Serving and Learning Together

My journey with my service learner was definitely a difficult one. Me and my partner, Justine, had a little trouble with our service learner showing up consistently. It is understood that they're not always responsible for showing up and they can't really control when they show up, but it was beginning to get a little ridiculous. So we did what we had to do to get the assignment done, got a new service learner. After getting a new service learner twice we finally got it right and were able get a service learner who consistently showed up.
Our second service learner, Kamil, is the person we did the Dream Careers Collage with. We only spent one week with her but we really enjoyed her company. She seemed like a girl with a good head on her shoulders who knew what she wanted in life. While making the dream collage we really got a chance to talk to her and see where she wanted to go in life. She actually seemed more together than a lot of students I know who have already graduated. But she didn't show up the next week so we ended up picking a third service learner.
Our third service learner, Dominique Neal, was pretty cool too. She had something the others lacked, consistency. Justine and I had actually prepared the exploring your dream career PowerPoint for Kamil. But when she didn't show up we quickly had to form a Plan B. So we sat down at a computer and quickly redid the PowerPoint for Kamil the future entertainment attorney to fit Dominique Neal future fashion designer and business owner. It wasn't an easy task but we had to adjust due to the circumstances.
The week before Kamil also didn't show, so we called Lena and decided we would be able to handle pushing the PowerPoint and the career essay into one week. Once we settled in with Dominique the following week we were fine and quickly finished and showed her the PowerPoint. We learned that the odds were against her being a fashion designer and she would have to work hard from the jump to achieve her goal. Her determination was clear and helped us easily write her career essay. She learned a lot about outlines and about writing an essay quickly along the way.
Since things transitioned so quickly we adjusted and we able to brief her on what we were trying to do with her. We have yet to get to the action plan but our next visit is scheduled for tomorrow and we will get to that then. I was however to visit her today to give her the invitation to the banquet. When I saw her today I was able to explain to her what would go on at the banquet and what it was for. I not only look forward to our visit tomorrow but I look forward to seeing her at the banquet.
Tomorrow is the banquet and our last visit with Dominique, our service learner. I'm definitely sad to see this all come to an end. I've really enjoyed myself because the service learner has not only drawn me closer to my partner, Justine, but I've learned that all kids aren't bad, all they need is a little push or inspiration. I really do hope I've inspired Dominique because she seems like a good kid, I just hope that through high school she keeps her mind in the right places.

My First Week as a College Student

my first week as a college student surely has been a interesting one. I'm not going to lie and say that it was all fun, but I'd have to say that all the good out-weighed the bad. My professor is Dr. Robinson-Moore and I'm enrolled in Public Speaking. Dr. Robinson-Moore has to be one of the coolest teachers I've had yet. I feel as though she a teacher I can relate to; she's strong and inspiring. My study group is pretty cool and my facilitator Ashley is the coolest! I'm doing my Service Learning at The Boys and Girls Club north campus and I can tell that there's a lot of fun up ahead for me. I'm really excited about staying on campus. I definitely think that my suite is the best suite!
In this first week I would have to say that my professor and my facilitator are most encouraging because they motivate me without even knowing it. I feel like I don't want to disappoint them; they expect so much from me and I don't want to let them down and that motivates me to work harder. The most challenging thing is the class work because there is so much it's kind of overwhelming. One thing I learned about myself is that I talk really, really fast. I always thought people were exaggerating but so many people have said it in the past week that I have no choice but to believe it.
My class experience as a whole has had a positive effect on me. I'm definitely more organized and I've been hit with the reality of college being so close. I'm really glad that I'm in this program because now I'm taking my future more seriously, I'm enjoying myself and I'm making lifetime friends and memories.