I had the most unforgettable opportunity when I chose to carry out this service learning assignment at ARISE at the Farm, in Chittenango. Everything happens for a reason, and I firmly believe I was meant to find something special during this experience. At first I thought ARISE was its own entity on a farm. Little did I know. Before I started my service learning, I wanted to know more about the history of the company. To my surprise, I realized that this was a company that I knew about for a very long time but never paid close attention. Mailed to our house over the years, were postcards or a magazine with big blue letters on the front saying “ARISE”. I was so enthralled to learn more about this organization. ARISE on the Farm is part of a non-profit, community-based organization that ensures that everyone, regardless of having a disability, can have control over their lives and accomplish their dreams.
The organization was founded in 1979, before I was even born, which shows how far they have come today as an organization. The world of disability services can be very overwhelming and difficult for families in many ways. ARISE is a selfless organization that desires to reach out their hands to those in need to help make someone else’s life a little easier. They want to let those with disabilities know that there is a life for them where they can live freely, just like everyone else. They encourage those with mental health disorders to seek help in their services that they describe on their website. For example, ARISE has Outpatient Mental Health Services and a School-Based Mental Health Program, which helps families in need who are experiencing emotional distress. The profound therapy for mental health that I had experienced firsthand, was horseback riding lessons. This type of therapy that ARISE provides has been successful, and the individual might not have even been realizing it was helping them. Animals themselves are therapy to someone who has a mental disorder. It seems to make the person feel like he or she is not going through life alone, and I could see this beautiful connection happen while I assisted in the horseback riding lessons. I want to quote this company from their website, “Everything we do is based on the independent living philosophy, the belief that people with disabilities have a right to self-determination – the freedom to make choices and work toward achieving personal goals and systems change.” These words signify this was a wonderful opportunity that I was blessed to experience in my life. My role, as an individual providing service to this agency, was to bring joy by becoming a part of a movement that I never even knew existed. While I was at ARISE at the Farm, I was given the title of a Volunteer for this agency, but I did not feel like one. I felt like I was building a new relationship with a loving family. I believe that God works through people and this organization is a beautiful testimony to that. I felt love, honesty, generosity, patience, and peace the whole time while I was there.
Thomas Dewey once said “We do not learn by doing; we learn by thinking about what we do.” When Maria Malagisi came into my abnormal psychology class this semester to talk to us about Service Learning, I was positive I had already decided to complete this assignment instead of a research paper. I had prior experience last semester, completing a service learning assignment with Habitat for Humanity. It was an eye-opening experience for me. It completely changed me as a person as I walked into Habitat to Humanity. I left there feeling like a different young woman who had a change of heart. I looked back at myself prior to going there, and realized that I was very ignorant to feel the way I did, which was annoyed that I had to complete a meaningless assignment. However, this time around was different. I was anticipating a very exciting opportunity would arise for me. Who knew the word “arise”, would be the exact word that would come out of Maria’s mouth. I knew once she finished her presentation, that ARISE at the Farm would be the place that I wanted to explore this new opportunity. I had high expectations going in and I finished this assignment with my expectations being met even higher than I could have imagined. One specific expectation that I wanted to achieve from this service learning assignment, was to be able to apply my education from my abnormal psychology class, to this experience while gaining more intellectual insight to what it’s really like. Thanks to Maria Malagisi I was well prepared for this transition to apply my knowledge to the real world. Maria was exceptional, very kind, and so helpful as she guided me through the process. I really enjoyed working with her. I had no idea what I was about to experience in this service learning assignment. Looking back, I feel like it was more of a journey for me. For some a journey is viewed as being very long and treacherous. For me, this journey was inspiring and was only three days long, but it felt like a whole new world had been opened to me. Just looking at one of the disabled children’s faces, brought tears of joy to my eyes. A young boy touched my hand as I was assisting in his horseback riding lesson, and my heart jumped like I was shocked with electricity. It amazed me that something so ordinary to many, could be so warm and unexpected coming from a child who has a disability. It’s hard to put into words the feelings that this experience has brought to me.
In my first service log, I discussed one of the major concepts we learned in class with Dr. Dinero. I was privileged to observe this concept throughout my service learning opportunity. That concept was Skinner’s Operant Conditioning. Operant conditioning is a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences. Key concepts in operant conditioning are positive and negative reinforcement, as well as positive and negative punishment. An association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. Skinner believed this approach was the best way to understand behavior by looking at the causes of an action and its consequences. During the horseback riding lessons, I was working with the individuals, using toys around the arena for them to pick up for use in their therapy. Part of therapy involved the instructors who gave them toys, to help the individuals hold themselves up which strengthens their balance. Sometimes certain individuals had a hard time following the directions to successfully complete their exercises needed for the day. Using positive reinforcement with toys, enticed the individuals to do exercises to help them through their therapy. It was very interesting because the toys became a useful tool to influence the individual to behave differently. Using Skinner’s approach in this situation, really made a difference in the outcome. If operant conditioning was not used in these horseback riding lessons, the individuals would have had a harder time listening and behaving the way that the instructors wanted.
Albert Einstein once stated, “Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts”. Returning to college at 25 years of age, I have already experienced a lot of the real world. I am more observant, open minded, and accepting of how things really are in life, which can at times, be unfair. Service Learning is a brilliant way of allowing a student to comprehend and view more of what is going on outside of the classroom walls. It helps students recognize that life is more than just making money and that you should give everything you do your best effort even if you are not accredited for it. It allows students like me, to gain a broader range of the material that we are learning in class. Unlike the previous service learning assignment that I had to complete, I was open to this experience. I believe being open to anything, even if you don’t agree with it, is very important. Before completing my very first service learning assignment, I felt that it was pointless to do something like this for school because I really felt that it wouldn’t do anything for me. I was so wrong. From this point forward, there is one thing that I am certain of. Once you have learned to be humble, your heart feels like weight lifted off your chest. You can’t appreciate your life, without being humble or open to understanding someone else’s life. People ought to stop thinking only about how they feel and more about what others feel. My last experience doing service learning, really shocked me and made me realize a lot that I took for granted. I was eager for this chance to see and learn something new. I wanted to learn and understand these individuals with disabilities. My abnormal psychology class gave me the tools necessary to do that.
I knew for those three days I loved being at ARISE at the Farm. I was feeling that I was walking away from this experience happier than ever, and that I had finally been able to put into practice the information I’ve been learning in class. However, I still felt like I was missing something. I questioned why I was put there at that time in my life for this college assignment. It seemed too good to be true because right before the semester began, I was looking for a job working with horses. What are the chances of being so blessed to be in a situation like this, by finding an environment that I love and learning at the same time? But for what reason? What was I missing?
On the last day of this beautiful journey with a beautiful day presented to me, was the sun beating down on my smiling face. As I was driving away from the farm, a big sign caught my attention that read, “My Wish for You: A Happy Life”. A wise man by the name of Doctor Jim Marshall said these words, and his words will remain touched forever in my heart. Below there were more words that beautifully concluded, “Always Remember…When you help someone, you help yourself”. Tears nearly flowed down my face.
I found my purpose. I found the reason why I was meant to be there.
Service Learning Reflection- PSY 210
20 March 2017
SIMPLELANE.LIFE 