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Questions..
- While we have had the privilege of learning, many people have not had that same opportunity. It is our job to educate people on their options so that they can make the decision for themselves. The key to educating others is out reach. We can’t spread information if we never leave the comfort of our own home. We need to get out there; go see the world. Now, to some, seeing the world may just start in their very own community. Outreach in your own community can still have an impact. Reach out to people who live by you. Talk to them about what is happening in the world. Talk about social issues. Share your opinions, but more importantly, listen to their opinion. This is a great way to raise awareness about modern issues.
- I think there is great value in doing community work. I heard an interview once about suicides. The host was asking the guest (a doctor) what they would suggest to any suicidal person. The doctor said, “Go do community service. Go help people in need. If you are suicidal, go look at the need there is in your very own community.” I think this is such a powerful statement. Community service is vital to a healthy and happy life. It is important because we need to take the focus off ourselves, and help those in need.
- At VT, we have many organizations dedicated to service. Local clubs such as the Rotary Club, Key Club, and Relay for Life, like to partner up with the students at Tech. These clubs affect my peers because they give us all a chance to serve the community. A school that serves together functions better together as one community. People who are involved in their community are generally happier and positive. The more happy and positive people I am around, the more positive and happier I am. The people we are around also have an effect on us.
- The most effective community service I have done was probably the Christmas Baskets (we took food and delivered it to the families in need). This was most effective because it was able to become annual. Community service events that are able to happen every year, every month, and even every week work best because they are repeatedly aiding in the need of the community. The least effective community service events are the ones that happen once and then never happen again. There needs to be the constant help for those in need to be most effective. Sporadic or spontaneous help can be effective, but it doesn’t cater to the need as much as weekly or monthly events.
- The most difficult part of community service is seeing how much poverty and pain there is. I never think that things can be bad (even within our own country), but when I volunteer, it is always eye- opening. I see the hurt. I see the struggle. It is often difficult for me to cope with this side of service; however, the most satisfying part of community service is seeing the need met. I love seeing how all the hard work has paid off and seeing that we really can make an impact. It is so powerful to see that every person has a chance to make a difference.
- As a Christian, I feel like community service definitely expresses my values. Charity, kindness, and love are a big part of my core beliefs. By volunteering, I am able to share these values with the people I meet. Outreach in my own community is a great way to share my three- core beliefs. Every person needs a little bit of charity, kindness, and love in their life. Doing events such as picking up trash, building houses, helping at a homeless shelter, and participating in general service I am able to share those three core values with the people around me.
- Because of my service- learning, I am a better person. This may sound like a “generic” sentence, but there is a lot of truth to it. Community service has made me a better person because I focus less on myself and more on other people. When I serve others, my selfish thoughts lose their power because I see how hard it really is for those around me. I become a better person because I am using my time to make a difference in my community, state, country, or even the world. Because of my service- learning, I know that my time on Earth wasn’t spent in vain.
Where I Am From Poem
L.A. Baby
Bright lights, bigger city
I was born into the crowd
Wide house, streets were gritty
Standing tall, west coast proud
Lots of people, lots of faces
In the city where angels fly
Too many streets, too many places
For a young girl to be shy
Small child, smaller backpack
On my way to my new school
Hear the Chilli Pepper Soundtrack
As the kids try to be cool
Loud truck, louder freeway
As my Dad comes home from work
Give the keys to the valet
And make sure I tip the clerk
High Buildings, higher prices
Fifteen dollars for some water?
But the food is full of spices
So I paid the extra dollar
Weird costumes, weider people
As I walk through Hollywood
Hear the church bell in the steeple
A huge part of my childhood
Bright lights, bigger city
As I crawl into my sheets
In a place that will always be home
In a place that never sleeps
L.A. Baby
Bright lights, bigger city
I was born into the crowd
Wide house, streets were gritty
Standing tall, west coast proud
Lots of people, lots of faces
In the city where angels fly
Too many streets, too many places
For a young girl to be shy
Small child, smaller backpack
On my way to my new school
Hear the Chilli Pepper Soundtrack
As the kids try to be cool
Loud truck, louder freeway
As my Dad comes home from work
Give the keys to the valet
And make sure I tip the clerk
High Buildings, higher prices
Fifteen dollars for some water?
But the food is full of spices
So I paid the extra dollar
Weird costumes, weider people
As I walk through Hollywood
Hear the church bell in the steeple
A huge part of my childhood
Bright lights, bigger city
As I crawl into my sheets
In a place that will always be home
In a place that never sleeps
9/25/2016
What I Bring to the Table
We all have strengths we can bring to work, school, friendships, relationships, and anywhere we interact with other people. I would like to talk about what I believe are my strengths, and how I think I can use them to make an impact in the SERVE community and the VT community as a whole.
My top strength is Learning. I love to learn new things, and I keep an open mind when I am listening to other people. In school, I was always the weirdo that actually liked classes. I would come home from Calculus excited to do homework, and yes, I am as big a nerd as I sound. I just love to learn, and I don’t care if that means spending my Friday night deriving equations and writing essays and not dancing the night away with my friends. I believe that this strength can be very impactful in the SERVE and VT community. Many young adults, like myself, believe we know more than… well everyone; however, junior year of high school was like a wakeup call for me. I realized that I knew very little, but I wanted to learn as much as I could. This is the philosophy that I keep to this day, and I believe that my peers would benefit from this mindset as well. I love sharing the information that I learn, and I like to speak up to spread the knowledge.
This brings me to my next strength: input. We have the privilege to learn at an amazing school like Tech, but we have the obligation to go share the knowledge that we are learning. I think input is important for the success of SERVE or any organization for that matter. We need to share how we feel; we need to evaluate whether something is working or not. Input is vital to the growth of programs.
My third strength is intellection. Both of my parents have multiple Masters Degrees, and they are some of the smartest people I know. They fostered an environment of academics and intellection for my sisters and I. We always worked hard in school, and I personally was never happy without an “A.” I developed study habits that actually worked, I worked on memorization skills, and I always did my homework. Intellect has always been a big part of my academic career, and I believe it will always play a role in my life. I think that I can bring an objective viewpoint to the SERVE and Tech community with this strength. Even if we don’t agree with something, there is benefit to hearing what other people have to say.
My next strength is developer. I consider this to be one of my greatest strengths. This is a strength of mine because I am able to develop other people, and I am able to develop myself. I have always been the “good friend.” I like to always be available for those around me. I enjoy talking to them about situations they are going through, and I always like to offer advice that may help them develop and grow. I think that this is a good quality in SERVE because I will hold people accountable. I always put their needs first, and I want to see my peers succeed. As for developing myself, I think one of my strongest qualities is my ability to take correction. If I do something wrong, I may be upset in the moment (who isn’t?), but I reflect on what I did and take the correction. I think this is why developer is one of my greatest strengths. I will admit when I messed up, try to fix it, and remember not to make the same mistake in the future. In regards to SERVE and the VT community as a whole, I think I will always be “the most improved.” I may not be the smartest person in the class, but I will work the hardest at becoming the best student. I will encourage my peers to adopt this mindset as well.
My last strength is achiever. I learned at a young age that we can achieve any goal that we sent our minds to. I know this is extremely cliche, but that statement is the testament of my life. I dream big, work hard, take correction, and then I achieve my end goal. We all have dreams, but do we have the legs to make the dreams happen? We should never stop unitl we reach our dreams.
So wht meaning is there to all of these strengths if we have no sense of community?
SERVE needs to be a true community. There can’t be divions between us. We need to outwardly expreess our beliefs and values to those we interact with. As Block said, “To feel a sense of belonging is important because it will lead us from conversations about safety and comfort to other conversations, such as our relatendess and willingness to provide hospitality and genorisity.” This quote parallells everything that I believe in. As a SERVE community, we need to us all of our strengths to make an impact on Tech, Blacksburg, and NRV.
I know that SERVE is going to have a huge impact on the community around us. I can’t wait to see what we do!
Toni Volpi
11/7/2016
Criticisms of Volunteerism
In an ideal world, every action we would make would have no consequence; however, this is just not the case. Every rock we though into the water makes a ripple. Every piece of gossip we spread has repercussions. Sometimes we study really hard and still get the bad grade, and the worst part of all this is that we usually have good intentions. We usually act with the intent to help ourselves or others, but sometimes we just end up hurting those around us. Volunteerism is not exempt from this effect. We go overseas, pack bags to give to poor children, plant some trees in a national forest with the intent to “do good” and make an impact, but the effects sometimes don’t go the way that we want them to.
Don’t get me wrong: volunteering is wonderful. I think that it is important to help those in need, and my whole life has been centered around serving and volunteering; however, I was to dig a little bit into the “reasons” people serve. When I first started community service in middle school, I volunteered just to check some requirements off for school. I didn’t have a passion for any of the activities that I was doing, and I think that many people volunteer for similar reasons that I did. Maybe they need requirements for school or a club. Maybe they need to for church. Maybe they just think that volunteering will check of their “do something nice” list. These reasons have something in common: they are selfish. I know that is a bold statement, but I fell that I can say that since my intentions for service started out as selfish as well. We help people, but we are only looking for what we can gain from the experience. I think that this is a downside to volunteerism. People, sadly, often have alternative, selfish motives for helping others. I think these motives can also affect the quality of the service people give others as well.
I hate science. If I had to do a job that required anything scientific related, I wouldn’t do a very good job because I didn’t enjoy what I was doing. This can also happen with volunteering. If you don’t love of even know why you are volunteering, you are less likely to try and do a good job at it. People try to quickly rush through the work and get the hours check off. People don’t work as hard because they only have to volunteer for a few hours. With selfish reasons to volunteer, the quality of work becomes mediocre.
This brings me to my next critique of volunteerism: Can the service work not be beneficial? To answer this question, we must look past the present and into the future. Say a person travels to Kenya. They are so excited to build this well for a local tribe who must travel miles to get water every day. This person and the service team build the well, they spend some time with tribe, and the tribe is so grateful. The service team feels great, and they feel as though their service was validates; however, three months later, something goes wrong with the well and it breaks. None of the team can go back to Kenya, and the tribe has no idea how to set it or fix it. They are right back to square one, and they must travel miles once again to get water. Was this service beneficial?
I think that people are so excited to go “fix” the problems of those in need, but I don’t think that this is always a good philosophy when it comes to volunteering. I think that people should focus on teaching people in need how to fix their own problems. If the person in the example had selected certain members of the tribe and set up the well with them, once the well broke, the tribe would then know how to fix it. Like I stated before, people usually have “good” intentions, but I think that people need to volunteer with the intent to help with long-term goals, and not just short- term goals.
I think that in some cases, volunteerism can be harmful. We did some cases studies and class and found out that while people travel to other countries with the intent to help, they actually leave a path of destruction. In one study, we looked at the orphanages in other countries. Volunteers will occasionally come visit the orphans with bright smiles, warm hugs, and promises of returning in the future. However, when the volunteers realize that the promises they made are not doable, they leave behind heartbroken children. The study showed that this behavior from volunteers actually increased depression among the orphans who were sporadically receiving attention and love and then never seeing the volunteers again. This is an example of how volunteerism can actually be harmful. If someone is thinking about do community service or volunteering overseas, they should focus on long-term impacts and not just short term “emotional highs.”
My final critique of volunteering has to do with the “emotional high” I briefly mentioned in the paragraph before. Similar everything else in life, people tend to chase the “emotion” in their experiences. For example, I like to watch sad, “crying” movies after I have had a horrible week. The movie only validates my feelings that it had been a crappy week. When someone is in the mood to rant, they go to friends to validate their feelings of anger. The same thing is similar when people volunteer. People try to validate the fact that if they go overseas, planting an occasional tree and holding baby can make up for the ton of money they are spending there. I think that people become addicted to the ‘feeling of being a good person” when they volunteer, and then they try to use that feeling to validate the fact that they are really spending a lot of money to go on a ‘vacation.”
I realize that these are all really harsh statements to make about volunteering, but community service and volunteering are a huge part of my life. I just think that it is important to look at the downsides and counter sides to every action that we do. Looking at the critiques of the volunteering has changed the way that I volunteer. I try to think about the effects that my actions are going to have on the people that I am trying to help. Am I actually making a difference? Am I making a good impact or a bad impact? These are things that people need to think about the next time that they are volunteering. If the service that you are do is not going to have an impact on the community that you are helping, change something. Try to find a service activity where you are going to make an impact. Work hard at whatever you do, and make sure that you enjoy what you are doing.
11/7/2016
Criticisms of Volunteerism
In an ideal world, every action we would make would have no consequence; however, this is just not the case. Every rock we though into the water makes a ripple. Every piece of gossip we spread has repercussions. Sometimes we study really hard and still get the bad grade, and the worst part of all this is that we usually have good intentions. We usually act with the intent to help ourselves or others, but sometimes we just end up hurting those around us. Volunteerism is not exempt from this effect. We go overseas, pack bags to give to poor children, plant some trees in a national forest with the intent to “do good” and make an impact, but the effects sometimes don’t go the way that we want them to.
Don’t get me wrong: volunteering is wonderful. I think that it is important to help those in need, and my whole life has been centered around serving and volunteering; however, I was to dig a little bit into the “reasons” people serve. When I first started community service in middle school, I volunteered just to check some requirements off for school. I didn’t have a passion for any of the activities that I was doing, and I think that many people volunteer for similar reasons that I did. Maybe they need requirements for school or a club. Maybe they need to for church. Maybe they just think that volunteering will check of their “do something nice” list. These reasons have something in common: they are selfish. I know that is a bold statement, but I fell that I can say that since my intentions for service started out as selfish as well. We help people, but we are only looking for what we can gain from the experience. I think that this is a downside to volunteerism. People, sadly, often have alternative, selfish motives for helping others. I think these motives can also affect the quality of the service people give others as well.
I hate science. If I had to do a job that required anything scientific related, I wouldn’t do a very good job because I didn’t enjoy what I was doing. This can also happen with volunteering. If you don’t love of even know why you are volunteering, you are less likely to try and do a good job at it. People try to quickly rush through the work and get the hours check off. People don’t work as hard because they only have to volunteer for a few hours. With selfish reasons to volunteer, the quality of work becomes mediocre.
This brings me to my next critique of volunteerism: Can the service work not be beneficial? To answer this question, we must look past the present and into the future. Say a person travels to Kenya. They are so excited to build this well for a local tribe who must travel miles to get water every day. This person and the service team build the well, they spend some time with tribe, and the tribe is so grateful. The service team feels great, and they feel as though their service was validates; however, three months later, something goes wrong with the well and it breaks. None of the team can go back to Kenya, and the tribe has no idea how to set it or fix it. They are right back to square one, and they must travel miles once again to get water. Was this service beneficial?
I think that people are so excited to go “fix” the problems of those in need, but I don’t think that this is always a good philosophy when it comes to volunteering. I think that people should focus on teaching people in need how to fix their own problems. If the person in the example had selected certain members of the tribe and set up the well with them, once the well broke, the tribe would then know how to fix it. Like I stated before, people usually have “good” intentions, but I think that people need to volunteer with the intent to help with long-term goals, and not just short- term goals.
I think that in some cases, volunteerism can be harmful. We did some cases studies and class and found out that while people travel to other countries with the intent to help, they actually leave a path of destruction. In one study, we looked at the orphanages in other countries. Volunteers will occasionally come visit the orphans with bright smiles, warm hugs, and promises of returning in the future. However, when the volunteers realize that the promises they made are not doable, they leave behind heartbroken children. The study showed that this behavior from volunteers actually increased depression among the orphans who were sporadically receiving attention and love and then never seeing the volunteers again. This is an example of how volunteerism can actually be harmful. If someone is thinking about do community service or volunteering overseas, they should focus on long-term impacts and not just short term “emotional highs.”
My final critique of volunteering has to do with the “emotional high” I briefly mentioned in the paragraph before. Similar everything else in life, people tend to chase the “emotion” in their experiences. For example, I like to watch sad, “crying” movies after I have had a horrible week. The movie only validates my feelings that it had been a crappy week. When someone is in the mood to rant, they go to friends to validate their feelings of anger. The same thing is similar when people volunteer. People try to validate the fact that if they go overseas, planting an occasional tree and holding baby can make up for the ton of money they are spending there. I think that people become addicted to the ‘feeling of being a good person” when they volunteer, and then they try to use that feeling to validate the fact that they are really spending a lot of money to go on a ‘vacation.”
I realize that these are all really harsh statements to make about volunteering, but community service and volunteering are a huge part of my life. I just think that it is important to look at the downsides and counter sides to every action that we do. Looking at the critiques of the volunteering has changed the way that I volunteer. I try to think about the effects that my actions are going to have on the people that I am trying to help. Am I actually making a difference? Am I making a good impact or a bad impact? These are things that people need to think about the next time that they are volunteering. If the service that you are do is not going to have an impact on the community that you are helping, change something. Try to find a service activity where you are going to make an impact. Work hard at whatever you do, and make sure that you enjoy what you are doing.
Times I Have Felt Alive
“The kids at school don’t really like me Miss Toni.They think that I am weird, and they say that I won't stop talking.”
Michael looked down at his hands as we sat on the bench. He had finally finished explaining the entire process of Minecraft to me (and I mean every little trick and trap he knew). He had been talking non-stop for about an hour, but he finally took a breath.
“I enjoy talking to you Michael,” I said with a smile. That wasn't completely a lie... although my patience was certainly tested several times in the last hour.
“Thank you Miss Toni. Thank you for actually listening to me. People don’t ever really listen to me.”
His words hit me like a bag of bricks. I felt heartbroken that a young child felt as though no one listened to him, and that he was never heard. The next day I saw Michael at the band camp, I made sure to spend as much time with him as possible. I asked him tons of questions about Minecraft, and he then asked me questions about things I liked. Michael had suffered from Asperger's Syndrome, and I was the special needs bandcoach for that camp, so I had the honor of spending time with him as well as other children.I don’t really know hot to describe the experience, but something clicked in me. That was the camp was the first time that I realized that I wanted to work with Special Needs children. I had more than a feeling of empathy towards them; I felt connected to them. I feel horrible that they are labeled by doctors, and then outcasted by society. Those are two important things that progressive society is trying to limit, yet we forget about that when people suffer from mental disabilities.
I never how I felt when Michael spoke to me. I felt so heartbroken because I knew that all people want is to be heard. They want to know that what they say matters to someone. Words shouldn’t be sounds spoken into oblivion, but the should be sounds spoken into existence. After that volunteer experience of working with special needs children, I realized that that was the kind of community service I wanted to do.
Fast forward to this year. I am now a freshman in college, and I have had many service opportunities to work with special needs kids since my experience with Michael in eighth grade; however, this year I had another “alive” moment. I went on the weekend trip to North Carolina to work with the Syrian Refugees. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever. It was so cool to meet and hang out with these kids and hear their stories. They had never seen squirrels before, and they didn’t know what pine trees looked like. One of the kids was so excited to see snow for the first time. The other Tech students and I had a great time getting to know them, but I became particularly close with the youngest boy. He was five years old, and he suffered from autism. A lot of the other students were trying to reach and play with him, but I knew from experience that it was important to let him come to you. He loved organizing the snacks and drinks into different combinations and formations, and he liked counting them outloud. As someone who loves math, I appreciated his love for counting. Once it was time to eat, all of us gathered together. This little boy walked up to stand by me, and so I said Hello. He looked up at me, smiled, and put his hand on my face. One of the women who took care of him laughed and said, “He always likes to flirt with the pretty girls.” While the others laughed, I kept watching my new friend. I felt the same feeling I got when I talked with Michael. We had a connection. I felt alive.
Throughout the rest of lunch, I hung out with my new friend, counting with him, saying “please” and “thank you,” and going over colors. He wanted to sit next to me or on my lap, and one of the other Tech students said, “Hey Toni. He really likes you.” When it was time to go, he started crying, and he wouldn’t let go of my hand. They had to hold him back as I got in the car, and I had to hide from the others that I was crying. I felt like a part of me had died. How could I leave after such an amazing experience?
Looking between the two experiences, I realize that there was a connection between the experiences: special needs children. When I talk to them, interact with them, things just feel right. I want them to know that they are heard, and I want them to know that they matter. I think that I felt so “alive” in these experiences because I think we all want to be heard. I, as well as everyone else, relate to them. We want people to listen to us, and I will make sure that I spend my time listening… really listening… to people.
“The kids at school don’t really like me Miss Toni.They think that I am weird, and they say that I won't stop talking.”
Michael looked down at his hands as we sat on the bench. He had finally finished explaining the entire process of Minecraft to me (and I mean every little trick and trap he knew). He had been talking non-stop for about an hour, but he finally took a breath.
“I enjoy talking to you Michael,” I said with a smile. That wasn't completely a lie... although my patience was certainly tested several times in the last hour.
“Thank you Miss Toni. Thank you for actually listening to me. People don’t ever really listen to me.”
His words hit me like a bag of bricks. I felt heartbroken that a young child felt as though no one listened to him, and that he was never heard. The next day I saw Michael at the band camp, I made sure to spend as much time with him as possible. I asked him tons of questions about Minecraft, and he then asked me questions about things I liked. Michael had suffered from Asperger's Syndrome, and I was the special needs bandcoach for that camp, so I had the honor of spending time with him as well as other children.I don’t really know hot to describe the experience, but something clicked in me. That was the camp was the first time that I realized that I wanted to work with Special Needs children. I had more than a feeling of empathy towards them; I felt connected to them. I feel horrible that they are labeled by doctors, and then outcasted by society. Those are two important things that progressive society is trying to limit, yet we forget about that when people suffer from mental disabilities.
I never how I felt when Michael spoke to me. I felt so heartbroken because I knew that all people want is to be heard. They want to know that what they say matters to someone. Words shouldn’t be sounds spoken into oblivion, but the should be sounds spoken into existence. After that volunteer experience of working with special needs children, I realized that that was the kind of community service I wanted to do.
Fast forward to this year. I am now a freshman in college, and I have had many service opportunities to work with special needs kids since my experience with Michael in eighth grade; however, this year I had another “alive” moment. I went on the weekend trip to North Carolina to work with the Syrian Refugees. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever. It was so cool to meet and hang out with these kids and hear their stories. They had never seen squirrels before, and they didn’t know what pine trees looked like. One of the kids was so excited to see snow for the first time. The other Tech students and I had a great time getting to know them, but I became particularly close with the youngest boy. He was five years old, and he suffered from autism. A lot of the other students were trying to reach and play with him, but I knew from experience that it was important to let him come to you. He loved organizing the snacks and drinks into different combinations and formations, and he liked counting them outloud. As someone who loves math, I appreciated his love for counting. Once it was time to eat, all of us gathered together. This little boy walked up to stand by me, and so I said Hello. He looked up at me, smiled, and put his hand on my face. One of the women who took care of him laughed and said, “He always likes to flirt with the pretty girls.” While the others laughed, I kept watching my new friend. I felt the same feeling I got when I talked with Michael. We had a connection. I felt alive.
Throughout the rest of lunch, I hung out with my new friend, counting with him, saying “please” and “thank you,” and going over colors. He wanted to sit next to me or on my lap, and one of the other Tech students said, “Hey Toni. He really likes you.” When it was time to go, he started crying, and he wouldn’t let go of my hand. They had to hold him back as I got in the car, and I had to hide from the others that I was crying. I felt like a part of me had died. How could I leave after such an amazing experience?
Looking between the two experiences, I realize that there was a connection between the experiences: special needs children. When I talk to them, interact with them, things just feel right. I want them to know that they are heard, and I want them to know that they matter. I think that I felt so “alive” in these experiences because I think we all want to be heard. I, as well as everyone else, relate to them. We want people to listen to us, and I will make sure that I spend my time listening… really listening… to people.
Syrian Refugee Lunch with VT, Durham, NC
Toni Volpi
December 11, 2016
SPIA 2984
Word Count: 2455
What Does It Mean To Be An Active Citizen
Everybody wants to belong. Everybody wants to know that they are a part of something. They want to make an impact on someone and leave an imprint somewhere. This is why community is so important to humanity. “Community offers the promise of belonging and calls for us to acknowledge our interdependence (Block).” When we live in community, it gives us hope. It offers us support. It becomes a part of who we are.
That being said, the communities we live in are not perfect in any sense of the word. Any time that you bring different people with different ideas into close quarters, there will be collision. People are passionate about what they believe to be true (especially topics such as religion, politics, and ideologies). Members of the communities want to share these beliefs with those around them, but when others disagree, disorder breaks out in the community.
The conflict of opinion and belief is especially difficult in communities where there is a lot of freedom. In the community of Virginia Tech, students have the ability to say, do, and believe whatever they want; however, they often forget about the responsibility that comes with that much power. According to the Block readings, “Freedom is the choice to be a creator of our own experience, and accept the unbearable responsibility that goes with that.” Take a Tech student for example: they are in community that gives them a decent amount of freedom. Even if there are cops, they have the freedom to smoke and underage drink. The problem with that kind of freedom is that most college kids don’t want to live with the consequences of those kinds of actions. This creates a divide in the community because now the RAs, the cops, and the staff have to deal with the consequences, not just the individual.
This is why it is important to practice good citizenship. If we have the privilege of being part of a community, we should be the type of citizens that better our communities. Being a good citizen is more than just being a member of a community: it is “actively engaging in the community (Social change Model).” Citizens should be involved in events, organizations, clubs, ect. A good citizen is aware of the need in the community, and they are actively looking for ways to help.
I believe that this important for citizens because they must never be naive to the need in their community. For example, some Americans are blind to the poverty that we actually have in our own country. They think that poverty only exists in third-world countries, but if they ever visited Linefork, KY (the poorest region in the USA), they would be surprised. There is always going to be need in a community. Good citizens recognize this, but they should not try to fix the problem without any research or stability. This can often do more harm than good. In the Linefork example, if my church’s mission group decided that we wanted to bring old clothes down with us, the community wouldn’t have anywhere to store the boxes. They didn’t need clothes. They needed people to help hand out the clothes. Good citizens need to make sure that they are helping in the way that the community needs them to help.
A good citizen is also aware of the assets and benefits of the communities. “That alternative path, very simply, leads toward the development of policies and activities based on the capacities, skills and assets of lower income people and their neighborhoods(Assets- Based Community Development).” I talked before about how people should know what isn’t working in their communities, but they should also know what is working in their communities. “Each community boasts a unique combination of assets upon which to build its future (Assets- Based Community Development).” Good citizens build off of the skills and assets in which their community already has. For example, a lot of people tend to look down on our generation (I consider our generation a metaphorical community). Older generations claim that we are lazy and ungrateful. They are not looking at us through a ‘assets- based” view. They don’t recognize that our generation is extremely advanced in technology, or that we have some of the lowest crime rates in the history of the United States.
I think that both of these views (need-based, and asset-based) also apply to community service. When people travel to other counties, states, or countries, they need to recognize the need in that location; however, they can’t rush in and try to fix the poverty, hunger, disease, etc without researching and looking where the community needs help the most. It is also important for the people volunteering to recognize the assets of that community. They should try to find ways to help the community expand based on what is working for them. I personally believe that it takes both of these views (asset and need based) to do effective community service. Volunteers tend to do only focus on one of those aspects though, and that is when volunteering can go wrong. If a group only focusses on the need, they miss out on what is working for the community, and they may actually damage the community by trying to help. If a group only focusses on the assets of the community, this can definitely be more beneficial than need based because they are looking to solve problems through what is already working for the community. I think that there should be both, however, and not exclusively one.
Community, citizenship, and volunteerism are all three huge parts of effecting social change. I think that they match up with the three parts of the social change model: society (community), group (volunteering), and individual (citizenship) (Social Change Model). In order to effect change, these three aspects must have “consciousness of self, congruence, commitment, collaboration, common purpose, controversy with civility, and citizenship.” First, consciousness of self means that individual, society, or group must recognize their beliefs and stand by them. People need to stand firm in what they believe to be true. Second, congruence means that the three parts of the model need to be consistent with their beliefs. People shouldn’t change with what they think will make others happy. They should never forget their beliefs and values. Next, commitment means that people give whatever they are doing 100%. They don’t give up when things get tough. They finish the race strong. Fourth, collaboration means that it is important for there to be a relationship between individual, society, and group. All three aspects must work together to effect change. Fifth, a common purpose is important to make a change because everyone is fighting for the same cause. When people come together united for a cause, they can make more of a difference. Sixth is controversy with civility. This means that the community should expect and welcome differences. Every person brings different opinions to the table, and that is a good thing. The last part is citizenship. People should not simply be a member. Then need to be involved. All of these seven things working together is what will bring change to the world.
Volunteering, citizenship, community, and social change are all important, but I believe that leadership is more important than any of these concepts. Every person has a chance to be a leader. Whether we are leading a small project for a class or if we are the president of the United the States, whether we are leading soldiers to war or leading our friends on a hiking adventure, humans are meant to lead. Some people don’t agree with this. They believe that people are born leaders. I flat out disagree. I think that people can learn how to be great leaders. “...Leaders can learn to be leaders through self-awareness and effort… and they have the choice about pursuing or ignoring the call to leadership (Kouzes).” I agree with this quote 100%. People choose whether or not they want to step into roles of leadership, but everyone has the opportunity to lead. Personally, I have always been a fearful person. I prefered to show up to events, and have someone tell me what to do. But as I grew older, I realized the importance of “growing a pair” and stepping into leadership. I learned to face my fears, and help others conquer their problems as well. This is why I believe that leadership is for everyone.
Here at Virginia Tech, I have had the opportunity to practice leadership, citizenship, volunteerism, community service, and social change. I think that I have really taken Ut Prosim to heart. The school encourages it’s students to be involved in the community, but I don’t believe that it broadcasts or networks the opportunities enough. Throughout this semester, many people I talked to didn’t even really know what SERVE was. When I talked to kids at work, they had never heard of Campus Kitchen before. I think that it is good that Tech encourages its students to do community service, but they don’t really give the kids opportunities. After living in Blacksburg for several years, I know that there are many service opportunities in the town such as Micah's Backpack and the Christmas Store; however, many Tech students (freshman specifically) never venture off of Tech’s campus, and they have never heard of these organizations before. Tech should raise more awareness about the need in the community, and it should utilize its students to help. In this way, I think that Ut Prosim is simply a motto here at Tech, not something that the student’s are actually living out.
I believe that there is an easy fix to this problem. We need to let the student body know that they can help. We should hold meetings about certain topics (such as poverty), and we should ask the students how they think we can fix the problem. This way, Tech is giving the students an opportunity to utilize their skills (asset - based service) and it gives them an opportunity to become active citizens. A student can start by attending meetings about a topic that they would like (membership) and they could then start volunteering at events (volunteer). LAter throughout the year, they could begin doing researching their service more in depth and finding ways to apply asset- based service (conscious citizen). Finally, helping and developing that program becomes one of the top priorities during that student’s time at Tech (active citizen). I know that this system may not work for every student, but I think that it would be a good way to engage the students in active service.
When I was first accepted into Tech, I was super excited to attend such a great motto with “That I May Serve”; however, that was all it was: a motto. Don’t get me wrong, I thought that it was a wonderful motto, but I wasn’t living it out when I first came to Tech. In my defense, coming to college is an extremely stressful experience, but after a few weeks of settling in, I realized that something needed to change. I needed to actually live out “That I May Serve.” At first, it was difficult to get involved with community service because I had a lot on my plate with school and work. I tried really hard to get good grades and make a lot of money, but I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough. When I did find time to volunteer, I never felt like I was an active citizen. An active citizen makes bettering the community priority in their life, and if I am completely honest, I just wanted the good grade. After talking about active citizenship in class, I realized that I was doing something wrong. When I went to the Christmas store, I was just a volunteer. When I went to Plenty Farms, I was just a volunteer.
Unfortunately, this semester left me with little outside time between work, school, and studying. When I found out that my Dad was going to lose his job by December, I upped the hours I spent at work to try to help. I studied extra hard in hopes of getting scholarships; however, I always felt stressed and uneasy. My anxiety began acting up again, and I often got short- tempered. Now, at the end of the semester, I realize what I was doing wrong: i was only focussed on myself. This whole semester, I only cared about myself, my grades, and my money. I missed out on opportunities to help others. After going through the SERVE class, I will NOT let this happen next semester. I will be an active citizen, and I will care about my community. I really have a passion for people suffering from mental disabilities like autism, depression, or eating disorders. I want to find a program that I can plug into that relates to these topics. Growing up, I loved working with people who suffered from special needs (autism and Aspergers). My younger also suffered from depression for most of her life, so I have experience in how to treat and care for depressed people. I also went through conquering an eating disorder myself, so that is something very near and dear to my heart. Next semester, I want to find a program that will allow me to share my voice on these topics. I want to organize events, schedule gatherings, and hear people’s stories. I intend to leave freshman year as an active citizen in a program that I am passionate about. I know that this semester has been hard, but don’t lose hope in me yet! Next semester, something is going to change.
When I look back to the person I was in August, I almost want to laugh. I was so naive and confused. I just want to shake that girl and say, “Wake up!” I know now that volunteering needs to have a lot of thought and effort put in. It can’t just be, “Hey! Let’s go somewhere and plant a tree!” We need to do research. We need to take the time to ask the community what they need (we should NEVER assume what someone needs!). Most importantly, we shouldn’t just focus on ourselves. I can admit that I focussed to much on myself this semester, but I am going to work very hard at getting more involved in the wonderful community around me. I am so grateful for this year and all that I have learned. I am excited for what next semester has in store!
December 11, 2016
SPIA 2984
Word Count: 2455
What Does It Mean To Be An Active Citizen
Everybody wants to belong. Everybody wants to know that they are a part of something. They want to make an impact on someone and leave an imprint somewhere. This is why community is so important to humanity. “Community offers the promise of belonging and calls for us to acknowledge our interdependence (Block).” When we live in community, it gives us hope. It offers us support. It becomes a part of who we are.
That being said, the communities we live in are not perfect in any sense of the word. Any time that you bring different people with different ideas into close quarters, there will be collision. People are passionate about what they believe to be true (especially topics such as religion, politics, and ideologies). Members of the communities want to share these beliefs with those around them, but when others disagree, disorder breaks out in the community.
The conflict of opinion and belief is especially difficult in communities where there is a lot of freedom. In the community of Virginia Tech, students have the ability to say, do, and believe whatever they want; however, they often forget about the responsibility that comes with that much power. According to the Block readings, “Freedom is the choice to be a creator of our own experience, and accept the unbearable responsibility that goes with that.” Take a Tech student for example: they are in community that gives them a decent amount of freedom. Even if there are cops, they have the freedom to smoke and underage drink. The problem with that kind of freedom is that most college kids don’t want to live with the consequences of those kinds of actions. This creates a divide in the community because now the RAs, the cops, and the staff have to deal with the consequences, not just the individual.
This is why it is important to practice good citizenship. If we have the privilege of being part of a community, we should be the type of citizens that better our communities. Being a good citizen is more than just being a member of a community: it is “actively engaging in the community (Social change Model).” Citizens should be involved in events, organizations, clubs, ect. A good citizen is aware of the need in the community, and they are actively looking for ways to help.
I believe that this important for citizens because they must never be naive to the need in their community. For example, some Americans are blind to the poverty that we actually have in our own country. They think that poverty only exists in third-world countries, but if they ever visited Linefork, KY (the poorest region in the USA), they would be surprised. There is always going to be need in a community. Good citizens recognize this, but they should not try to fix the problem without any research or stability. This can often do more harm than good. In the Linefork example, if my church’s mission group decided that we wanted to bring old clothes down with us, the community wouldn’t have anywhere to store the boxes. They didn’t need clothes. They needed people to help hand out the clothes. Good citizens need to make sure that they are helping in the way that the community needs them to help.
A good citizen is also aware of the assets and benefits of the communities. “That alternative path, very simply, leads toward the development of policies and activities based on the capacities, skills and assets of lower income people and their neighborhoods(Assets- Based Community Development).” I talked before about how people should know what isn’t working in their communities, but they should also know what is working in their communities. “Each community boasts a unique combination of assets upon which to build its future (Assets- Based Community Development).” Good citizens build off of the skills and assets in which their community already has. For example, a lot of people tend to look down on our generation (I consider our generation a metaphorical community). Older generations claim that we are lazy and ungrateful. They are not looking at us through a ‘assets- based” view. They don’t recognize that our generation is extremely advanced in technology, or that we have some of the lowest crime rates in the history of the United States.
I think that both of these views (need-based, and asset-based) also apply to community service. When people travel to other counties, states, or countries, they need to recognize the need in that location; however, they can’t rush in and try to fix the poverty, hunger, disease, etc without researching and looking where the community needs help the most. It is also important for the people volunteering to recognize the assets of that community. They should try to find ways to help the community expand based on what is working for them. I personally believe that it takes both of these views (asset and need based) to do effective community service. Volunteers tend to do only focus on one of those aspects though, and that is when volunteering can go wrong. If a group only focusses on the need, they miss out on what is working for the community, and they may actually damage the community by trying to help. If a group only focusses on the assets of the community, this can definitely be more beneficial than need based because they are looking to solve problems through what is already working for the community. I think that there should be both, however, and not exclusively one.
Community, citizenship, and volunteerism are all three huge parts of effecting social change. I think that they match up with the three parts of the social change model: society (community), group (volunteering), and individual (citizenship) (Social Change Model). In order to effect change, these three aspects must have “consciousness of self, congruence, commitment, collaboration, common purpose, controversy with civility, and citizenship.” First, consciousness of self means that individual, society, or group must recognize their beliefs and stand by them. People need to stand firm in what they believe to be true. Second, congruence means that the three parts of the model need to be consistent with their beliefs. People shouldn’t change with what they think will make others happy. They should never forget their beliefs and values. Next, commitment means that people give whatever they are doing 100%. They don’t give up when things get tough. They finish the race strong. Fourth, collaboration means that it is important for there to be a relationship between individual, society, and group. All three aspects must work together to effect change. Fifth, a common purpose is important to make a change because everyone is fighting for the same cause. When people come together united for a cause, they can make more of a difference. Sixth is controversy with civility. This means that the community should expect and welcome differences. Every person brings different opinions to the table, and that is a good thing. The last part is citizenship. People should not simply be a member. Then need to be involved. All of these seven things working together is what will bring change to the world.
Volunteering, citizenship, community, and social change are all important, but I believe that leadership is more important than any of these concepts. Every person has a chance to be a leader. Whether we are leading a small project for a class or if we are the president of the United the States, whether we are leading soldiers to war or leading our friends on a hiking adventure, humans are meant to lead. Some people don’t agree with this. They believe that people are born leaders. I flat out disagree. I think that people can learn how to be great leaders. “...Leaders can learn to be leaders through self-awareness and effort… and they have the choice about pursuing or ignoring the call to leadership (Kouzes).” I agree with this quote 100%. People choose whether or not they want to step into roles of leadership, but everyone has the opportunity to lead. Personally, I have always been a fearful person. I prefered to show up to events, and have someone tell me what to do. But as I grew older, I realized the importance of “growing a pair” and stepping into leadership. I learned to face my fears, and help others conquer their problems as well. This is why I believe that leadership is for everyone.
Here at Virginia Tech, I have had the opportunity to practice leadership, citizenship, volunteerism, community service, and social change. I think that I have really taken Ut Prosim to heart. The school encourages it’s students to be involved in the community, but I don’t believe that it broadcasts or networks the opportunities enough. Throughout this semester, many people I talked to didn’t even really know what SERVE was. When I talked to kids at work, they had never heard of Campus Kitchen before. I think that it is good that Tech encourages its students to do community service, but they don’t really give the kids opportunities. After living in Blacksburg for several years, I know that there are many service opportunities in the town such as Micah's Backpack and the Christmas Store; however, many Tech students (freshman specifically) never venture off of Tech’s campus, and they have never heard of these organizations before. Tech should raise more awareness about the need in the community, and it should utilize its students to help. In this way, I think that Ut Prosim is simply a motto here at Tech, not something that the student’s are actually living out.
I believe that there is an easy fix to this problem. We need to let the student body know that they can help. We should hold meetings about certain topics (such as poverty), and we should ask the students how they think we can fix the problem. This way, Tech is giving the students an opportunity to utilize their skills (asset - based service) and it gives them an opportunity to become active citizens. A student can start by attending meetings about a topic that they would like (membership) and they could then start volunteering at events (volunteer). LAter throughout the year, they could begin doing researching their service more in depth and finding ways to apply asset- based service (conscious citizen). Finally, helping and developing that program becomes one of the top priorities during that student’s time at Tech (active citizen). I know that this system may not work for every student, but I think that it would be a good way to engage the students in active service.
When I was first accepted into Tech, I was super excited to attend such a great motto with “That I May Serve”; however, that was all it was: a motto. Don’t get me wrong, I thought that it was a wonderful motto, but I wasn’t living it out when I first came to Tech. In my defense, coming to college is an extremely stressful experience, but after a few weeks of settling in, I realized that something needed to change. I needed to actually live out “That I May Serve.” At first, it was difficult to get involved with community service because I had a lot on my plate with school and work. I tried really hard to get good grades and make a lot of money, but I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough. When I did find time to volunteer, I never felt like I was an active citizen. An active citizen makes bettering the community priority in their life, and if I am completely honest, I just wanted the good grade. After talking about active citizenship in class, I realized that I was doing something wrong. When I went to the Christmas store, I was just a volunteer. When I went to Plenty Farms, I was just a volunteer.
Unfortunately, this semester left me with little outside time between work, school, and studying. When I found out that my Dad was going to lose his job by December, I upped the hours I spent at work to try to help. I studied extra hard in hopes of getting scholarships; however, I always felt stressed and uneasy. My anxiety began acting up again, and I often got short- tempered. Now, at the end of the semester, I realize what I was doing wrong: i was only focussed on myself. This whole semester, I only cared about myself, my grades, and my money. I missed out on opportunities to help others. After going through the SERVE class, I will NOT let this happen next semester. I will be an active citizen, and I will care about my community. I really have a passion for people suffering from mental disabilities like autism, depression, or eating disorders. I want to find a program that I can plug into that relates to these topics. Growing up, I loved working with people who suffered from special needs (autism and Aspergers). My younger also suffered from depression for most of her life, so I have experience in how to treat and care for depressed people. I also went through conquering an eating disorder myself, so that is something very near and dear to my heart. Next semester, I want to find a program that will allow me to share my voice on these topics. I want to organize events, schedule gatherings, and hear people’s stories. I intend to leave freshman year as an active citizen in a program that I am passionate about. I know that this semester has been hard, but don’t lose hope in me yet! Next semester, something is going to change.
When I look back to the person I was in August, I almost want to laugh. I was so naive and confused. I just want to shake that girl and say, “Wake up!” I know now that volunteering needs to have a lot of thought and effort put in. It can’t just be, “Hey! Let’s go somewhere and plant a tree!” We need to do research. We need to take the time to ask the community what they need (we should NEVER assume what someone needs!). Most importantly, we shouldn’t just focus on ourselves. I can admit that I focussed to much on myself this semester, but I am going to work very hard at getting more involved in the wonderful community around me. I am so grateful for this year and all that I have learned. I am excited for what next semester has in store!