Freshman Seminar Motherblog, 2011

Soyoung Kwon

EHS Thanksgiving Food Drive

1. How did your community service work help the community?

Some people really overindulge with Thanksgiving while there are others starving in the city. Being a part of the food drive and also donating helps the community by giving the less fortunate a bit of a “real” Thanksgiving.

2. What were your initial reactions upon hearing that you would be engaging in a community service project?

Initially, I was a little annoyed that there would be out of school work for a zero credit class. After some thinking I realized that this shouldn’t even be considered “school work”. Giving back to the community should be something that is genuinely voluntary.

3. How did it make you feel to give your time and energy to others?

It felt satisfying to give back and know that someone truly appreciates the food that is being given to them by an anonymous person.

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 think the best experience that occurred while engaging in this project was just talking to the other people who also volunteered to collect food about their personal experiences and stories of people they know.
6. How did engaging in this project relate to your education and the larger issues in society?

It opened my eyes to the fact that the homeless people that I see everyday are friends and family members of other people and see poverty as pathology.

7. How did your community service experience relate to the “Leadership and Service” session?

N/A

Did not attend.

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?

Since I helped collect food and also donate food for the drive, I became more understanding of the people on the subways who collect food on a daily basis for the homeless and less fortunate. I have a new admiration for these people.
9. How has your community service experience impacted you personally? What is the most important thing you learned about yourself throughout this experience?

Participating in the food drive helped me take a step back and look at the larger picture of life; there is more to life than just school,work,family, and friends. I was reminded that taking care of your community is also very important. The most important thing I learned about myself from this experience was that I can help make someone’s day everyday.

10. Were you satisfied with your experience overall? Why or why not?

I wish I was able to be more active in the food drive, but it was an overall fulfilling experience.
11. do you see yourself staying involved in the community during your college and adult years? Why or why not?

I’d like to stay involved just because I feel as if change is really possible if more people get involved with giving back to the community.

I attended the Beyond Responsibility: The Role of Citizenship in 21st Century Business workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to present to the students and faculty the history of IBM. Also, the speaker Stanley S. Litlow discussed IBM’s business strategies coupled with saving energy and engaging in other organizations. Along with the company’s history, Mr. Litlow also spoke about the core values of the company and career in IBM as well. I found this workshop very informative because I got to know the history and how a big company such as IBM works and what they look for in employees.

I attended the Beyond Responsibility: The Role of Citizenship in 21st Century Business workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to present to the students and faculty the history of IBM. Also, the speaker Stanley S. Litlow discussed IBM’s business strategies coupled with saving energy and engaging in other organizations. Along with the company’s history, Mr. Litlow also spoke about the core values of the company and career in IBM as well. I found this workshop very informative because I got to know the history and how a big company such as IBM works and what they look for in employees.

Before I even knew community service was a requirement, i volunteered to go help on a day out with autistic children. The plan was that the kids and parents were going to meet the volunteers at a local bowling alley for a couple of games. The main point of this outing was to help the kids bowl, and get them away from their parents a little. The point was that WE should be the ones helping the kids, and let the parents sit back and relax. This was my first time dealing with autistic children so it was a handful at first. They don’t really have a regard for the right and wrong thing to do so they just do whatever they feel like, which ended up being annoying and cute at the same time. All the volunteers got assigned to a child and my child was a girl named Alyssa who was 5 years old. She was really cute, but i could tell right away that she wasn’t going to be easy to handle. She wanted to stay with her mother for the most part and didn’t really respond to me when I tried to talk to her. Finally, by the end of the game, I got her to take my hand and we bowled a pretty good shot together. Volunteering with autistic kids was a great experience. It helped me learn a lot about the disease but opened my eyes to the fact that just because a child is sick, doesn’t mean they’re not a child. They still like to laugh and play just like any other healthy kid. I’m really glad i volunteered my time to doing it.

Before I even knew community service was a requirement, i volunteered to go help on a day out with autistic children. The plan was that the kids and parents were going to meet the volunteers at a local bowling alley for a couple of games. The main point of this outing was to help the kids bowl, and get them away from their parents a little. The point was that WE should be the ones helping the kids, and let the parents sit back and relax. This was my first time dealing with autistic children so it was a handful at first. They don’t really have a regard for the right and wrong thing to do so they just do whatever they feel like, which ended up being annoying and cute at the same time. All the volunteers got assigned to a child and my child was a girl named Alyssa who was 5 years old. She was really cute, but i could tell right away that she wasn’t going to be easy to handle. She wanted to stay with her mother for the most part and didn’t really respond to me when I tried to talk to her. Finally, by the end of the game, I got her to take my hand and we bowled a pretty good shot together. Volunteering with autistic kids was a great experience. It helped me learn a lot about the disease but opened my eyes to the fact that just because a child is sick, doesn’t mean they’re not a child. They still like to laugh and play just like any other healthy kid. I’m really glad i volunteered my time to doing it.

Before I even knew community service was a requirement, i volunteered to go help on a day out with autistic children. The plan was that the kids and parents were going to meet the volunteers at a local bowling alley for a couple of games. The main point of this outing was to help the kids bowl, and get them away from their parents a little. The point was that WE should be the ones helping the kids, and let the parents sit back and relax. This was my first time dealing with autistic children so it was a handful at first. They don’t really have a regard for the right and wrong thing to do so they just do whatever they feel like, which ended up being annoying and cute at the same time. All the volunteers got assigned to a child and my child was a girl named Alyssa who was 5 years old. She was really cute, but i could tell right away that she wasn’t going to be easy to handle. She wanted to stay with her mother for the most part and didn’t really respond to me when I tried to talk to her. Finally, by the end of the game, I got her to take my hand and we bowled a pretty good shot together. Volunteering with autistic kids was a great experience. It helped me learn a lot about the disease but opened my eyes to the fact that just because a child is sick, doesn’t mean they’re not a child. They still like to laugh and play just like any other healthy kid. I’m really glad i volunteered my time to doing it.

In the third session we were told about keeping an eye on our Facebooks in the workplace, and the fact that companies are using facebooks to gain information about their employees, such as a woman who called in sick was fired because her boss saw her update her status. I do not agree with this because i believe monitoring someone’s facebook is a violation of their privacy.

In the third session we were told about keeping an eye on our Facebooks in the workplace, and the fact that companies are using facebooks to gain information about their employees, such as a woman who called in sick was fired because her boss saw her update her status. I do not agree with this because i believe monitoring someone’s facebook is a violation of their privacy.