Anthony Petrone

April 28, 2022

HDF - 190

Learning Contract

According to my VIA Strengths, I have the ability to be a team player and also express kindness.

With that being said, these two specific strengths are extremely important when it comes to

helping a group of people succeed. Spreading kindness to the people around you enables others

to feel more comfortable with you.

Stated Goal:

Essentially, my goal is to make the middle schoolers a part of College Crusaders feel more

comfortable while at URI. I plan on making memorable connections with these students, and

making them feel like URI could be a future for them down the road.

Planned Activity:

For my contribution to a group, I choose to assist the members of College Crusaders. College

Crusaders is a program where middle school students from the greater Rhode Island area spend

the day on our Kingston campus. Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts, I was only able to

spend a little over an hour with these students but I was confident in making the best out of my

time with the crusaders.

Evidence:

As seen in the image above, the College Crusaders had a busy day ahead of themselves at URI!

These students had the opportunity to explore different portions of the campus while being

around college student volunteers like myself.

Reflection Statement:

I choose to volunteer during the crusaders lunch shift. After introducing myself to the

facilitators of the program, I was then introduced to all of the crusaders ranging from grades six

through eight. We gathered in URI’s Butterfield Dining Hall and spent time talking about

everything college related.

One of the students was able to ask me specific questions about what I like to do outside

of the classroom, which then turned into a great conversation regarding sports. I believe these

conversations/interactions can go a long way because it was my job to provide information about

the college experience.

Making connections with the younger students was an awesome experience because I got

to exemplify my strength of relator while creating relationships with the students. As a middle

school student it certainly can be a bit nerve racking coming onto a big campus like URI and

trying to adapt. Being able to speak to a group of middle schoolers was something I have never

done before, so I certainly grew in that aspect of speaking to younger audiences.

 Overall, the College Crusader program is an excellent way for younger students to get on

a college campus and get a feel for the atmosphere. After conversing with one of the facilitators,

they told me that URI will be inviting the group back in the fall (which is something I am

interested in doing again).