Service Learning Project
SITE Program
For the Service Learning Project, I worked with the SITE program here at IU Indianapolis. The SITE program allows students with intellectual disabilities to attend classes here at IU Indianapolis and work on campus as well. Every Tuesday for five weeks, I had lunch with two people from the SITE program. We would talk about how our days or weeks were going, about upcoming plans, some background information about ourselves, or we would play many games. This project allowed each student to help a local association and learn more about the associations around the Indianapolis area while learning something about ourselves as well.
Impact on Others
In general, I learned that service learning is valuable for our own experience and for others that we are helping as well. I learned that anyone can make an impact on someone's life simply by asking how they are doing. I also learned that oftentimes, I learn more from the people I am with and surround myself with than what I would learn from a textbook or simply volunteering. When I think about the meaning of something deeper rather than that I am just there to volunteer, it caused the interaction or event to have a lot more meaning and allowed me to learn more from it. With my partnership with the SITE program, I learned that everyone deserves the chance to experience everything, including college, even if people don't believe some people should. I also learned that not only did I have an impact on the peoples' lives who I had lunch with, but they had an impact on mine because they allowed me to see the importance of small gestures like smiling or asking how someone is doing. Overall, I really enjoyed this experience and am excited to do more service learning projects in the future.