We find happiness as human beings when we give not when we keep
You definitely have to find some way to contribute to your community or to the future
They’ll find that the biggest difference they make is probably in their own life
The Service Learning Program is a program here at Eastfield that encourages students
to volunteer in an organization and give some service that benefits their education in some
way shape or form. Many of them choose something that they know.
Something that they are able to do and that coincides many times with their majors.
Anything that a person is passionate about I almost guarantee they can find something
in the service learning program that either accomplishes that or comes very close to that.
They develop a heart of understanding. They develop generosity. They understand that there
are people that need help. It’s going to make them a much fuller, much
richer person to volunteer to understand what that means.
We need to show our younger generation how to be the best that we can be.
It’s a great phenomenal program where we actually give back to the community.
I can help a child that will be in my shoes one day. They will help a child that was in
their shoes. It’s like a rippling effect. More than anything it builds a culture.
My experience was different than what I expected because I thought service learning or volunteering
was not going to do anything. No impact. Students should participate in any volunteer
experience, not just service learning. You make the lives of the people around you
better. You make the life of the community better.
Somebody who loves helping people teaching you how to love helping people as much as
they do. Not am I good, but are we good? Are we better
off as a community? Little by little, we see in the students,
in the individuals, this shift. This paradigm shift. From me, to you, to us.
Every time I go into community service I always try and work hard.
And that to me is the most rewarding part. It’s that they see that certain things in
human nature just don’t change. You can impact so many people through one
person’s service. You got to keep going. You got to do this.
If not for you, then for other people. If you put yourself in the position for the
cause you’re doing it for. If you’re helping the elderly, you will get there one day. If
you’re helping the children, you may have children one day that you may not have time
to give them. If you’re helping people that need food that don’t have food, you know,
you might be there one day. I was there one day.
Whether that be providing food for someone, financial assistance in paying their electricity.
It’s just that’s what we’re called to do is serve our brothers and sisters and make
sure that they have what they need. Whenever you focus on something, sometimes
people tend to be in their little world, but when I do something now, I think of everybody
around me. Because you’re thinking about the world, the people, not just yourself.
Just try it once, you’re going to end up loving it and if you don’t, well try again
because you’re going to end up loving something different.
Now they’re going to do it with a bigger purpose where they can actually impact the
community, not just themselves. Doing service learning develops civic responsibility
because my responsibility, as an individual, doesn’t end with me, but ends with the responsibility
I have towards my community and towards my nation.
That’s my hope is that we can really expand this program. Get more agencies involved,
get more opportunities, and more importantly get more students involved because that’s
really our biggest challenge is showing the students how beneficial it is to them.
They can really make an impact. They might not know it yet, but one person does make
a difference. But more than that this can really prepare them for the future, really
open their eyes. Service learning is something I love doing
and everyone that’s in service learning loves doing.
If it’s something maybe a little out of your comfort zone, just give it a try. It
might actually open you up to new ideas and it might open you up to meeting new people
and doing things that maybe you didn’t think you were capable of.
The only thing I’d do differently is probably get started with it sooner.
If a student is not participating in service learning, my question is why?
You got to get better for yourself, for your family, and especially for your community.