Chrystal Armstead

NURS 3116

Dr. Daniels

October 29, 2017

A Call to Serve: Service Learning Post-Activity Reflection

The day of my group’s service learning activity, we were finalizing our game plan and

trying to figure out which activities we should leave out and which activities would be good for

our population. We were chosen to visit St. Joseph’s Villa and we really did not have any idea

what to expect. Some of our classmates kept telling us that our activities weren’t going to work

because the children wouldn’t be paying attention to us. That scared us a bit and made us feel

like we were in way over our heads. Our group leader, Katie, had a difficult time getting into

touch with the contact person for St. Joseph’s Villa, so a few weeks went by before we even

heard back from the woman. When Katie was finally able to hear back from the point of

contact, the woman told Katie that the students would be all boys and their attention span is

very short. She also told us to keep all activities inside because if we were to go outside, the

students would probably run away. That freaked us out as well because we were trying to

figure out if the children were really that bad. We decided to just go in with an open mind,

enjoy our activity, and try not to listen to the negative comments that people were making.

As we arrived at St. Joseph’s Villa, we had no idea which building we were supposed to

be in, so Katie had to call the lady back and ask her. When we finally got inside to our

classroom, the boys were still arriving little by little, but we went ahead and introduced

ourselves and we had the boys take turns introducing themselves. After that we asked them
what they knew about nurses and their answers were so intelligent. They were so excited for us

to be there and they were very eager to answer our questions and interact with us. As more

students trickled in, we proceeded with our activities. We showed them how to take blood

pressures, count their pulses, and listen to their apical pulses using our stethoscopes. We also

did a few activities regarding healthy eating and exercise. It warmed my heart that the students

were so eager to use our equipment and practice on each other. They were very hyper, but that

added to our experience because they were willing to participate and they weren’t extremely

tired after a long day of school. I noticed that a few students were very shy and did not want to

participate, so I made sure to include them and make them feel like a part of the group. I

believe that my expectations were met because I had an amazing time volunteering with the

students and I believe that they had a great time with us as well. My expectations were to learn

about working with students with physical, mental, and behavioral disabilities and to gain more

insight into how our vulnerable population of students respond best to interaction and

activities. I believe that I did just that because I learned that it is not extremely difficult to

interact with them. You just have to be patient with the students and keep them busy so that

they don’t get bored.

My values and experiences as part of a certain cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, and

socioeconomic status group shape what I see and hear because I am more likely to relate more

easily with people who are similar to me. This doesn’t mean that I cannot relate to people who

are not like me, but it means that I can naturally “click” with people who have gone through

similar things that I have gone through. I also believe that I can understand people and their

struggles more when I have been through similar struggles. For instance, many of the students
at St. Joseph’s Villa were African-American and I was the only African-American student in our

group. Many of my fellow group members were intimidated by the students and I could tell

that they were uncomfortable and even though it may not have been due to their ethnicity, I

believe that their ethnicity was a factor. I felt completely comfortable because I have a few little

cousins and family members with mental or behavioral disabilities, so I already had some

insight into caring for and interacting with them. The only major problem that I saw was when

students would be shy and isolated. I solved that problem by making sure that I included

everyone and made them feel like a part of the group and eventually, they came around.

I have learned that this community just needs a lot of love and people who care about

them. These students may not be receiving love and kindness at home, so they definitely need

it from someone. I believe that I offered love, a caring heart, and kindness to the students and I

learned how not to judge a book by its cover because the students were amazing, despite what

everyone was telling us prior to our visit. In order to best meet the needs of this population, I

would probably need to know how to keep them engaged for a long period of time because we

were only with them for two hours, as opposed to eight hours in school.

This service-learning activity has influenced my academic life because I know that I have

to keep pressing forward because I never know who is looking up to me. This activity has

affected my personal life because it was such a rewarding experience to brighten the student’s

day with our visit. Lastly, this experience has changed my approaches to interacting with people

because I know to always go into an experience like this with an open mind and hope for the

best. Overall, I am so glad that we were chosen to be with those students and I cannot wait to

get more involved in the community again.