Students Discuss Intensive Service Experience

From left to right, Mike Maggert, Lee Anne Bledsoe, Heather Rich, Adam Sayers, and Dr. John Reiff. Not pictured:Eric Dilbeck, Chad Martel, Jared Moss.

Seven Tusculum College students, along with their professor, Dr. John Reiff, recently returned from a two-week stay at the Center for Student Missions in Washington, D.C. During that time, the group worked in homeless shelters, an AIDS support group, soup kitchens, and other social service agencies in assignments arranged by the Center.

"This was the best class I have ever had," reflected John Reiff, in a campus-wide discussion group held following the class's return to campus.

"The students came away, in many cases, with changed lives and, at the very least, a changed understanding of homelessness and a changed perception of the comforts we take for granted. For all of us, the term 'homelessness' was replaced by individual homeless people, whom we came to know at a personal level--and the root causes of this problem became a serious question for us."

The group participated in daily prayer breakfasts at Washington's Third Street Church of God. Each morning, following the worship service, breakfast is served to all in attendance, including many homeless people.

As part of the students' orientation to the city, the group conducted interviews of D.C. residents and tourists in the mall area of the capitol. Responses ranged from the expected, "They're all lazy and don't want to work," to well reasoned analyses of the local economy--dominated by government and tourism but having little if any other industry and offering few jobs above minimum wage to people without special skills. At the end of the experience, the students sought interviews with their congressional representatives about issues surrounding homelessness.

"We were really glad to have the Tusculum College group for two weeks," said Stacey King, a coordinator for the Center for Student Missions in a phone interview. "Most of our groups are here for a few days or a weekend. We really appreciated the opportunity to work with a group that was examining urban issues in depth."

The trip to Washington, D.C., was the major field experience for a new class at Tusculum College that allows students to complete required community service in an immersion course. It is part of a larger service-learning curriculum that includes coursework in the theory and practice of service-learning, courses in various disciplines which include service-learning as a major part of course requirements, and the opportunity for students to complete individual service assignments.

Below, those involved share their experiences:

Adam Sayers
I was really moved by the experience. One of the people we met was a fellow named Donald. We talked to him every day. He told us about life, and he rapped for us. Breakfast was always served between 7:00 and 8:30. One day Donald came in late and missed breakfast. All the breakfast food had been put away, but one of the workers had some turkey and bread lying about. So he gave Donald a turkey sandwich. When I saw Donald, I went up to him and spoke to him. I said, 'Oh, you've got a turkey sandwich; that looks good.'

He looked up at me and said, 'Yeah, want some?'

That was really meaningful to me. I thought about all the times I've kept things to myself and here was Donald. Practically all he had in the world was that turkey sandwich and he offered to share it with me.

Heather Rich
One of the most important things we learned was that in service you are served. We made wonderful connections with people we didn't expect. Just yesterday, I received an Easter card from one of the people at Third Street, Martha Taylor. She told me about how her daughter had been in a play, and she said that her prayers would follow me all my life.

Lee Anne Bledsoe
We would go to church service every morning and all these homeless people were singing and praising God and were just happy to be alive. It made me think how we complain about little things and these people who live in terribly difficult circumstances are thanking God for their lives and for the very limited possessions they have.

Michael Maggert
One of our projects was working in an after school daycare in Anacostia. The center served students from five to seventeen years old. One day, I was playing with these five-year-old twins. They were crawling all over me and pulling and tugging on me. We were having a great time.Right in the middle of that, I began wondering if in twenty years' time they would be coming to the homeless shelters to live. I realized then, just how much individual involvement can affect lives.

John Reiff
I've been teaching for over 25 years, and this class affected me more strongly and made me feel more strongly that my work had a sense of purpose than any other experience I have had. It was particularly rewarding that my students were a group of people willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

As the people we encountered contacted us, we began to realize who we are and who they are. And there was growth for everyone. Learning about these people's lives stretched us to become what we had not been before.One of the people who particularly affected me was a man about my age and about my build named Jacob. Like me, Jacob had a little white beard and his face, most mornings, was alive with interest at what was going on in the worship service. One morning after it had snowed the night before, Stacey, one of the coordinators of the mission organization where we were staying stopped Jacob to ask him how he had made out the night before. He told her that he had found a piece of plastic, so he kept reasonably dry, and he had made out fine. He said he really wanted to have a tarp, because that would be better protection from the elements, but all he could find was a blue tarp and that wouldn't work. A blue tarp would stand out in the bushes where a person might be sleeping, and it would be dangerous to have that color. What he really needed was a brown tarp or a green tarp. This really made me think about all the things in my life that I consider essential for a good life, and compare them to Jacob's sense of his own basic needs. The contrast was striking.