November 10, 2010 – This past Monday, a group of talented and passionate students joined Jim Dubinsky, Director of CSECP (Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships) as part of a panel presentation to discuss service, community engagement in a college setting, and the Seasons of Service initiative with Mrs. Steger and the spouses of the Board of Visitors.
The formal presentation covered a wide range of projects including Gobblerfest, Fall Day of Service, Pilot Street Project and the Coalition for Refugee Resettlement, MLK Week, SERVE, Sustainable Food Corps Initiatives, and Ut Prosim Month.
Four SERVE students were selected to share their stories on community engagement. Jen and Stephanie, two first-year students, discussed their desires to integrate community engagement into their professional careers.
They spoke of the SERVE service projects and in-class theoretical discussions that helped them develop their respective ideas on how to be the change in the world. Mike and Gabby, two second-year leaders, spoke about their roles as mentors and their reasons for staying in the program.
The following is one of the stories shared during the presentation:
“I used to believe that I couldn’t help others if I didn’t help myself first. During my childhood, I was never able to establish close relationships with many people, and I was never able to understand the meaning of community or even that of a home. When I was a little girl, I wanted to build houses out of cardboard both for myself and all the children who were in similar situations, but I never believed that I could truly make a difference in someone’s life because I felt powerless.
This is my second year in the theme-housing program, SERVE. I wanted to stay in the program because I wanted to see other students begin to expand their horizons. At the end of last year, I remember feeling so satisfied i having participated in the program because through all of the reflections we had to write, I started to develop a unique and valuable habit.
Trying to understand things beyond what they appeared on the surface was, I could almost say, intellectually satisfying. My other reason was because I wanted to help someone discover the meaning of community, something that had been so meaningful throughout my childhood.
As a leader and a mentor, my understanding of topics discussed inc lass, such as community engagement, citizenship and leadership styles have been expanded by the integration of theory, community service, and reflection in such a way that I’m beginning to understand how I can be the change and not just why I want to be the change.
I recently started brainstorming ideas on how to develop a social change project in the field of architecture. I was inspired by a first-year SERVE student and her passion for improving the lives of orphans in India. Sometimes I think that the desire to teach others about community engagement is one of the most difficult goals, but when you live and learn alongside people who are as passionate about it as you are, it motivates you to keep seeing the world in new perspectives.
For me, the most important thing SERVE has done is blurring the lines that separate the academic, personal, and professional worlds. It has given me the internal power I needed to move forward with my desire to serve others.
It was through community engagement programs, like SERVE, that I was able to not only cope with difficult situations, but also being to understand how I can make this passion of mine a way of living, on a personal and professional level.”
The second part of the event consisted of an extension of the discussion on service. The spouses of the Board of Visitors and Mrs. Steger were encouraged to share their stories of engagement and ask questions about the CSECP programs that interested them.
The following were interesting topics we discussed regarding SERVE:
- The housing aspect of the program: Should all participants of the program, students, mentors, and faculty live together? How would that change the atmosphere or experience?
- Should we work in partnership with other programs outside of CSECP that demonstrate a similar interest in community engagement, for example a service sorority or fraternity?
- What are we doing to get the families of the participants engaged?