CR#1: More Than Just “Volunteering”
Service-learning allows students to take the concepts and knowledge they learned in class and practice those skills within their community partner site. As a service-learner in the community, I believe that my role is to think critically about the structure of our society and how the inequalities that exist today came into existence. This semester, I hope to become more engaged by creating deeper relationships with clients through my consistency and commitment at my community partner site.
The organization that I have chosen to work with is the Ritter Center. The Ritter Center is a non-profit organization that serves the low-income and homeless population in San Rafael. This semester will be my 4th semester doing service-learning in their food pantry where I assist clients in putting together their grocery bags, organizing the shelves, assembling produce bags, and maintaining a clean food pantry. During my service-learning I gained a lot of interaction with a great diversity of clients. However, during my first semester of service-learning, I never understood the meaning of service-learning and how much of an impact it could have on one’s college experience.
Service-learning encourages critical thinking which means to “think with complexity, to go below the surface when considering an issue and explore its multiple dimensions and nuances” (Sensoy & Robin, 2017). This experience allows students to practice critical theory which “analyzes social conditions within their historical, cultural, and ideological contexts” (Sensoy & Robin, 2017). I believe that service-learning without understanding these concepts only makes it “volunteering” or just plainly serving a community. Although there is nothing wrong with serving and helping a community, it means more when you understand how and why the community you are serving is marginalized and how they have been mistreated within society.
Last semester, I was able to learn about the homeless and mentally ill population. In the 1960s, mental institutions were defunded by the government which caused patients who were affected by severe mental illness to be homeless and without proper treatment. Therefore, there lacked any security for those who were mentally ill and caused a downward spiral for this population. Without understanding the root cause of this issue, many people blame the mentally ill and homeless individuals for problems that they are not initially responsible for. Without any social support, effective treatment, and a lack of affordable housing, it is almost impossible for this population to adopt a stable lifestyle.
By placing historical background with the community that I serve, it places greater meaning in service that I am doing at the Ritter Center. We serve to advocate for a community so marginalized and act as a voice for those who never had a chance to speak up. Service-learning is much more than having students cater to a community in need. As students that might one day lead, it is important to understand the social inequities and inequalities that are present in the world on a local and global level.
