Service Analysis I

Understanding what it means to have the opportunity to obtain a Jesuit education is something that is not easily understood at first. Personally, I primarily choose Loyola for athletic reasons initially and truthfully did not take the time to understand what I was getting myself into.  This being my second year at Loyola I am beginning to have a greater appreciation for what “educating the whole person” (Kolvenbach, 34) entails. I knew over the summer that this semester I wanted to dive into becoming that “whole person” which is so heavily emphasized on many occasions throughout my time at Loyola. Taking part in the Service-Learning opportunity at the school of Tunbridge will be that doorway. I expect Volunteering at Tunbridge to be unpredictable in the sense of how it will affect my own understanding of the world around me. I expect to gain new perspectives and appreciations. Interacting with the children who come from all different backgrounds, some less fortunate then others, will instantaneously call upon those Jesuit values my parents instilled within my character. I am truly enthusiastic about working in a classroom because I am an Elementary Education major.

Choosing the service learning path not only will deepen my understanding of Jesuit tradition and education but will be a fantastic chance prepare myself for my career as and education major. I hope to develop a better understanding of those around me and how to react to them in a way that represents the values of Loyola. Overall, I believe Serving-Learning and having my time at Tunbridge in my schedule constantly will be revitalizing because I will have an opportunity to impact the real world while developing into the person I want to become at Loyola. I am also interested in how these experiences will interact with the literary works and how I can translate the two into a meaningful message.

            Judgment was a theme I generalized from Frost and McDonough. In “Mending Wall”, it became clear to me that Frost was discussing two worlds and the bridge between these two worlds. In lines 27 and 45 the remark about “Good fences make good neighbors” is made. This statement can be translated into the idea that people like to make generalizations and judgments about each other in order to comfortably coexist in social environments. Sometimes these adjudications are negative. The same occurs in McDonough’s Accident, Mass. Ave. when two people from Boston get into a car crash. The two make generalizations about each other and engage in an upset. The poem is written in the perspective of the male who got his car hit. He realized she had done no damage and that her first language wasn’t English. Even though the man could’ve felt sympathetic he still reacted irrationally by swearing and such. Relating to the time I spend at Tunbridge, I hope to go past initial generalizations and judgments with the teachers and children I interact with and instead grow to appreciate and learn from each other.

Harper presented the notion that learning can be taken for granted and the opportunity to understand is priceless at times. The reading exposed the drive and desire to acquire knowledge, which is within us but can sometimes be overlooked. The character in the poem has such a passion to learn to read.

The primary perspective in Kolvenbach is to “Educate the whole person [through the Jesuit education] intellectually, professionally, psychologically, morally and spiritually” (34). The Jesuit education puts such a high emphasis on learning by preforming service. This develops ones self-reflection and understanding of the world. Kolvenbach describes service as, “Personal involvement with innocent suffering, with the injustice other suffer, is a catalyst for solidarity which then gives rise to intellectual inquiry and moral reflection” (34). During my experience at Tunbridge I believe that I will develop into a more conscious member of different communities and will intellectually grow due to the interactions I will experience during my time at the school.