The first thing I had to do for my Service Learning Project....was get it approved. I really wanted to create my own project so that it would be unique and tailored to my talents. To do so, I needed a structured plan, a faculty mentor, and a community partner. Once all of those were obtained, there was a form to fill out that asked me a variety of questions. Here are a few of them:
1. Briefly describethe project and the community need you intend to address.
My project can basically be called a media make-over. St. Vincent de Paul does a lot for my local community, and I want the organization to use technology to help it grow! Parts of my plan include furthering the Skype video conference meetings and using mixed media(Facebook events, posters, word-of mouth) to tell the community about food drives and other volunteer activities. I also have been working on building the Youth and Young Vincentians program in my area and to aid programs on the national level. This includes coming up with innovative ways for young adults to volunteer in their community. All in all, I think my service would help others learn about SSVDP, all that it does for the area, and how people can get involved, all while using modern technology and different media mixes.
2.How does this project apply and relate to the subject matter of a course, your major, or the goals of the cacalaureate degree?
I am Undeclared riht now, but I would like to go into a field in the CJ Department such as Advertising so my project goes right along with that. My first semester I took a class called Fundamentals of Advertising, ad it taught me a lot about the media and the different channels it encompasses. I ill use the information learned in that class to fuel my project. Also, it follows many of the Liberal Education Learning Goals. St. Vincent de Paul works with a variety of people, especially te poor and suffering. These people are often neglected by other members of the community and government so it is important that they can feel welcome somewhere. Creativity will be used in figuring out how best to reach certain parts of the city's population. Also, I will need great communication skills to work with leaders in the organization, the community, and with people who need assistance. Each group poses a new demand to communicate effectively.
3. Describe how this project will challenge youto apply your academic knowledge and skills.
As I mentioned before, I will be applying the information learned in my class Fundamentals of Advertising because it taught me many of the different vehicles that agencies use to get different messages across. Also, I am taking the class Communication In The Information Age which has been helping me learn about modern media. I feel that these classes have given be a solid base to catalyze my ideas from. An example of applying my knowledge is that I learned how to set marketing or advertising objectives to classify progress in areas of communication that are often hard to measure. There are different techniques that one can use to see the types of results that certain actions are creating. It will definitely push my limits and make me work harder because it’s a bigger undertaking that I’ve done before. It will be exciting though. I have also had to use my writing and reporting skills to write an article abot my pioneer experiment of Skype-ing meetings with a different conference. Even though I'm away at college, I wanted to continue going to meetings. There is no SSVDP conference here so I decided to video conference with the Madison Chapter. I wrote an article that got published in the U.S national St. Vincent de Paul newsletter. The piece was about using modern technology in an adventageous way. The practice is now spreading to other chapters!
4. How will the proposed service activity help you develop or enhance your senseof civic or social resonsibility?St. Vincent de Paul is a great service organization that focuses their attention on individuals who are often forgotten or fall through the cracks of society. Some of the core values listed on the organization’s website include “we believe: in the dignity of the human person, in the preferential option for the poor, that our primary concern is charity and justice, and in the virtue of charity, inside and outside the Society” (http://www.svdpusa.org/AboutUs/MissionandValues/tabid/67/language/en-US/Default.aspx). There are so many pitfalls of today’s world and working with the people who have become victims really can open one’s eyes. I have been a member since my junior year in high school and can attest to people and their courageous stories that I will never forget. My service project will prove that one person’s actions can and WILL make a difference in the world whether it’s by spreading opportunities, informing people, or doing some hard work yourself.
-S
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