1) How did your community service work help the community?
My service greatly helped many members of my community. Without my help of building Sukkah’s for different homes, many community members would be unable to practice the Jewish holiday of Sukkot this past month. The Sukkah is used throughout all eight days of the holiday.
2) What were your initial reactions upon hearing that you would be engaging in a community service project?
At first, I was not enthusiastic about my task at all. I thought what I would be doing would be a complete waist of my time and energy. But as I started participating, I came to realize that what I was doing was a big deal and that I was doing it for the whole Jewish community so that they would be able to observe the holidays.
3) How did it make you feel to give your time and energy to others?
It doesn’t happen often that I give my time and energy to someone else, but when I do, I know it’s for an important reason. It gives me the feeling pride in my community and it makes me feel good to give something to my community after all its done for me over the years.
4) What did you learn about yourself, the people around you, and the service site?
As I went from house to house building the Sukkahs, I learned that each and every one of my community members appreciate the work that I put in on that day. I learned that without my work, many of them would have a totally different holiday. I’ve learned that they care for me and what I do, and as a result, I learned that I indeed care for my community members as well.
5) What stands out as the best and/or most trying experiences that occurred while engaging in your community service project? What did you learn from these experiences?
I actually came out of this with a learning experience about structural building and layout and design. A “Sukkah” is a little temporary dwelling place, which has to be built very carefully and precisely. I came out of the experience learning about how to build things properly.
6) How did engaging in this project relate to your education and the larger issues in society?
This project in particular relates strongly to my high school education. Coming from a Jewish high school, I’ve learned a lot about Jewish religion and heritage, and this holiday has been emphasized heavily throughout my years at the high school. For once, I felt like I was finally using something that I have learned from high school.
7) How did your community service experience relate to the “Leadership and Service” session?
I believe my community service experience relates to leadership in the sense that, in order to be a leader, one must sacrifice something of value to himself for others. And on that day, I sacrificed my time and energy for other members of my community, simply because I felt obligated to give something back to them for all they have done for me. I also felt like a leader among the younger members of my community because I was showing them the importance behind community service and how much it means to keep a community alive and going.
8) How has your community service experience changed your thinking, attitudes, and actions towards others, yourself, the community, and community service work as a whole?
The community service has changed my attitude toward my community members heavily. I’ve learned that every bit of energy in you can make a world of a difference and can help someone else greatly. All it takes is a little bit of time and effort. I’ve learned that I should never turn down an offer of community service ever again because this is what keeps a community running.
9) How has your community service experience impacted you personally? What is the most important thing you learned about yourself throughout this experience?
Most important thing I’ve learned is that I indeed can make a difference in my community. If your determined to make a positive change in your community by helping it, even if it’s a small thing, then your community will stand out to be something special.
10) Were you satisfied with your experience overall? Why or why not?
I was very satisfied with my experience because I knew that without my help, many Jewish community members would have been stuck not being able to practice the holiday. Knowing that I gave them an opportunity to practice the holiday makes me feel very good about myself.
11) Do you see yourself staying involved in the community during your college and adult years? Why or why not?
I see myself staying involved in community service throughout my whole life because I would like to take the roll of a leader in my community to show everyone the importance of giving up your time for your community. Community service is a very important matter in the community, and it is important to start at a young age, and to keep it going as long as you can.
12) Sum up your service-learning experience in a one-or two-sentence headline:
If I were to sum up my service-learning experience in one line I would say: “The smile that I have seen on my community member’s faces brings me a great feeling of pride for my community, and makes me realize how much they appreciate me”
