I volunteered with Ignite Mentoring on November 8 from 2:30-4. I participated in Monarch Service Day on November 16 from 12:30-4. When I worked with Ignite, we visited an elementary school and worked with various grades. I decided to work with the 3rd graders and help them do homework. When we got finished with their homework, we all played games such as UNO, Connect 4, Heads up 7 Up, and Bingo. We did this until their ride came to get them. On the other hand, when I participated in Monarch Service Day – we went to the Weyanoke Bird & Wildflower Sanctuary. There we explored the trees and plants. We also helped pull ivy from its roots, so it can stop killing the trees. We did that for majority of the time.

Ignite’s purpose is to help the kids overall. They provide extra mentoring with their school work while offering to talk and discuss with them emotionally. They try to build connections with the kids. Ignite also wants to do something positive for the community and for the younger generation. They provide help to the facility and staff at the school while offering to watch the kids play and work. Moreover, Monarch’s Service Day goal is to help maintain the sanctuary and assist in clean up. It is a protected environment that needs to be kept up. The ivy situation was pretty out of hand and definitely needed to be handled. It is basically a community clean-up.

After reflecting on my service learning activities my views have changed. Pertaining, to Ignite, I believe that little kids should all have mentors. And, mostly have a teenager mentor. I feel like we both can offer help to one another as they teach us patience and we teach them how to be a “older kid”. I never thought about how stressful being a teacher is dealing with all the responsibility they have to carry. I quickly learned that you need a patient soul and kind heart to deal with kids. However, dealing with the service day – I did not know the sanctuary even existed. Now, I believe it is very important to care for it and keep it clean. It is a very beautiful place that is fortunate to be untouched. I wish that we had more sanctuary likes Weyanoke’s.

These service learning experiences have also showed me how much I enjoy helping something/ or somebody. I feel really great and it lifts my spirit. I can only imagine being a nurse and helping somebody understand or feel better on an everyday basis. I honestly cannot wait! Volunteering has really impacted my desire to pursue my nursing major in a positive way.

My community partner experiences can also help me with psychology.  I honestly have been debating and deciding if I should minor in psychology. Working with the elementary kids definitely showed me the importance of a mentor relationship with kids. However, I am just not sure if I should pursue that major as my parallel major. I can’t see myself doing anything else besides nursing!