Service
Experience Level - Bronze
For my service experience, I worked with Habitat for Humanity on the construction of several homes in Morgantown, West Virginia. Originally, I was only planning on working for one weekend for the organization. After a couple of days on the work site, however, I decided to continue working on the site for a couple a couple of days over the course of two months. I typically went to work on the site on weekends in the morning. Each day that I went, I reported to the contractor or construction manager with the other volunteers to see what needed to be done that day. Even though it was unplanned, this experience turned out to be incredibly fulfilling and exciting endeavor.
Habitat for Humanity is an organization that seeks to provide shelters for individuals that do not have the resources to afford a house on their own. Because of this, Habitat for Humanity provides families with the ability to gain the independence they need. I was incredibly fortunate in that I was able to talk to one of the families that was going to be living in the homes. The family was very active in the construction of their own home so I had a lot of time to talk to them and the other volunteers. The dad of the family was actually a carpenter for a construction company when he was younger so I ended up working for him a couple of the weekends that I was ther.
The completion of the service experience is based off how the experience contributes to each of the three core learning objectives.
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1. Community Engagement
Habitat for Humanity is an amazing organization that helps rebuild communities by giving back to families through a variety of different ways. Not only was I engaged in the Morgantown, community, but also a community of volunteers whose main focus was to provide a better future for others.
2. Civic Agency
The experience provided me with an opportunity to become a more involved member of the community because I was working with volunteers, contractors, and the people that would be utilizing the house. Because of this, I became more connected to people who were promoting helpful change for the behalf of other individuals.
3. Capacity for Reflection The ability to work so closely with the family that was going to be living in the home was a great way to become more connected with the individuals who would be benefitting from my work. It was also very exciting to physically see what my contribution of work had helped complete when the project was over.