final reflection

This will be my last blog and it will be a reflection on the class in general and my experience on service learning.
When I first started the semester I had to idea of what I was getting into, it was really different from what I was used to. Being in a class where we are making it up as we go along was a whole new experience. It was okay and it was fun at times but at times it really did feel like we were the guinea pig class and I like having a more structured class where it doesn’t rest in the students hands.
In regards to sustainability I know truly and completely hate the word, I am so sick of hearing it and thinking about how it relates to my site. What I do know is that sustainability is important to everything and everyone in order to improve life and possibly improve the environment and it can mean several different things. In relation to my site housing advocacy is helping to sustain a person’s income and form a new credit to improve their circumstances.
My experience with got off to a really rocky start having a supervisor who knew absolutely nothing and I thought oh Christ what have I gotten myself into. But then we got Elisa and she knew what she was doing and she is so nice and did everything possible to make sure we had our hours. I had fun going to the workshops, it wasn’t always easy getting there but I really did learn a lot. We were teaching people how to create a budget and save money and build credit and in the process I learned new things.
This time doing service learning I had a good experience as opposed to my experience with the girl scouts. And I did enjoy the class

outsourcing jobs and sustainabilty

Because I always forget to blog I’m going to blog on the last to groups that presented.
It’s going to sound mean but even though I though the last two groups that went did a good job I found the outsourcing group kind boring. It is hard to top the group that took us out into the community but still.
Anyway I did get me thinking of how it easy it was to lose a job and be replaced and how hard it could be to find a job. I currently don’t have job and my mom lost her job so it kind of gave me another perspective.
The group on environment really reminded of my group (law) and when we talked about some of the recycling laws. I really liked when we were split up into groups to try and find different ways to conserve energy or improve life on campus. And it was interesting to see that practically every group came up with the same suggestions maybe with that many people with the same ideas something will get done.

health care

As half of the class didn't show and then don't blog it's kind of hard to comment on at least two people's blog regarding Friday’s class before the break.

Teaching a class so to speak is as a I have found out not is not easy as it sounds especially when people aren't even listening so I think that the class on health care went fairly well. There was just one part I didn't get which, was why after we were put into groups some of us had to go outside in really cold weather.

I liked the fact that we were given different scenarios and had to play them out and coming back that each group intersected with each other. I already knew to a certain extent how health care worked and that it sucks half the time, but when in my group I decided to see what sort of process I had to go through to see if I was eligible for aid. I was basically given the run around. Was led to a survey and couldn’t answer all of the questions and then was led back to the web page where I started. At least there was some phone numbers I could call.

friday class

Last weeks class was to say the least interesting. When I got the email saying wear walking shoes I'm like oh god what are they going to have me do? Then when we were in class and talking in a circle to be honest I really didn't like it, I hate getting in circles because it means I will have to talk.

But then we got to leave and go to Marina, and I thought it was fun, I've been going to college here for more than 2 years now and I've never really been around Marina besides driving quickly through it. It was kind of cool to pay attention to all the businesses that were there, and the apartments and to see how many churches that were there. What really struck me was how as soon as we turned the corner the apartments/houses were immediately of better conditon and were really expensive.

I think my favorite part was going to Locke-Paddon pond because it was a place that I went to as part of my ESSP class and water testing the water quality at the pond. And I never knew there was a library there it's a nice one to. I am kind of bummed that I wasn't in the other group because they all seemed to have a lot of fun getting to talk to the people who owned one of the restaurants.

Overall I think everyone who was there had fun, and agree that that it gave a new perspective on Marina and are going to be more conscious about what kind of community we are living in or are visiting.

Sustainability

So this is my first blog I've never had an account before, I usually hate these kind of things.
For today's blog the question is what I think about the concept of sustainability based on my experience in class so far and how does it relate to my service site.

I guess to me it means keeping things in place and maintaining life to the best of our abilities. It is still hard to give an exact definition on sustainability when there is so much information.

I haven't done much yet with my site, it has gotten off to a rocky start with my first supervisor not knowing what she was doing and then getting a new supervisor who seems to be better. But from what I have observed Housing Advocacy works to educate people on proper budgeting and paying bills on time and teaching tenants about their rights and so on. By learning these things individuals are able to sustain a proper lifestyle.

I just hope things continue to get better at my site I really don't want another bad experience.

practice

go to jail go directly to jail do not pass go do not collect $200.