GU 299 week 7 assignment 2 Reflection Journal

Reflection Journal

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Institution

Tutor

Course

Date

Reflection Journal

What, if anything, did you find surprising, particularly challenging, or interesting? (10 pts)

It was challenging meeting the needs of the community and the organization. Some of the community members were not satisfied with the work we did for the community. Thus it became hard to satisfy their expectations. It was interesting working with the community and putting my skills and talent into practice. It was also interesting working on projects that I had personal interests in, I was able to give it my best. I was surprised to have worked on some projects last minute an became a success. Acknowledgement from the community was good for me because it has motivated me to do well.

It was challenging working with the community at first because of the diverse cultures but with time it became interesting learning from them and working together. It was challenging fulfilling the needs of the organization and meeting some of the requirements. Sometimes it became challenging when people could not work well in groups or team works because the work would be submitted late and poorly done. It was interesting learning new skills and attaining a good working experience.

From what you know about this course so far, what connections can you make to previous learning experiences, and how do you think this course will help you as you move forward in your college and professional life? (10pts)

The connections I have made with this course and the others is that evaluation is always critical and important. Other courses do an evaluation through tests whereas this is identifying whether the community engagement was satisfactory or not. As shared by (Furco & Root, 2010), evaluation is good as a professional since it guides an individual in testing their work or progress. This course requires good communication skills because it involves meeting with new people and also critical thinking because of the need to make important decisions.

Another connection I made from this course that is important is that doing good is essential. Through being good, we are able to help others and ourselves too. Thus as a professional I will be able to communicate with people well and also do good as well. It is also good to identify whether am making a difference either as a student or as a professional or as a volunteer.

How do course outcomes (listed above) for this week apply to your experiences so far? (10pts)

As a volunteer in the community organization, I was required to evaluate the projects that I worked on and became a success and separate them from the ones that were not successful for future considerations. As shared by (Chambers & Lavery, 2012), critical thinking applies as a student in school when taking tests and making decisions as a volunteer also. Communication skills is essential as a volunteer and as I study because I interact with people from diverse cultures.

According to (Nieto, 2015), making a difference in school work and at the organization is essential. Through this we get to help others and ourselves. I got to put to experience the skills that I got from school to community engagement. I also have the opportunity to put the skills that I got from the community engagement I got to put them in school work as well.

What specific ideas did you learn from the Starbucks book this week that you could use in your every life or future career? (10pts)

In chapter 19 of the Starbucks book, it talks about it’s partnership with United Airlines and the fears they had about the partnership. The problems that were hindering the success got solved and the partnership started doing well. Through this I learnt that evaluation in a business or professional life is essential because we get to identify the problem and provide solutions.

In chapter 20, Schulz explains how a business can become big but still stay small. Schulz tries to explain how big businesses are not that successful. He also emphasized on the importance of being caring and giving attention to the employees. Through this I learnt that it is important to have a small business that gives you profits than a bigger one that is not good. I also learnt that for a successful business or company it is essential to care for the employees. Schultz also explains the importance of hiring experienced personnel and how to maintain passion and fire among them. Through this I learnt that it was necessary to have experienced staff and passion for the business is essential for the growth of the business.

In chapter 21, Schultz was able to partner up with CARE which was one of the biggest sponsor. Starbucks came up with it’s own code of conduct that supported the quality of coffee in its origin countries. Through this I learnt that it is important to give back and do good without expectations. I also learnt that partnering up with other companies for growth is essential in a company’s growth.

What questions do you still need answered? (10pts)

I would like to know the importance of doing an evaluation apart from distinguishing the success from failure. I would also like to know the effects of doing good in someone’s psychological point of view. I would like answers on how identifying the challenges in service learning is beneficial to any organization or volunteer. I would like to know how being good affects other people.

I would like to know how money has effect in someone’s actions, both positively and negatively and why. I would also like to know why it is important to identify the skills we can contribute to the society and how well we can do that. I would also like to know how critical thinking skills is essential when it comes to evaluation and the role communication skills play in the process.

Reference

S Nieto. (2015), Creating multicultural learning communities, the light in their eyes

A Furco, S Root. (2010), a Research Demonstrates the Value of Service Learning

DJ Chambers, S Lavery, (2012), Service-learning, A valuable component of pre-service teacher education.