Amanda Bailey
April 26,2013
4th Period, Career Exploration
Community Service Project
When I first heard that we had to complete a community service project, I instantly disagreed with the assignment. I would not have considered myself to be a people's person, so I knew that this would be challenging for me. I was not actually open to the idea of doing community service. Whether I wanted to do it or not was definitely not an option. I knew that I would “kill two birds with one stone” by completing this project. Not only is it an essential part of my grade for my class, but as we have learned, community service activities look great on resumes and college applications.
Finally, I decided on which places I wanted to complete my service hours at. I chose places that I was not comfortable with because I wanted to experience something new. The first I chose to complete my service at was Aurelian Springs Elementary School in Halifax, NC. You would think that I would be comfortable in a school setting since I am still in school, but I felt out of my element. I have volunteered there before, but I am always nervous when I go there. Aurelian Springs, so of course, I was confused about everything. The second place I chose was Rexam Corporations. It was a little awkward to be around all those adults, but I handled it. The last place I chose was White Oak Missionary Baptist Church. The first place I volunteered at was Aurelian Springs Elementary School. As stated before, I was a little uncomfortable while at the school. I was familiar with the school because I have been volunteering there since my seventh grade year, but since I do not go there often, I was a little nervous. I was actually fine with working with younger children because I think they are fun to be around and are very entertaining. I was assigned to Ms. Angie Newell's class. I know Ms. Newell because, as stated before, this was not my first time volunteering at Aurelian Springs. Ms. Newell's class was not as bad as I thought they were going to be. They were well mannered and very energetic.
While I was helping out in Ms. Newell's room, I had to read books to the kids. During the reading time, I could tell that the children were really enjoying the story. They were smiling, they paid attention and they assisted in parts of the reading. At one point of time, I had the children answering questions about the book. It was kind of funny to watch how they interacted with each other. Because I was nervous, observing how entertaining they were eased my nerves. As the day continued, my assignment was to help the children with their work. Everybody has their own style of working, which made this task hard. Some of the children were willing to work, but other did not want to work at all. After the children became accepting of my help and presence, working with them was easier. They allowed me to help them with their school work, and they held conversation with me.
The second place I volunteered at was Rexam Corporations. This company is mostly known for packaging medicine bottle. Since there is machinery involved in packaging goods, I could not work in the back during the packaging process. The only thing I was allowed to do was work in the office. While working in the office, I did secretarial work such as, I answered phones, found client files, and wrote down memos for secretary. I was disappointed because I did not have the exciting part of the process. I wanted to be the individual packing medicine bottles and other materials. Instead, I had to work in the main office. I was too young and not skilled enough to handle the packaging. While in the main office, I was in charge of answering phones, filing paperwork, and taking