The “Other”

Speaking Truth to Power

Critical Reflection #9

What?: My time at RotaCare clinic has shown me that if one person acknowledges an issue in their community and actually decides to take action and figure out how to help, it can make a huge difference in someone else’s life…

It’s All About Perspective

WHAT: At Rotacare, even though I did not have one on one patient contact, I do sit next to the discharge nurses. After the nurses discharge a patient, the charts get handed to me to input into the computer system, so I have to sit next to them to get the charts. Sitting next to…

The Impact of a Voice

WHAT: At my community partner site, the Ritter House, I have had many experiences with particular individuals who come to the food pantry. Working at the food pantry is very fast pace, so I don’t have much time to really talk with everyone that receives the services. When I get to talk to…

Speak Up while you can.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”- Benjamin Franklin The concept of the teacher and the student goes as far back as time itself. There who someone who has learned something, someone who tries to teach and someone who is being taught. That being…

Silence Hurts More

My community partner is made up of people who inspire me every time I see them. These young mothers have come a long way from who they were in their teenage years. They are growing into these inspirational mothers with all of them working and doing their best to take care of their kids. One…

Hope is the Oppressor of Fear

Everyday I attend AVID I feel as if my heart and mind have been expanded to further comprehend and appreciate the cultural differences of the human existence. I enter each tutoring session with the key concepts of my anthropological colloquium class ringing in my ears. I hear…

Together We Can Do It

What? People say that you learn something new every day, and I have found that to be true. At my community partner, Young Moms Marin, over time I have learned a lot of new information about who the moms are and about the organization. I am going tell a story about how someone from my…

One for the Books

A Critical Reflection on Ronald David Glass’ “Staying Hopeful” and Clint Smith’s “The Danger of Silence”

What?

After my recent visit at Kids Club, I left with a heavy heart.

Keep Going.

What I love about my community partner is the various different people I encounter. Recently, I learned from one of the HIV testers, Fernando, that he is an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela. He was telling me about his story of growing up there and attending university, and why he wanted to leave…

Hoping For The Future

Critical Reflection #9

What? I will never forget the story that Carlos, the Senior Program Director of Kids Club, told me and two other students on the day of orientation about most of the families from the Canal whose children attend Kids Club. Many may already…

People Just Want to be Human

It’s hard for me to choose one person or story to share, because at the Ritter House we don’t really get the time to talk to people. There is one lady that came in last week and she only came in for one item, she didn’t even want a whole bag of food. When she asked if we had a…

Hope: An Ontological Need

What?

During my time at my community partner, there have been countless moments and experiences that have left me with monumental lessons for life. A specific moment comes to mind, that of which I’ll share. Outside of my normal Friday volunteer days, I…

Critical Reflection Prompt #9: “Staying Hopeful” and “The Danger of Silence”

Express Yourself, You Might Change the World

WHAT: The relationship between practice, theory, and knowledge is a circle that is never ending. To fully understand a person, we must understand where they are coming from in each of these aspects. Freire and Horton state, “It means to understand the…

Through Experience Comes Knowledge

What? In the piece, “We Make the Road by Walking” by Myles Horton and Paulo Freire, they write about how the relationship between practice, theory, and knowledge can be applied to the conversation regarding education and social change. Freire says that a theory is an…