Most will agree and say that high school completely changes who you thought you were (that is, until you go to college and change even more). Possessing the hindsight of a high school senior, I can attest to this. My time in IBCP has catalyzed my personal growth in a way that the regular high school experience couldn't have. My high school experience has been well-rounded and tailored to my interests because of the challenging courses I've been able to take and my Energy Technologies class, which has made my experience even better since I've been able to grow with my teacher and classmates over the course of three years (it's been the highlight of my education). The skills and themes taught through the IB program helped me explore my passions and interests with a greater sense of purpose. The habits I've developed in response to academic and social expectations have set me on the path to college and beyond. But more specifically, I've come to value the Service Learning aspect of IBCP; I recently read Eric Liu's book about civic engagement, "You're More Powerful Than You Think" and felt compelled to look for ways in which I could use my knowledge and skills to contribute to the community I belong to. I have started dedicating more time to the clubs I'm involved in and taken up more responsibilities than I ever thought I could have. It has made my high school experience all the better, and now I can say that I was a high school student who actively sought to create change in themselves and in their community. Service learning is a great way to prepare students to get out of the classroom while still participating in learning experiences.
Short-term and Long-term Goals
I've identified overarching "outcomes" that I wish to accomplish (as well as the "why" behind them). My biggest goal is to change the role of my school's garden. Given that over the course of my high school years the garden never seemed to play any role in our school community, I'm hoping to take advantage of my membership in gardening club to change that. The second outcome I hope to achieve is to raise awareness in my community about civic engagement. I'm volunteering at a non-profit, non-partisan organization in my town (Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada) whose work is based on intersectionality, a concept that describes the ways in which "oppressive institutions are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another" (Geek Feminism Wiki). When I initially started at PLAN, I didn't realize that I'd become an empowered young citizen who actually cares about social and political issues. Now I aim to share my knowledge and provide services to people my age and my immediate community. Lastly, since I am the treasurer of the Wooster GEAR UP Leadership council, which is a club made up of students who are dedicated to community service, I want to find a way in which we can expand the club and our impact on our community. It think it's important that students like us (first-gen) have the opportunity to give back to the community. Nevertheless, because our club is only in its second year, we're still figuring things out, so we've been focusing on park clean ups (year-round) and clothing drives.
Service Learning Interview #1 August 24, 2017
I came into this interview with the intention of verifying whether or not the many activities/volunteering experiences I'd already completed counted toward the 50 hours required for the Service Learning portion of the IBCP. I presented Mr. Coli with my hours from gardening club, Link Crew, and GEAR UP, and other single events. I explained that my plan was to continue in these groups, but also begin to volunteer at the public library. At this point, after explaining a little bit about each organization I am (or will be) a part of, I was reminded that it was okay to count several experiences for S.L., but that they should each be more engaging. Mr. Coli gave me some examples on how I could expand my involvement in each of my organizations, so, upon realizing that this process was to be more dependent on my own initiative rather than my attendance in singular volunteering occasions, I began to think about how I could be more proactive and giving. Here are some ideas I got after the interview: -In gardening club, I figured that we could start donating or selling what the garden produced. I also realized that our school garden is rather unincorporated in the school community-it's dull and basic. Thus, I think it would be really fun to fund raise (or solicit donations) and make Eco-friendly improvements that would save us money. Also, I'd like to add informative signs to the garden because students and teachers are always asking about what we grow. -In GEAR UP, we are finally planning on doing more fundraising and park clean ups. So, as the acting treasurer, I'm excited to track the entire planning process and the impact we had.
Service Learning Interview #2 October 13, 2017
Between my last interview with Mr. Coli and now, I've taken initiative to get our garden projects going, as well as extended my participation at PLAN as their only high school volunteer. I explained to Mr. Coli the progress we've made in gardening club, including the completion of our garden signs. As a volunteer at the PLAN, I've been creating info graphics about the voting process that will be used when the college interns and I go into Wooster's classrooms to register seniors to vote and/or inform them of the voting process. I didn't know if this qualified as an SL experience, but Mr. Coli said it did, because even though I wasn't necessarily involved in direct service, I'd be participating in advocacy, which is one of the ways I can document my service learning. As I reflect on my current progress, I realize that I've reached what feels like a plateau. I'm struggling to get things done in the garden, but I guess I can't control the combination of circumstances that have contributed to the decrease in our momentum. My internship at PLAN, on the other hand, has picked up, so I think I'll give it my undivided attention until I find a way to make more progress in our school's garden.
Service Learning Interview #3 April 17, 2018
Today I met with my advisor to determine how I should complete my SL experiences. I updated him with my SL experiences by mentioning that I stopped volunteering at PLAN, started volunteering at a public library, and that GEAR UP won money for our clothing drive project that will be used as scholarships for our non-GEAR UP peers. I asked how I should end my reflections on these events and he said that I should evaluate the experience by reflecting on what I did, what I felt, what I learned, and what I thought I could have improved. At this point I am going to focus on my reflections as well as submit an excel sheet that has all of my hours on it. I earned over 100 volunteer hours this year alone because I really enjoyed taking my community service to a new level.