ESSAY #3—REFLECTIONS ON SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

            In this assignment, you will reflect on your community service learning experience and explain your insights to your reader. You should assume a general audience who may or may not be familiar with the agency with which you worked or the kind of work they perform. You should not only describe the experience itself, but illustrate it with specific examples. You should also analyze and evaluate the experience, including what you learned or gained from the experience. Use your reflections questionnaire and journal to help you generate ideas.

            The following are some questions that you might consider in the course of your discussion:            What about the experience made an impression on you? Does the organization seem to be addressing the problem and it causes effectively? If so, what impressed you about the organization’s effectiveness? If not, what could be improved? Were you impressed by any particular individuals? Why? How? What do you think about the population or situation being served by this organization? Did your view of this population or situation change as a result of your service? How desperate is the situation? Did you feel that your work was really helping the situation? Do you feel more committed to this cause/work as a result of your service? Did this experience make you want to volunteer again? Would your recommend the experience to another student? You do not need to address all of these questions in your essay; choose the ones that help you make your point about the experience.

            Your essay should be from four to six pages in length. Your rough draft is due on Wednesday, October 11. BE SURE TO BRING COPIES FOR YOUR PEERS AND ME. Your final draft is due on Wednesday, October 18.