This course was a great learning experience for me. I had never heard about program evaluation until taking this course. It opened my eyes to the importance of program evaluation and the accountability required from various programs receiving funding. It also helped me to realize how precise a program’s goals and mission statements must be in order to determine the means of measurement needed for an evaluation. I believe many nonprofit organizations have great intentions to help others, but without a clear plan for implementation of a program and a clear means of measurement of evaluation for a program, you cannot positively see if the program did what it set out to accomplish.
There were a few challenging areas for me in this course. The e-portfolio was a little daunting. It took some time and experimentation to learn how to use the template provided by the university. The hardest part for me was the conversion of images to the template. This took the most amount of time and I developed much patience in this area. Learning to use the e-portfolio template got easier the more I used it as with any newly learned skill.
It is an unprecedented time now with restrictions on social gatherings. I have never seen anything like it and I hope not to ever again. There is an undeniable sense of fear in people. With the fear comes a lot of questions. I have found myself questioning the health and well being of my family and friends. I have found myself questioning our current financial situation; both my personal financial well being and that of our nation. I have found myself questioning my education and whether or not I may be able to financially continue going to school. Through all of this questioning we are asked to stay away from each other. I am thankful for learning to use Zoom through my online courses so that I may have fellowship with other people while this is going on. I have been able to teach others to use Zoom as well so that they may do the same. I have learned not to be fearful of using new technology but rather to embrace it in times like these and to use it to help others. I am also grateful for the university’s ability to adapt during this crisis. Our professor allowed us much grace in the completion of this project and I am thankful for that as well.
I look forward to the time when I can look back on this experience without the fear and enjoy all of the wisdom and experience I gained through the pandemic. My thoughts and prayers are constantly with those who are experiencing a direct hardship due to this disease whether it be physical, mental, or emotional hardship. We all need grace during this time.
The course did provide for me a much needed distraction from my thoughts at times. It provided an outlet for me to focus on something besides the current state of affairs. For that I am grateful.
Maybe one day I will be able to use the tools I have gained through taking this course. I am more able to appreciate the finer details of implementing a successful plan and what it takes to get the job done successfully. I am a bit of a lofty dreamer and this course helped me to understand how to take those dreams and put the mechanisms behind them to get to work doing what it is you are passionate about.