Courtney Sell

How can you educate others or raise awareness about this group or social issue?

• I can educate others about this group through various ways, one of which being the new program, Recruit’n’SERVE. I am in love the idea of this program because it allows us to continue to learn new ways of community service with other groups while raising awareness of SERVE. This program is going to shine throughout this year and the years to come with its great ability to further the education of community service of the members of SERVE and the communities that we reach out to with Recruit’n’SERVE. This also applies to any community service that I can do as a SERVE member as well because anywhere we go as a group, people will be interested in what group we are; all we have to do is explain how great of a group we are.

Do you see benefits of doing community work? Why or why not?

• I see many benefits of community service and the way it affects and transforms the community around it. Although I will admit that sometimes there are negative side-effects of community service, these are rare and never compare to the amount of good that comes from the service. The benefits of community service are shown through the joy and happiness of the people that are on the receiving end. Looking at the smiles on their face as they see all that has been done for their community is enough reason itself to be a benefit of service. This brings me to my last point of a great benefit of community service; self-satisfaction. Just knowing that you have done something to help the lives of not just one person, but an entire community is one of the greatest benefits of service.

What institutional structures are in place at your site or in the community? How do they affect the people that you work with?

• We are at a college, so there are many institutional structures in place in our community, including our own VT Engage and SERVE. These structures affect the people that I work with in many ways because there are many rules we have to follow while doing service in our community because we are a reflection of VT Engage and SERVE. It would reflect on us as a group if anyone that is a part of our group went out to do service and did something stupid to make them look bad. People tend to be very cautious about what they say and do when serving in turn to leave a good reflection on VT Engage and SERVE.   

What did you do that seemed to be effective or ineffective in the community?

• When I helped out with the Renew the New event in Radford on the New River I felt as though I was helping the community but also hurting it at the same time. It sounds crazy that picking up trash and litter on the side of a river could have a negative effect, but realistically it can. As I picked up certain items you could see traces of animals that have made a home out of these items or even in some cases seen the animals themselves. It hurts to know that even when you are trying to do your best to help, you can just be making things even worse.

What are the most difficult or satisfying parts of your work? Why?

• The most satisfying part of my work is being able to see the difference I have made in the community. Knowing what you have done to help others and how much of a difference it has made in their lives is one of the best parts of volunteering to help your community. On the other hand, one of the hardest parts of doing service is learning about how the community was before the service and how the members of the community live their everyday lives. This does not happen every time, but sometimes when you go to do service they will give you a brief explanation of how much you are helping by telling you how their lives have been in the past and how they would be if you were not there to help. Although this is hard and it breaks my heart to hear, it is also great because you know just how much you are helping them and their community.

How are your values expressed through your community work?

• Some of my personal core values include kindness, compassion, respect, citizenship and leadership. These values are expressed greatly through my community service, some more than others. It is very evident that kindness, compassion and citizenship are a great part of service to others, but respect and leadership are also an important part of service to me. It sounds obvious to say that respect should always be a part of service but it isn’t always. Sometimes it feels demeaning to receive help from others and that is why we should always give the community the respect that they deserve. Another important part of service is leadership. It is important to have a leader to guide you along the path of your service, but in every service project, every individual is a leader at some point. Leadership is a key part of service and every person helping serve their community has to step up and become a leader in some way.  

Complete this sentence. Because of my service-learning, I am…

• Because of my service-learning, I am a better, more intelligent, more aware person. Service itself has proved to make me a greater member of my own community. I have learned many things and am more aware about what is going on in and around not just my community, but other communities around me as well. But recently I have been introduced to the aspect if service-learning which has introduced me to many new aspects of service and I have learned so much from it. I never realized that you could learn and receive so much from helping others, but service-learning has proved to do just that.