Service-Learning

 

My personal understanding of the concept of community service is doing something without any expectation of reciprocation. This is exactly what I did overseas in Grenada, service that we intend to provide to the locals in Grenada. Even though we could be spending our spring break working to receive financial gain, we have chosen instead to donate our time to provide services which will be of great value to the people of Grenada. In doing so we gained something that was not physically feasible. The health fairs that I participated in helped me develop my skills, as well as my ability to adapt in diverse workplace environments. Tents and curtains transformed into private rooms where we could conduct a breast exam and teach consumers how to perform self-breast exams. During one of the days we were in Grenada we had a health fair for the disability center, and it was such an amazing experience. Not only were we able to provide free health checkups, we were able to interact and have fun with these consumers. One individual that I did vitals one had autism and at first, I was concerned that they would not allow the cuff to be placed. After I measured their blood pressure, I learned that this individual really enjoyed having the pressure from the cuff, I was told that physical pressure helps them calm down. Throughout the health fair they continue to come back to my table to have the cuff applied, I knew that this could be damaging to nerves if I applied to much pressure, so instead I inflated the cuff very lightly just to stimulate the process and provide comfort to the individuals. My international experience has helped me to grow and develop my ability to empathize with people, especially those who are different from me.

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