Blog #5

Now that I have finished my twelve hours of community service, I can look back at the eventful journey I have had at Lydia Home. Throughout my process of service, I have come to realize many different themes that we presented in the times I have volunteered. I have helped many different kids within the weeks that I have been there and it has showed me many different styles or learning and communication.

One theme I have seen throughout my time at Lydia, is perception. I had many assumptions about the home before I went there. As I talked about in my first blog, I thought it was going to be a different atmosphere than what I am used to. I thought I would feel uncomfortable there and not know what to do in any situation. I have figured out now that I was wrong and I perceive things in a different perspective now that I have visited many times. I was hoping that I would be able to understand the kids and let them know that I am here to help. I did not want them to see me as an der kid who doesn’t care about their education or be willing to help them. I know that when I helped some of the kids, I noticed that some were shy because they did not know me and did not want to talk to me.

            Another major theme that I have noticed that re occurs over the time I have spent with the kids is language. Language is the way we communicate, and I have seen language in many situations. One situation was when I was helping an 8^th grader named Kyle, Joyce had previously told me that he has the language skills of a middle school child. I did not realize how important language was until I worked with Kyle on reading, I could barley understand him and it was had for him to comprehend what I was telling him to do. Without language no one would be able to communicate, obviously it has an affect on interpersonal communication. You cannot communicate efficiently without being able to express how we feel.

            This experience I have had at Lydia Home, will always be with me as I go through college. I has helped me interact with different types of people, and the way I communicate with people affects how they see me. I will take this adventure with me and I am going to continue going to Lydia, even though my hours are complete. I really enjoy being there, and making the kids happy and helping them get a better education.

           

Blog #4

Now that I have been to Lydia multiple times, I was starting to near the end of my volunteer service. It is starting to make me sad, because I have started growing relationships with these kids and I love being involved and feel like I am making a difference. We had snack time as always and Julie and I helped prepare the drinks and fruit. After the snack we started to get into homework time. The last few visits I have had here, I have worked with Davonte and helped him with many subjects. I can personally tell he is improving on his skills, and he does not mess around much anymore because he knows I wont continue to work with him if he does.

During these past weeks I have been here, I have noticed that disclosure has presented itself. Disclosure can be viewed in many different ways and it came to my realization especially when I first started here that if I did not have disclosure I would not know what to do. If Joyce, or the children did not tell me what to do, I would be unaware of the rules and the way things are run. The kids are so wonderful, that they know what to do and they will show you the sections in their book that need to be done.

I have learned that I am grateful for having this opportunity. And although my service hours are nearing an end, I will still continue to visit Lydia home. I will now use disclosure more for myself in this situation, because I have noticed that I do disclosure a lot about myself. I will be working on this as well as my communication with the kids. Talking to the children is much different communication than how I should be speaking to Joyce, or the kid’s parents. I will continue to watch my words, and how I act towards the kids because they learn from others. I am happy that I can continue to come back and enjoy my time at Lydia.