Service Learning Reflection

For my service learning activity, I decided to return to my high school and collaborate with the high school varsity swim team that I was apart of. The Landstown High School Varsity Swim & Dive Team is a sports team that is apart of one of many VBCPS’ (Virginia Beach City Public Schools) sports teams in the community. Starting around the last two weeks of October, I started to go back to Landstown High (with permission from my old coach) every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30pm-3:40pm to assist my coach in monitoring and assisting the aspiring swimmers of the team in their dryland workouts until the point of tryouts. At this time, the athletes had no access to the pool because the local recreation center’s pool was not open to the team until the day of tryouts. To be more detailed, as a volunteer assistant coach I monitor all the students at the dryland exercise: making sure they are doing the exercises properly so he or she does not hurt themselves, answering any questions, etc. 

According to their website, “ The Landstown High School Swim & Dive Team is committed to building student-athletes, fostering growth, and creating productive, mindful young adults.”  (“About.” Home, http://www.landstownswimteam.com/about.html.)  Their mission/ purpose is to help their athletes not only progress as swimmers through vigorous and intense workouts in and out of the pool, but to also teach them valuable life skills such as team building/ communication, hard work, time management, etc. The Landstown High School Varsity Swim & Dive Team provides athletic training/ equipment to those on the team, carpool to those students who may not have a ride or can drive, and the food is always provided on meet days and the day before at team bonding socials. There is not a dire need that is specifically addressed through the team. The team provides a sense of unity and a home away from home kind of feel to the athletes. 

My values, opinions, and/or beliefs have changed. This year is my first season coaching and it is not as easy as it appears to be. I used to think teaching, coaching, and other careers in that level is somewhat easy. I thought all you needed was a lesson plan and then to execute to the athletes or students you are teaching or coaching. I have only been volunteering for a month and I am already exhausted. Most of the athletes on the team are still in the process of maturing so I have to constantly repeat myself on the directions I was assigned to give them and it gets annoying when some of them willingly choose not to listen to me. I expect somewhat better because these high schoolers are obviously are not babies so the directions should just go through their head once and they understand it. Relating back to my intended major, this helps me realize that maybe I do not want to work with teenagers because now I have some relative experience with them as someone who has a sense of authority. This service- learning activity has opened my eyes to the fact that relaying information that you expect someone else to follow is not always that easy. Nurses must have this struggle daily with patients who choose not to have compliance with  the nurses. I have also learned the value of patience, especially with people you have just met. 

I have not experienced any health related experiences prior to the Fall 2019 semester. Although a high school varsity swim and dive team is not specifically a healthcare organization, it has taught me about related things and experiences. My experience has taught me different aspects and views that can happen to health related workers on the field. 

One of the first things I learned from my experience is patience. It is frustrating to try to help someone who does not want to be helped (sometimes. I know in the health field, this type of scenario happens probably almost everyday. The service-learning activity opened to my eyes to one of the many scenarios that are going to occur daily if I choose a career in the health field.  On the brighter side, I was able to help high school athletes stay fit and provide tips for when they are in the water. If I chose a career in nursing, I know I will be able to help more (not just teenagers) everyday. A degree program that could relate to my current intended major is The Doctor of Physical Therapy program . Physical therapists help the injured improve their movement and manage the pain they may be feeling. The PTs are a key factor in rehabilitation and future prevention of injuries. I would consider Physical Therapy as my parallel major because it is the same concept as nursing but, it is more focused on just injuries and how to treat it. 

Now for my studying habits. I feel as though I am spending more time studying just because it is almost the end of the semester and finals are just around the corner. At the beginning of the semester I was studying 2-3 hours for a majority of my classes weekly. With final exams coming up, I feel as though it is double that amount and if not more. In my opinion, I do not think my studying habits changed. The study habits I was utilizing at the beginning of the semester seemed to have worked for me, so I have decided to stick with it for the rest of the semester. Examples of studying techniques that I use are flashcards, color coding my notes, and having study groups in my free time at the library. These seem to attract my attention the best, therefore being the techniques that work for me. These studying techniques do not vary from class to class because once again, they all work the best for me so I utilize them all the time. 

14 weeks ago, I had no idea what to expect for college. The whole concept was new to me in regards to actually being in college, and I just hoped my first semester at Old Dominion University would be good to me. A resource I have found helpful is office hours. Office hours are helpful because you have one on one time with your professor so you can better grasp information if needed. I have not found any resources to be unhelpful because they are called resources for a reason. So I think everything was helpful for the most part. Something I wish I knew 14 weeks ago was how independent being a college student is really like. There are times where I had to do certain things myself and couldn’t/ should not need someone’s help for things that I should already be doing on my own. Being an adult is scary, but it is something everyone has to go through. One thing I learned this semester that will assist me next semester is the importance of time management. College and its classes will wait for no one. You (as a student) need to plan time for certain things properly and if you are not careful you will be left behind. Having learned some lessons the hard way, this will help me make smarter choices next semester.