice that this style of living was reminiscent to imprisonment. Some

residents even expressed to me that they felt useless.

6. This experience alone taught me some things about myself. First off, that I need to

be more generous with my time. I spend so much of life doing things for myself, but I

need to find the time to spend making someones day who is less fortunate than I. Just the

little bit of time I spent with these residents seemed to uplift them. The excitement some

of them displayed was dumbfounding. Second, that my attitude towards the elderly may

be stereotypical, but in reality they were all people from different life circumstances and

are sitting upon a lifetime of experiences. Third, I want to make sure that whatever career

path I choose involves helping people in some sort of need.

7. Three Years from now, who knows what I will remember from this. One thing I

would like to remember is to never take my freedom and wellbeing for granted. While

volunteering, I was exposed to people who either because of age or disability were

practically sentenced to a house arrest. They did nothing wrong. They just got old and/or
sick. Their life in the facility is quite boring for most of them. Plus, for one reason or

another, their families generally dont have much time for them. Moreover, the simple

freedom that a healthy person takes for granted is what most of the residents could only

dream to regain.
Another thing I dont want to forget goes hand in hand with the previous topic.

Seeing these people condemned to a dependent living style is eye opening. Theyre

excitement to my interaction tells me that they crave more stimulation. I can only

imagine myself either suffering from an illness unexpectedly or simply getting old and

winding up in a similar facility. I pray that someone would want to spend time with me.

Therefor, I would like to make it a point to stop by now and then, even just to play the

piano a bit.
Third I hope to remember never to neglect any friends and family that may end up

in a facility like this one day. While volunteering, I observed a family visit a resident. I

noticed that the moment the family arrived the resident seemed so uplifted. Many only

get to see their loved ones a few times a year, yet ironically family is sometimes the only

reason they desire to live.