Reflective Essay

For students planning to graduate in Spring 2023, the reflective essay is due Friday, March 17, 2023.

The final requirement of the Certificate of Community Engagement is the reflective essay to be completed toward the end of the semester in which you are to graduate. In this essay, you will reflect on the intersection of theory and practice as you have completed your Certificate courses and volunteer hours in the community.

Part 1

For each Service Learning course you have taken, reflect on how the material you learned “in class” affected your experience of working in the community, and how working in the community impacted your learning of the material for the course. Some questions you should reflect on for the service-learning courses are

  • Did your experience in the community enhance or deepen your knowledge of the course subject?
  • Did it challenge the course material?
  • How was your learning affected by your work in the community?

Part 2

For each Community Engaged Theory course you have taken, complete these 2 steps:

  • Describe a social issue or community challenge that the course explored and discuss some of the key ideas/concepts the course used to understand that issue/challenge more deeply.
  • Then, describe some ways this issue/challenge can be resolved: these can be either steps a local community can take or broader changes in society or laws/policies that activists can pursue.

Part 3

Finally, reflect on your volunteer work at your service sites in the community and what that has taught you about the needs of the community and what you might do to help the community.

Your essay should be completed during your senior year and after all certificate classes have been completed. The essay should be typed, double-spaced and in standard font. You should use Microsoft Word to write your essay and send your essay as a Microsoft Word attachment to [email protected]. (Note: please send the actual file and not a link to the file.) The minimum word count is 1,200 words. For citations you may use Chicago, MLA, or APA style.