Homework Center Final Blog

For my final post I want to talk about what I’ve learned from this service learning project. If you didn’t already know, I volunteered at the Homework Center at Madison View Apartment complex in Stevens Point. The Homework Center is a non-profit organization that helps many low income families in the Stevens Point area by assisting children with their school work. I helped kids work on their homework and play games from six to eight every Thursday. I worked with a group of tutors and education majors to help children ranging from ages three to fourteen. We as tutors, would help anywhere from ten to twenty children every Thursday. Originally, I didn’t know what to expect going into this project. I usually don’t do well with younger kids and was not sure how I would react to working with these little kids for two hours. After my first few times of volunteering, all of the feelings of uncertainty went away. Most of the kids had finished their homework, so we played a lot of games. It was fun to interact with these little kids. I did help a few kids with their homework and I was pretty astounded to see how the curriculum has changed since I was in grade school. Some of the words that I remember helping a young man learn were pretty advanced; even for me. I really had a great time helping kids out with their work and playing board games with them. I now don’t feel as unsure of myself when I take care of kids. I regret to say that I didn’t really connect what I learned in class to the Homework Center. But, I believe this project was a great way to get involved in the community and help young people out. I thought what better way to break away from the normal routine of exams and projects than to positively impact the world around us. If I could make one change to my project, I would apply more of what I’ve learned in class to the service learning. I would have liked to have given a talk about some of the animals we’ve learned about, or even take the kids on a nature walk in Schmeekle or something. All in all, I loved my experience with the children at the homework center. I think this will be a valuable experience for me to have; just to help kids out, and to be like a role model for them is something I will not regret doing.

Humane society final blog

When I first started volunteering at the Humane Society, I was really actually kind of scared. I didn't know how the animals would react and I thought they might not be friendly with strange people. But my first time volunteering, changed my outlook on how the animals were. I did cat socialization during my time at the HS. Normally, I'm not a big fan of cats, but all they wanted was some attention and some love. Every time I walked into a room with cats, I instantly heard meowing and found myself with cats crawling all over me. This made me happy to see how much the animals appreciated the human interaction that they don't seem to get very often. I found this to be very beneficial for me because I learned to like cats. I was also able to change my view about how animals there are. I felt like I was able to help the cats find loving homes because a lot of times when I was in with them, people would stop and look at how the cat interacted with me. And last week, I saw my first adoption. I was sad to see Ditto go but I knew he was glad to leave by how fast he crawled into that carrier. There was one thing that I found very shocking during my time at the HS. One particular day, I overheard a phone call that one of the front desk employees made. She had made a phone call inquiring if the lady had lost a dog. The lady on the other end first asked how much the fine and after learning the price said that it wasn't her dog and that it was her dad's so she wasn't going to pay the fine so they could keep the dog. The lady wouldn't come to get her dog because of the cost of the fine and that made me wonder how many other animals were there because of that same reason. All of the employees are very friendly and very helping. Jennifer, the Executive Director, often checked to see how it was going and if I needed anything. The ladies at the front desk often helped me with any questions I had or helped me get a new cat to socialize with. I'm just glad that I'm able to help make a cat's life a little happier just by being there for them to cuddle with. I plan to continue my volunteer services throughout the summer and possibly into next school year.

Humane Society

In the past two months I have learned so much about the humane society. I learned how the humane society helps the animals, the public and is overall a very beneficial organization. During my time volunteering at the humane society, I learned how to care for the animals and work with other people. This was a growing experience for both the animals and myself because people don’t realize this but those animals see little to no human contact on a day to day basis. I could tell every time I went there how appreciative the animals were to just see me. It was interesting to see how the animals especially the dogs became so extremely excited when you opened the cage to get the leash on them. Every animal there had their own very unique personality and it was fun to get to know them. One that stands out in my head is the pitbull because pitbulls just look scary but it was probably the best behaved dog at the humane society. From this experience, I feel volunteering is a very good thing. I found myself actually wanting to go volunteer; it made me feel good about myself and relieved stress. I will most likely keep volunteering there next year. Something else I like about the humane society is that it saves stray animals that don’t have a home and give them to loving families. The humane society not only takes these animals off the streets but also hires good workers and volunteers to play and train these animals to be more friendly creatures so they will be more likely to be adopted. I hate seeing animals that have been abused or hurt so the humane society is a great place for these poor animals. During my time there, I noticed that there are some things that I would want to change to benefit the animals. First thing is that when you take one dog out all the other dogs bark, so I think maybe the cages shouldn’t be right next to each other. Another thing is that the cages are farley small so it is kind of sad to see the animals in those conditions. There are some problems with space especially outside because there is a small walking sidewalk that just loops around the building and there really isn’t any outdoor space for the dogs to just run around. The last thing I would change is that I think they should advertise more because I couldn’t even find it in the beginning and nobody knew where it was even Stevens Point residents. I think the people who work at the society are doing a great job and I really enjoyed working with them and the animals.

Alzheimer's Volunteer Experience

When I first started this volunteer experience, I wasn't too excited because I felt like it was more work on top of an already challenging class. However, it ended up being more of an experience I was looking forward to every week instead of a chore. My main goal in this project was just to learn more about Alzheimer's first hand by helping out doing activites with the residents. I also work at this place, but I'm a cook so I really don't get much experience or interaction with the residents besides feeding them. What I really loved about the volunteering was residents actually remembered me. Most or just about all of these people are in the late Alzheimer's stage, so they don't remember what they did yesterday and they are basically stuck in the past. One of the caregivers actually told me something interesting, she told me that when an Alzheimer's patient looks in the mirror, they don't even recognize theirself. They think that person is their mother or father since they look so old. So going in once or twice every week to do activites really helped the residents remember me, which made us both feel more comfortable.
I'm naturally more of a shy person, and this experience really made me come out of my shell. With older people, it is really hard to communicate since most are losing their hearing. I learned that I need to talk in a low voice close to their ears and they would be more likely to hear me. I also learned that these people can be a lot of fun. They are honestly like playing with toddlers. I really enjoyed playing bingo with them, and I was so surprised with how well they did. They actually played and knew what they were doing, and they had a lot of fun and so did I.
One of the greatest things I got from this experience was to step back and value life. When I went in different residents rooms, they had pictures of their husband/wife, family, friends and themselves. It was so hard to think that these people actually had a life before this disease stole their minds. I really cherish my own grandparents now, who are having problems of their own, but nothing compared to these people. It is so sad and hard to describe what these people are going through. I really hope that they don't remember or really know what's going on right now so they can always remember the good days. The first time I went into this home I was shocked with how bad Alzheimer's can really be. It steals their life away, making them helpless human beings. There are a few residents who tell us they just want to die, and we can't just say oh you'll get better, because they won't. Once they enter this home there is basically one way out, and that is death. Death was another hard thing I had to deal with, and I shed a few tears when one of the resident's died last week. But then I can think that hopefully they are better off now in a better place.
Alzheimer's is a terrible disease, and I'm glad I got to study it. I really hope there is a cure someday soon, I dont know if I could handle seeing my own family go through this. This project has helped me discover that I love working with the elderly, so hopefully in the future I can pursue a career or another kind of experience working with them. For now, I can just give the advice to really enjoy life because you never know what will happen in the future!

Deer Project Final

When I first started my service learning project I expected it to be just another project for school that I would just do to get it over with and not take anything from it. However, once I got started working with the deer project I realized just how important service learning can be. A simple project like ours can affect a lot of people and benefit both the person completing the project and others.
I learned a lot working with the deer project. Obviously I learned quite a bit about deer and trapping them but I also learned a lot about service projects and how they can help me and the others in the community. From the work that I helped do with the deer project many others can benefit. The Wildlife Society works closely with the DNR and the findings from the deer project help the DNR learn more about urban deer herds. This information can help city planners, homeowners and wildlife biologists. City planners need to know more about urban populations of wildlife to be able to know how to manage them successfully and not hurt them. Homeowners can use this information to help control wildlife in and around their property. And wildlife biologists are constantly being asked to help both planners and property owners to manage urban wildlife populations. All these benefits can come from the work that volunteers like me can do right here in Stevens Point.
Another thing I learned while completing this project was how much experiences like these can benefit my education. My wildlife major is a popular major here at Point and there will be many people graduating with the same degree that I have. So when it comes time to get a job it will be the other experiences on the resume that will set applicants apart. Working with the deer project, or any service learning project, can help set apart my resume from the others who have the same degree as me. Also, as we discussed in class this type of learning can help give us a well rounded education.
Overall, I think that this project was a very good experience both personally and educationally. I learned a lot, not only about biology but about education and service learning. There were not really any issues I had with the project and I think it was good part of this class.

YMCA Finale

I had never heard of a service learning project before taking this class. I had to look up what it was on the internet, and what I found didn't make me too happy. It said I would be doing volunteer work and should be learning something from the experience. I'm not a big fan of volunteering because when I had to volunteer before, it just seemed like free labor. But, I figured I'd give it a try and see what happens. I ended up volunteering at the YMCA in Stevens Point with their Family Prime Time program.
The first impression I got from the staff at the Y was that they really enjoyed their jobs and wanted me to enjoy volunteering and not feel like free labor. I got to work with the weight trainer who works with the kids. She showed me what I would be doing, and I started to open up a little bit more to the idea of service learning as something I would like doing, not just something I had to do for a grade. Over the next weeks as I got more comfortable with the idea of volunteering, I actually began looking forward to Mondays (that was the day of the week I went to the Y) because I enjoyed working with the kids and also liked showing them how to use the exercise equipment.
Some things I learned over the course of the weeks are patience, the power of explanation and how much kids can accurately remember. I have five younger siblings, one brother and four sisters, and it usually doesn't require a significant amount of patience to explain something to them. The kids at the YMCA were a little different. Some of them simply would not listen, and I got sick of explaining it to them, so I can imagine how they felt. One kid told me exactly what was up. He told me I explained it weird, and told me how I should explain it. After taking his advice, I got through to the kids. So, I guess I also learned humility.
I didn't really have any issues or problems with the service learning project other than the hours that I worked there; it was hard to squeeze in between school, work, and intramurals. I really enjoyed my service learning experience, and my opinion about volunteering has changed also. I no longer see volunteering as free labor, but as a way to actually help the community at large, but is especially rewarding to see the impact volunteering makes on an individual.

Schmeekle Final

When I first heard about our service learning project, I had no idea what to do. Eventually I thought of some really cool ideas, but none of them were realistic or something that I would have time to do. But when my partner (Sarah) and I finally thought of something that would both fit our schedules, we were set. We planned to go to the Schmeekle Reserve and volunteer with anything that they needed help with. We found that their main concern was litter. The trails were surprisingly really dirty, but because of that, it provided us with many hours of clearing trails. I feel that I enjoyed doing this project; the people working for Schmeekle were very nice and welcoming and not to mention the fact that we got to get outdoors and explore the area a little. We did experience a couple problems along the way however. Our biggest obstacles to over come were our schedules and the weather. Due to some contradicting times we found it hard to make time in our busy lives to get out there. And of course our lovely Wisconsin weather held us back some days, especially in the early spring. We would plan to go out there one day and then the next day there would be snow on the ground. If I had to change anything about our service learning choice it would have definitely been that. The weather was totally against us. I wouldn't mind doing the project again but I would choose a better time, like the fall. But in the end we managed to scavenge up enough hours to fulfil our service learning project's needs. I think that I got a lot out of this project. For one thing, I got a chance to get to know someone (Sarah). And I learned a lot about the effect of pollution on the environment and how nature adapts to a new season. I thought it was very cool to get to go out to Schmeekle every week and it would look totally different than the week before. Flowers would spring up and trees would begin to bud as the snow melted away. I was very surprised at the amount of litter that we found within the park. I figured people would be more careful, considering that they are in a nature reserve. Overall I had fun doing this project, I thought it was a neat and interesting way to learn outside of the classroom.

Cellular Respiration Project: A Review

It has been a long journey, but our Service Learning Project has finally come to an end. At the beginning of the semester I wasn’t quite sure what to expect or accomplish with this type of assignment. We had to discover some way to educate ourselves and better the community while working as a team, which can prove to be a tough task. When we decided to do an animation on cellular respiration, I knew that we would be in for a difficult, but exciting journey. Over the past two months Liz, Steven, Steph, and I have spent countless hours researching, discussing, planning, and putting together our animation. Our goal was to put together an organized and clear-cut explanation of the process of cellular respiration including; glycolosis, the Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain. We wanted to gain a better understanding ourselves but also provide a teaching tool for science teachers and professors and their students. It’s a great feeling to be able to be apart of classrooms across the country and active in other student’s education. Although this project was a lot harder then I’d imagined it was rewarding in the end. Not only did I learn about cellular respiration but also I think the entire group picked up valuable skills that will be effective in any job or position we obtain after college. I had a lot of fun working with my group and enjoyed the time together. (Despite all the time spent on deciphering chemical equations and diagrams, after hour meetings, and retakes during voiceovers.) I’m looking forward to participating in more service learning projects throughout my college years. After reading other student’s blog posts, I realized that there are many more opportunities to help out the community while educating and bettering myself. I’d love the opportunity to clean up Schmeekle Reserve, volunteer for hospice care or the Humane Society, or educate other students on organ systems and their functions. Volunteering and service learning is definitely a rewarding experience and I hope my team members felt the same. It would be amazing if everyone took time out of their busy lives to donate their time to help others and the environment.