the Magazine, Volume 2 Issue 2 - The College of Coastal Georgia

Lessons LearnedService-learning scholarship winners excel outside the classroomSome lessons can only be learned by experience.Don Jones ’14 can cite numerous examples from lifeas a single parent with a beautiful daughter who has beencompeting in beauty pageants since 3 rd grade. “I’ll neverforget the first pageant. We show up – and there’s no placefor daddy. It’s all mommies. There is no dressing roomwhere a daddy is allowed to help his daughter get ready forthe show,” he laughs, shaking his head.Ayla Wilson ’14 is passionate about helping peoplebecause of her experiences as a child. “I’ve been there. So, Iwant them to understand hurt matters…they matter…andhurt does not define who they are,” she explains. “Someonedid this for me, and I want to pay back. You shed the shell ofbeing self-serving by serving others.”Service-learning courses are now integral parts of everydegree program at Coastal Georgia. In service-learning,the community becomes a classroom. Students connecttheory with practice while meeting a direct and immediatecommunity need.Dana Beckham ’13 says it is how she best learns, “Handson, in the community. I’m out there actually doing it,physically.”Beckham, Jones and Wilson are the inaugural recipientsof Coastal Georgia’s service-learning scholarships.Beckham is a psychology major. Her service-learningcourse assignment in Psychology and Nutrition introduceda healthy-eating nutrition program to Burroughs-Moletteelementary school students in grades K-2. Burroughs-Molette is where Beckham went to school as a child.Wilson, also a psychology major, teamed with otherclassmates to plan, dig out, plant, and maintain a garden toprovide fresh vegetables and herbs for a local soup kitchen,Manna House.Jones worked with two other classmates in Environmentof Business to stage an art contest and exhibit for elementaryand middle schools as part of the Georgia Department ofNatural Resources’ annual CoastFest. The team visitedschools, collected the art, set up the exhibits, arranged thejudging, then returned to the schools with the students’ artand prizes. “It was an excellent study of logistics, problemsolving,and coordination,” Jones contends.Wilson and Jones agree that the team interaction wasa critical component of the structured service-learningexperience.“There is no way that you don’t learn from this typeof experience. It is empowering. You grow and stretch.The garden at the Manna House in Brunswick was one of theservice-learning projects inaugurated during spring 2012.It enriches the material. It is effective because it forcesreflection. But you are experiencing it in a safe way - withyour classmates, as a community,” Wilson explains.Before enrolling in a service-learning course, Jonesrecalls not being fully engaged as a student: “The servicelearningprojects brought our class together, regardlessof age and circumstances. This class made me feel [moreengaged and] comfortable about being in college.”Prior to enrolling in the School of Business & PublicAffairs in pursuit of his BBA, Jones owned a recyclingbusiness for eleven years. “In high school, I rebuilt old cars.I went from selling used car parts to recycling old cars torecycling other metals. But between the economy and thewear and tear on my back and knees, I knew it was time tochange. I came back for my degree to learn how to trust andhow to manage [employees]. I recognized I couldn’t run abusiness by myself. I made money then, but with what I’velearned in college, I could double that money now.”While developing trust was an important componentof his service-learning experience, Jones also cites thesatisfaction of project responsibility. “This isn’t volunteering.I’ve done a lot of volunteer work in my life, especially for theRed Cross and helping out after Katrina. But with the DNRassignment, we were managing and completing a project –we saw the results.”All three scholarship recipients have selected additionalservice-learning courses as well as targeted organizationswith which they will continue to work. Beckham hasalready taken the next step. She has founded a non-profitassociation that is now a community partner for servicelearningexperiences by other students. uPhoto courtesy of Ayla WilsonCollege of Coastal Georgia – the Magazine 21