You may submit your Reflections in the form of a sketchbook OR a web page.
PREPARATION
-
- reflection to be performed prior to your service- -
Entry 1: Before you begin your summer service project, consider
yourself. You have passed through
three years of academics, activities, and service. Recall your Kairos retreat and final
group interview. What are your
major strengths? What are your
limitations? Consider those whom you will be working alongside and those whom
you will be serving; what do you think they will be like? What challenges do
you think you might face? What are your fears and concerns? What are your hopes
for the project? How would you challenge yourself to grow?
à At this time, in prayer, you may wish to
present these fears, concerns and hopes before God. Name a particular gift that you desire
and ask God for that gift.
SENSE
/ EMOTIONS
-
- choose three entries of four- -
Entry 2: Collect brochures and
information about your placement. Integrate them into a statement of the purpose
of the placement and YOUR ROLE at that placement. Make a daily schedule of you
duties. Be as detailed as possible. Why is it that the placement is in
existence?
Entry 3: Describe how each of your
senses absorbed the work you were doing. Be as vivid as you can by picking a
certain day or event to focus in on. The senses will help you to tell stories,
describe new places visited, and literally and imaginatively paint portraits of
the people you meet.
Tell about
the "smells"
of the
leukemia ward you’re working on, the odor of food you’re
experiencing for the first time, the scent of shelters.
Touch: As a Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind
volunteer, record the physical and emotional thrill and anxiety a blind child
might feel as you’re helping her swim for the first time. What is the
texture of the hair of someone of another ethnic background, whose hair you’ve
never touched before? As an MDA camp volunteer, talk about lifting a teenager
with muscular dystrophy out of his wheelchair....
See:
Describe
the new places you visit Pay attention to details. What don’t you see?
Are there businesses and services near your home, that are missing from where
you’re doing your service project Describe in detail the faces and moods
of the elderly people you work with. How do you think others see you?
Listen: What do you hear? Record the joyful sounds of kids
screaming at summer camp . . . or the sounds of a child crying. Talk about
hearing your heart beat fast as you enter into a new experience. Record
fragments of late night conversations with new friends.
Taste: Describe new foods you’ve tasted. Describe the
taste of thirst and sweat after a long day’s work....
ENTRY 4: What was your most profound
feeling during your service experience? Write a detailed reflection on
that feeling. What was its cause? How did it change your behavior? Was
it pleasant? Repugnant? Joyous? Depressing? (A great
opportunity for a neat visual piece.)
ENTRY 5: People make up the bulk of our
service experience. They are the ones who make the experience real. Make at
least two entries describing your relationships with different individuals from
the placement. They could be a homeless woman, another volunteer, your Best
Buddy. How are you better for having known them and how are they better
for having known you? How were you taught by that person? What were the
lessons you drew from them? ONE OF THESE ENTRIES MUST BE ABOUT THE PEOPLE
YOU SERVED.
ENTRY 6: Find a stereotype of the
people you worked with in any popular medium (internet, television, movie,
magazines, etc.). Write an analysis of how the people you served are
portrayed in the media. Is it accurate or not? What is missing form
the media's portrayal of the people you served?
ENTRY 7: What are some reasonable or
logical conclusions you can draw from you service experience on WHY people are
in the position that they are experiencing? In other words, what is a
reasonable cause for the problems you addressed? How does society respond to
that problem? Find at least 3 separate statistics that have to do with the
social problem that you addressed to support your conclusions. Include
the statistics and the SOURCE with your entry (avoid at all costs any web sites
that are from an individual.)
ENTRY 8: Is the placement you worked in
an effective solution to the social problem you explored in entry 6? What
would you envision as an IDEAL solution to the social problem you addressed?
Find at least 2 bills in congress that address the social problem that you
dealt with and comment on how they might help or hurt the problem. Use
http://congress.org/congressorg/home/
to narrow your search.
SCRIPTURE / TRADITION
-
- choose one entry of two - -
ENTRY 9: Pick a passage from scripture
and write a retreat talk that integrates that passage with your service
experience. you can use the scripture
reference
[http://www.gprep.org/spirituality/service/social_justice_in_scripture.htm] on
the web to guide you. Your talk should be directed at a certain audience
that you think most needs to hear what you have to say. It could be Prep
students, faculty or administration, parish groups, parents, etc.
ENTRY 10: Choose one characteristic of Jesuit education
[http://www.gprep.org/spirituality/] that you feel most fits your service
experience. Why does this characteristic jump out at you? In a
broader context, how does service fit into your experience at a JESUIT high
school?
-
- choose two entries of three - -
ENTRY 11: Where was God most present in
your service? What are the lessons you learned about God through that
encounter? Did you pray during your service experience? If so, how did you pray? What were the results of your
prayer? How could you arrange your
life to feel God's presence more?
Entry 12: Write a letter to your
congressperson explaining how you think the government could better address the
needs you saw. There is a format for letters at http://capwiz.com/jesuit/issues/basics/?style=comm.
Entry 13: What are concrete ways you are
going to live your life differently after your service. Do you plan on serving
more? Do you work from a different set of values now? Are you going to alter
your spending habits to live a simpler life?
In addition to your
supervisor evaluation, you should have at least 10 thorough entries to turn in
on September 5th. Have a
great rest of the summer. If you
have any questions, contact Mr. Brogan at jbrogan@gprep.org.