#CapturingCommunity is a series where we, in the Service-Learning community, are able to sit down with staff from our community partners, faculty at Northeastern, and students to hear about their experiences with Northeastern’s Service Learning program. In this post, Tyler Nicholson, a Service-Learning Team Manager and Teaching Assistant will answer some questions!
By S-L Street Team Member Salil Khanna
Name: Kelly Chan
Role in Service-Learning: Service-Learning Student
College: College of Arts, Media, and Design
Major/Program of Study & Minor: Journalism major and Photojournalism minor
What Class are you a Service-Learning Student for: Advanced Chinese 1
How are your values expressed through your community engagement and Service-Learning work?
Service-Learning has taught me to appreciate the ability to be learning a new language. When I first scheduled Chinese into my schedule, it was mainly to fulfill my language requirement. After engaging with the Service-Learning aspect, it made me want to learn it more for myself rather than just learning it for a class. I see much value in being able to speak another language, especially one that is used worldwide.
How has Service-Learning in this class affected your education relating to your major?
Although the Service-Learning I do is not related to journalism, it has shown me the importance of having good communication skills. For my Service-Learning, I act as a teacher assistant at a Chinese school, interacting with kindergartners in Chinese only. This Service-Learning has helped me step out of my comfort zone in communicating as well as teaching in a language that I am not that proficient in.
Did you find Service-Learning or did Service-Learning find you?
I would say that I had found Service-Learning. When I was registering for classes, I had the opportunity to take either Intermediate Chinese 2 or Advanced Chinese 1. One of the factors that pushed me to take Advanced Chinese 1 was definitely the Service-Learning component. I’ve volunteered for a good portion of my life, and I missed it when I came to college. Although I didn’t know how to get back into volunteering at the time, Advanced Chinese 1 presented the perfect opportunity for doing so.
If Service-Learning were a song, what would it be and why?
I think Service-Learning would probably be “Fireflies” by Owl City, because you wouldn’t expect it to light up your life as much as you would think.
Adapted from S-LOG post published on March 17, 2020.