Spring 2005

De Pa u l U n ive r s i t y - I r w i n W. S te an s C e n te r

Service Speaks!
Student Reflections on Community Service
Service Speaks is a student publication that captures and shares student insights about service learning projects
and courses. The selection committee consists of students and Steans Center staff. These pieces are excerpts
from longer student compositions. You may view the full student reflection at http://cbsl.depaul.edu/publications.

Deconstructing Stereotypes
“Images of Homelessness” I feel sorry that a particular situa- And although this is no excuse,
tion put them in this predicament, but being raised in a strict Irish Catho-

I was totally unprepared for what

happened next. I guess I had an
image of what I had expected the average
guests to look like. The first guests
through the door were a young woman
about 35 years old and her 5 and 9 year
old daughters. They were well dressed,
clean and very polite. I was overcome with
a variety of emotions that I was speech-
less for at least ten minutes. Some of the
guests that followed were a little more
typical of my expectations although some
of the male guests appeared to be aver-
age, normal, middle class individuals that I
would not have recognized as out of place
if I had seen them walking down the
street. They too did not fit my image of
homeless people.
During the entire evening I could not
help but to look over and watch the young
mother and her daughters as they talked,
ate, laughed, watched television, and in-
teracted like a normal family. I found my-
self torn as part of me wanted to know
“They have given me more than
I could ever give them…”
their story and part of me said - stay out of
it. I was happy knowing that whatever trou-
ble had placed them in this situation of
being homeless did not appear to devas-
tating their relationship as a family. I will
never forget the sight of the mother and
the two daughters walking through the
doorway. I will remember the feeling in my
heart and stomach.
Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning and Community Service Studies at DePaul University
2233 N. Kenmore Ave. Chicago, IL 60614-3594 773-325-7457 http://cbsl.depaul.edu
I do not feel sorry for them, because
the love and strength they showed as
a family was greater than that which
exists in many other families who are
better off economically. While I feel a
great deal of com-
passion for the lack
of food and shelter
this family is facing,
I cannot help but
think of how lucky
they are to have each other and how
happy they seem to be together. I
wonder if given the choice to be
homeless or to be without family,
what would I do? And without even
saying a word, this family will never
know it but they have given me more
than I could ever give them– the ap-
preciation for my kids and family.
Dan McKay, Liberal Arts
Course: Balancing Your
Demanding Life
CBO: PADS Shelter
“The REST of the story…”
G rowing up in a city in Iowa, I was
not exposed to the amounts of
homeless people that are here in Chi-
cago.
lic environment, going to Catholic
schools, and having parents who
are very stubborn in their thinking,
did not readily prepare me for the
events and situations that I would
encounter throughout the years
here at DePaul. I saw homeless-
ness as a result of personal flaws,
such as lack of drive and motiva-
tion, strong occurrence of sub-
stance abuse, having a large fam-
ily that one cannot support, or
mental illness...Struggling to over-
come these images through expo-
sure and volunteering, I had no
choice but to brush off my feel-
ings and continue my work at
REST. By the third Saturday, we
were becoming well-known, and
some people were even looking
forward to our arrival… To my sur-
prise, there were people there
that remembered us from the very
first week. I was slowly learning
that I could relate to some of
them, and through listening to
their stories, and their goals and
aspirations, it was becoming ap-
parent to me that these were not
nameless, faceless people from
the street. They were human be-
ings who had families, struggles
and dreams of their own.
Kathryn Bernhard, Psychology
Course: Mental Health Problems
in Contemporary Society
CBO: REST
Page 2

“A Fertile Ground for Peace” This agency envisions a world in One of the reason why this research
which people of all religions learn will be helpful to the IFYC is because

A merica is often referred to

as a multicultural society.
However, few have bothered to pay
attention to the broad array of relig-
ions that have entered into Ameri-
can society over the past few dec-
ades. For many Americans, the
thought of various religions, such as
Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Zoroas-
trian, carries with it an abundance
of “preconceptions and misconcep-
tions” (Eck, A New Religious America
12). Unfortunately, these precon-
ceptions and misconceptions have
often been the root cause of misun-
derstanding, ridicule and violence
among people of different religions.
The atrocities of September 11,
2001 brought the danger and the
beauty of living in a multi-religious
society to the forefront of the Ameri-
can mind. The Interfaith Youth Core
(IFYC), is a non-profit organization
founded in 1998.
how to understand each other and
cooperate with one another to make
the world a better place for all. The
events of September 11th and the
days following have proven that
America has a long road ahead of it
towards achieving this state of inter-
faith peace. The IFYC believes in the
power of today’s youth as the key in
creating a more understanding, ac-
cepting and peaceful environment.
Therefore, they have devised a pro-
gram to get high school students of
various religions involved in inter-
faith dialogue and service learning
projects with one another. When I
told Ms. Neuroth, the IFYC project
director, about the research project,
she asked me if I would research the
religious diversity of Senn High
School in the Edgewater community
of Chicago. She warned me that this
would not be an easy task...
they are constantly searching for
high school students from a wide
variety of relig-
ions to partici-
pate in their
“The power of
program. For- today’s youth is
tuitously, the
Chicago area
key…”
happens to be
an extremely fertile ground for this
type of project because of its vast
religious diversity (Eck, Encountering
God 23-24. ). I plan to continue this
research for the IFYC beyond the
scope of this quarter, not only to
help them come closer to achieving
their vision, but also because I find
this work interesting and important.
Lauren Menger, Psychology
Course: Peace, Conflict Resolution
and Social Justice
CBO: Interfaith Youth Core

Human Differences

“Krystal Clear: Though the U.S. Supreme Court

What Teaching Taught me.”
I found that my experience
with Our Lady of Good Coun-
sel and the corresponding course-
work in ISP 200 was not an exer-
cise in detailing the figmented dif-
ferences between various racial
and ethnic groups, but rather an
opportunity to observe the many
grounds on which these diverse
teens come to
find common-
“...we must seek ality. This, in
my opinion,
justice through reveals a sim-
understanding.” ple truth more
valuable than
any amount of
data on difference—that while we
are all quite different, any attempt
to implicate superiority/inferiority
as a result of that difference is any-
thing but just. It is because of this
that we must seek justice through
understanding.
ruled in the case of Brown vs. The What I’ve taken away from this
course is quite simply both a per-
Board of Education that the concept
sonal belief in Cosmopolitanism as
of “separate but equal” was implau-
sible—that there would always be an the optimal societal organization, as
well as the insight that differences do
implication of superiority for one
group, and inferiority for the other. not make one either valuable or
worthless, they make one human.
The validity of this argument I must
grant, but while the isolated monas- Robert Rossi, Accountancy
ticism characteristic of the Teen Cen-
ter’s operations has helped to unify Course: Race and Ethnicity
and protect the teens at Our Lady of CBO: Our Lady of Good Counsel
Good Counsel, this is not an effec- Robert Tutored a 6th grade girl
tive means for unifying an entire named Krystal.
world. So long as there is separa-
tion, so too there must be inferiority.
Therefore, I submit as the optimal
state of society not as one separate
but equal, but rather as one different
but equal. We must seek to make
all the world a cosmopolis, where
differences are accepted and cele-
brated, not because they make us
better than our neighbor, but rather
because they are what make us all
human beings, beings of equal re-
spect and inherent dignity.

Human Differences
“Living Multiculturalism”
O ne of the most rewarding
experiences of my work at El
Instituto del Progreso Latino was when
people would come to find me after
they passed their citizenship test and
thank me for helping them. Even
though I only spent two days a week at
the site, I really felt like I was helping
people and making a difference in their
lives for the better. Part of the mission
at the Steans Center, here at DePaul, is
to create social awareness about the
neighborhoods in Chicago.
I had never been to Pilsen or Little
Village before I started working at my
site but it really opened my eyes to an-
other neighborhood and felt a connec-
tion with the people living there.
Through this class we learned that one
of the most important ways to over-
come our prejudices is to not perceive
others as the “they” group and not to
view ourselves as members of the “we”
group. The most important thing is to
be able to look at all people and see
them not for their differences but to
make a connection with people as fel-
low human beings. By working in these
communities, students get a chance to
part of a broader “us.”
Silvia Garcia-Cornell, History
Course: Race and Ethnicity
CBO: El Instituto del Progreso Latino
Across Borders
“Partnerships with the UN”
M y third workshop was my
"light bulb moment." I
listened to highly educated men
speak about something as basic as
communication barriers and how
with adequate communication meth-
ods, issues like the Millennium De-
velopment Goals (MDG's) have a
much better chance of being re-
solved positively. Understanding how
cultural, social, and physical struc-
tures all make up effective commu-
nication was an
essential part of
“As a this workshop.
communicator But what I took
away from this
for 20 years, final session was
much more. As a
I felt motivated communicator for
20 years I felt
to act.” motivated to act.
Communication -
specifically spreading the news
about the MDG's- and hopefully fo-
cusing on MDG #8 (creating new
partnerships to help the world's
poor), I believed that I could make a
difference. It was at the end of that
workshop that I asked my one and
only public question in all the work-
shops: "When I go home and am
being interviewed by my local paper,
what is the one key message I
should communicate about this con-
ference?" Every one of the speakers
felt compelled to answer my ques-
tion, each with a similar message:
reaching the MDG's requires a per-
sonal contribution of motivation and
service aimed at creating partner-
ships with one's own community.
Page 3
Local partnerships can bring us to-
gether to solve a collection of problems
with people from all around the world
by presenting our points of view and
finding points of cooperation.
I originally planned on attending
this conference and completing my
community service by writing my work-
shop summaries and enjoy seeing
them printed in the UN booklet and
posted on our SNL website
(http://www.snl.info/un/ngo/index.asp
) I had no intention of returning home
an activist for NGO's and the MDG's,
but I did. I had no plans on developing
a website to neither promote these UN
initiatives nor report on the progress,
but I am currently developing my own
website - myhopeforhumanity.com - to
do just that. I certainly had no ideas of
becoming a public speaker on behalf of
the political promises that have been
made and now need to be kept for the
sake of humanity, however "Keeping
the Promise" is the theme of my Power-
Point presentation I have been sharing
with others. My international commu-
nity service has now become local and I
am working to connect my local com-
munity to global needs.
Vickie Mudra, Health Care
Management (SNL)
Course: Experiencing the UN
CBO: United Nations

“Communication and
Nonviolence”
W
orking towards peace and
justice in this world takes
endurance, strength and creativity.
Those who work for peace and jus-
tice cannot simply preach about a
peaceful world; they must exemplify
the patience and compassion that
they wish to see in the world through
their own lives. Through my work as
co-coordinator of Amnesty Interna-
tional this quarter, I have been chal-
lenged to live
the peaceful
“I was touched by message that
I have worked
their courage and to spread to
strength to stand others. In
addition, my
up to injustice.” work with
Amnesty has
forced me to
examine how the way I communicate
with others will promote or will inhibit
the cause that I am trying to advo-
cate for. Finally, my work with Am-
nesty has challenged me to examine
the advantages and disadvantages
of nonviolent civil disobedience.
The big project for Amnesty this
fall has been preparing for the
School of the Americas Protest, also
known as the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation.
The SOA/WHISC is a military base
Fort Benning, Georgia. The base
trains Latin American soldiers in
“counterinsurgency techniques,
sniper training, commando and psy-
chological warfare, military intelli-
gence and interrogation tactics”
(www.soaw.org)...As my work contin-
ued, the idea of sending clear mes-
sages and using effective communi-
cation skills challenged me to exam-
ine nonviolent civil disobedience.
Civil disobedience is knowingly and
willingly breaking a law in order to
help illustrate the injustice of the
laws being enforced...Because this
act that puts the protestor in jail is
done through nonviolence, the pro-
testor can find peace that he/she is
actively working for love.
Strategies for Action
Ultimately, the experience that I
have had with Amnesty this quarter
has been both challenging and moving.
I struggled to be understood, and
learned to be patient with those who
misunderstood the message of the
SOA/WHISC and the mission of
DePaul’s Amnesty chapter that our
group was trying to exemplify. In addi-
tion, I was able to see the extremes to
which people will go to illustrate the
message of nonviolence through civil
disobedience. The experiences I have
had showed me in small was some of
the greater struggle that visionaries of
peace such as Gandhi and Dr. Martin
Luther King had faced in their nonvio-
lent movements. As I continue to work
with Amnesty throughout the year, I
hope that I will be able to touch others
with the message that I was given by
the sixteen who crossed this year at
the SOA/WHISC as I was touched by
their courage and strength to stand up
to injustice through nonviolence.
Rebecca Reed, International Studies
Course: Peace, Conflict Resolution and
Social Justice
CBO: Amnesty International
“Reflecting On My Service”
B efore coming to DePaul Uni-
versity, I was no stranger to
community service. My family, friends,
and even I, were proud of the work I
had done, and it had never crossed my
mind that what I was doing could be
seen as bad in the eyes of authors like
James Petras (1997) and Ivan Illich
(1968).
Community service to me has al-
ways been a very important part of
being a human being. Without each
other, it seems to me that we have
nothing. But while spending my Tues-
day nights in class, I questioned myself
about my intentions, my choices and
my reasons for participating in the ser-
vice work that I did. I could not help
but wonder if I was one of “those”
volunteers who do service work in or-
der to make themselves feel better.
I still have yet to answer that ques-
tion. I am not quite sure if I know the
answer or if I would rather not deal with
it. I never thought that I could have
been so uneducated in a field I have
worked in for years.
This class has ripped
“I questioned the rug out from under-
neath me. I believe
myself that service work is
about my something that bene-
fits everyone. If I do
intentions...” find that I am volun-
teering because it
makes me feel better about myself,
does that make it wrong?
Although we spent many classes
discussing the negative aspects of
community service, I was always able
to witness the positive aspects when I
visited Family Learning Center. As I
conversed with these mothers about
their children’s health, emotional state
and safety, I began to earn their trust.
Community service will always be
something important to me. After
watching these mothers accomplish so
many things despite so many obsta-
cles, keeps me wanting to achieve
more for this world and for mankind.
Lauren Kennedy, Communications
Course: Perspectives on
Community Service
CBO: Family Learning Center
Faculty from all disciplines are encouraged
to submit student reflections on commu-
nity projects to the Steans Center.
Questions about “Service Speaks” should
be directed to Howard Rosing at the
Steans Center, hrosing@depaul.edu
Spring 2005 Committee: Kristine Bentz,
Jean Brink, Billie Drakeford, Laura Garza,
Perla OCampo, and Tim Winkler.
Editor: Patricia Esparza
Note: CBO stands for Community-based
Organization