Amazed by the things we heard, we are reminded of what it means to be humble in our service to the community. These various jobs that these students accomplished may only have a short-term effect to the different communities, but they surely showed the students the needs of the different communities within Grand Rapids, and what they can do in small ways to address these needs. One thing that surprised me was that even the students on the biking tour of the city, who didn’t provide any hands-on service with the agencies, came to appreciate the city in many ways (my colleague and I ourselves learned a lot about what has happened to Grand Rapids downtown recently driving along and getting lost at times). Though more than half of the new students on the bike tour were from the Grand Rapids area, they all learned a lot about the city by riding through many parts of the city that they had never been to and speaking with people that they normally would not have spoken with. There was one guy that approached us as we stopped near the Calvin Art studio at 106 S. Division. At first, most of us thought he was going to ask for money, but he actually just wanted to talk to us and to wish us well as we continued the tour. As Professor De Graaf , the bike tour leader, expressed in the reflection afterwards, we do not know how such a high point of our day can come from the least expected situations. Such experience also reminds us as students to be humble toward the people whom we serve, and encourages us to get involved with the greater Grand Rapids community.
As we say good-bye to StreetFest and begin our new academic school year, the challenge of “walking humbly” remains. Our hope is that the students will take away that humble attitude as they serve and explore the city of Grand Rapids.
One great thing that is happening this Friday September 18th from 8:00am to 5:00pm is Park(ing) Day. The Service-Learning Center is joining the Off-Campus Programs office in reserving two parking spots downtown to raise awareness about transportation options in the city and to encourage students to continue to get involved with the city.
Check out the links below to learn more about Park(ing) Day and don’t forget to visit us this Friday. http://www.grand-rapids.mi.us/index.pl?page_id=10304
2 comments:
Tu,
It was nice reading this entry and I am glad that StreetFest was a great learning experience for everyone. Did the StreetFest experience redefine the meaning of “community” for anyone? Were there specific instances that set either you or others on staff thinking how the office should position itself to better contribute to the GR community? Or more broadly, if entities participate both directly and indirectly in the activities of a community--thus creating new challenges and opportunities--how is the office serving its neighbors this year?
Ivan
Have fun blog-ing—it’s THE best job at the S-LC!
Dear Ivan,
It was so nice to hear from you again. Streetfest 09 definitely reminded us to "walk humbly" in our service. In terms of community, I think this experience is not so much a redefinition for us but a reminder as we continue our work. We were talking about College Positive Volunteer Program and its meaning and were reminded that in circumstances, we could be ignorant of the real needs of students/communities if we don't take into considerations both what our service can do well and not so well for the people we serve.
Speaking of that, we hope that we left the new students with such thoughts as they interact with the communities during their Calvin years.
Shifting gear a little bit , I wish you well and I love that you still catch up with what we do once in while. Love to hear about what you're doing. Take care
Tu
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