My Service Learning Experience

Recently, as part of the service hours required for my Lang 120 class, I participated in my school's Greenfest. Greenfest is a week of activities around campus focused on educating our community about the environment, promoting sustainability, and doing what we can for our earth. Among the activities I participated in were a couple of shifts for Service Day. In one of my shifts, I spent an hour mulching the flower beds around campus; during the other, I helped with some planting around the observatory (pictured above). So, there we were, a group of kids rounded up from around campus who were not particularly familiar with the concept of manual labor, sent out to help the garden and landscaping crews with their work. I could tell the crew wasn't exactly thrilled to have our help, but at least they were amused. What we lacked in individual skill, we made up in number. We might not have been the most efficient bunch of people around, but we were dedicated to helping and by God, we did. The men would slowly and simply explain to us what needed to be done, how and where to do it, then we would set off and mess it up a few times, forcing them to show us again how it was supposed to be done. After a few rounds of this, we finally got the hang of the task at hand and really got it done. I can also say that I honestly learned a lot that day, though I am a little ashamed that I had no gardening skills to begin with. Without having the requirement of service learning hours, I don't think I would have gone out and done this on my own, so I'm glad that the fear of a bad grade pushed me into it. It felt amazing to take the day off and work with my hands to help the environment, and to give the men of the work crew a break.