Reflecting on Your Experience

We’re glad that you have chosen to provide service to your community. By taking the time to reflect on your involvement, you can better understand the experience, appreciate what you and others are doing to make a difference, and learn about how this experience relates to your life. We understand that you are busy, but please take a few moments before your orientations, after each visit, and at the end of the semester to think about the following questions. Please let us know how you are doing.

WHAT?

• What do I expect to get out of this experience (purpose/goals/ideas)?
• What did I observe during my first visit?
• What is the agency’s mission? Their goals?
• Are there other agencies in the community that have similar goals?
• What part of my service experience was the most challenging? Surprising?
• How was I of service?

SO WHAT?

• What am I learning about others and myself?
• What impact did today’s visit have on me?
• What is the relationship between my community service "world" and my "other" worlds?
• What values, opinions, or decisions have been made or changed through this experience?
• What has surprised me about myself, the agency, friends, the people I work with?

NOW WHAT?

• Is it important to me to stay involved in the community? Will I continue to be of service?
• How will my efforts working with this agency contribute to social change? To my career?
• What did I learn and how can I use that in my coursework and future career?