Service/Capstone Update #2
Please respond to BOTH questions thoroughly.
- What is your service site/capstone project? What is your main role there? What is a professional goal you would like to achieve at your site/with your capstone this semester?
- Please reflect on any service experiences or Bonner trainings you have attended over the past month. Describe what you learned, and what you would like to know more about as it pertains to the specific topic.
23 Responses
My service sites are the Focus Churches of Albany as well as the Connect Center for Youth. My main focus at both of my sites is to work to combat food insecurity. At focus churches, I am tasked with packing orders of groceries from our food pantry. At the connect center, I am tasked with practically the same thing but also with helping deliver said orders of groceries directly to the homes of the children who decide to participate in the breakfast program. One professional goal I would love to achieve at my service sites is to garner more responsibility.
The Bonner training event that stuck with me the most this past month has got to be Abby’s presentation on the foster care system. Abby did a wonderful job at explaining all of the ins and outs of the system as well as how it has personally affected her and her family. Her personal stake in it as a foster sister as well as her passion for it as a social work majoree really gave the training an extra oomph that I appreciated. I learned so much from that training like how black and brown kids are discarded by the system, how disabled kids are severely mistreated, and how viscous some foster parents are to their foster children. I also learned about foster farms and how rigged the system is sometimes, forcing children to stay and live with a parent or parents that abuse them simply because they are able to check a few boxes off when a case worker visits.
My service site is working at Ellis Hospital. My main role is to be a student nurse meaning I care for the patients and attend to their needs. Ive helped ambulate and monitored patients vital signs. Next week we start pushing medicines so my roll will take on more as I go on. My professional goal is to pass this semester and fulfill my clinical hours while maintaining my patients safety and health. The microaggression training was so in insightful. I think it was essential to know more about how some words may be perceived as something we don’t mean to convey. I learned about how to respond in those situations and I learned how to stay away from negative language that can be seen as a microagression even if that’s not what I mean. The training helped me understand that.
My service site is FOCUS Churches of Albany and my main role is “Site Team Leader.” One main role I have is to research fundraising ideas for FOCUS in the winter that keeps in mind public health and safety since we are still in a pandemic, but ensuring that these ideas can be meaningful beyond COVID.
I don’t attend Wednesday night meetings because I have a 6-9 on Global LGBTQ+ Identities, but one training/event I did attend was the Borderless Dreams talk with Samantha Ramirez-Herrera. In this presentation, Sam discussed the institutional inequalities faced by undocumented immigrants and how she managed to thrive in a society built to hinder her success, which I found very enlightening and inspiring!
My service site is the Connect Center and my main role is being a program assistant. My main focus has been taking over the Connect Center blogs and newsletters. My main goal is to collaborate with my Connect Center team so we can help the Connect Center grow.
I really enjoyed the “Service isn’t Simple” training because it showed me how everyone shares a different perspective when it comes to sercivce. I am glad that we got to discuss what service meant to us and how we could change perspectives. It is important to understand that service isn’t easy but whatever it is that motivates you can be used to make what you are doing meaningful.
My service site is the Food Pantries of the Capital District, and I will be giving out a consumer survey to better grasp the needs of pantry users and, and feedback of their current programs. We are currently going through the IRB process, so service has been slow. I am excited to really get started giving the consumer surveys and connecting with the community again.
The most informative Bonner training recently was definitely Abby’s training on the foster care system! I know it’s been a heavily requested topic and I was super eager to learn more about it. All of the information she provided along with her personal experience overall led to great discussion and a lot of learning. Personally, I would like to dive deeper into the foster system in New York and how it differs from other states!
My service site is the Bonner Program since I am a Program Associate within the ACE Office and my main role is making sure people in the program are held accountable for the standards that the Bonner Program holds. My professional goal right now is to come up with a way that is best effective for virtual service and I would like to achieve this goal by reaching out to students for help because their input is important for how they want to be held accountable as well as their peers. Also, I am working on a capstone project that revolves around the idea of herbal medicine and I am working with Rachel and that is very exciting. We are thinking about presenting it as a class however this approach can always change in the future.
What is your service site/capstone project? What is your main role there? What is a professional goal you would like to achieve at your site/with your capstone this semester?
I serve with the Boys and Girls Club of the Capital Area in Troy! I do homework help with the kids and interact with them through gym and recess games and other activities throughout the afternoon! I’ve also been reconnecting with the staff and kids there. I would like to create workshops that they would be interested in doing with us, and identify goals of the non-profit that I could help with!
I really enjoyed the September training where we attended the “Borderless Dreams” presentation by Samantha Ramirez-Herrera that the Damietta Center sponsored! I learned how difficult it is for Dreamers to get citizenship and the barriers Ramirez-Herrera faced in her life journey due to this and other aspects of her situation. It also inspired me to hear how she was resilient in the midst of her struggles and made strides and self-discoveries as well! I want to learn more about how DACA is advocating for Dreamers and how we can help while the group still faces pushback.
My service sites are Free-food fridge and capital city rescue mission’s free clinic. At free food fridge, I pack at least 100 meals a week with my partner and at the clinic, I am a medical assistant (I do intakes, fill prescriptions, and help around the clinic). From free food fridge, I am learning organizational skills and the basics of how a college works with nonprofits. At the clinic, I am learning a lot about the environment of clinical care and healthcare inequity for uninsured/undocumented individuals.
My favorite Bonner event from this past month was when Samantha Ramirez-Herrera gave her talk “Borderless Dreams.” It was incredibly inspirational to hear about the struggles and triumphs she’s experienced and how they’ve shaped who she is today. I could also relate to some of her anecdotes through drawing comparisons to my own life as a first generation American and as a young woman working towards a building a future. I can honestly say she was the best speaker I’ve heard at Siena thus far.
This semester, I am continuing my role as a Program Associate. My role this semester is recruitment and I am currently working on setting up an information session for students who have shown interest in the Bonner Program. My goal is to continue to work to reach out to students who have shown interest and make sure they have opportunities to see if Bonner is right for them.
A training that stood out to me this semester is Abby’s training on the foster care system. She did an amazing job and she set a perfect example of how a student-led training should be. The topic that her training was on was one that we have never really talked about and I left that training knowing a lot of important information. I really hope to see more presentations like this!
My service site is Unity House of Troy, through which I am working with the domestic violence services program on my capstone project. My project is to develop a training to educate healthcare professionals on holistic care of domestic violence victims with disabilities. My main role currently is spearheading this project, and working closely with their Disability Assault Response Team to reach out to hospitals and ultimately deliver the training. My goal is to receive feedback about my training, and hopefully make a lasting impact on the treatment protocol for these patients. For the rest of my hours, I am doing my clinical hours at Ophthalmic Consultants of the Capital Region. My goal here is to continue working with a diverse group of patients, and improving my skills in the clinical setting as I prepare for a career in healthcare. I hope to apply skills learned in Bonner as I continue work with my patients, including empathy and cultural competence.
One training that stuck with me this past month was the foster care system training. I never knew much about this issue, and Abby’s great presentation and family experiences with it really helped bring to light the downfalls of the system. I felt really engaged with all of the videos and slides shown. I found myself asking many questions, and wanting to do more research to see how we can help improve these systemic problems. I would love to see more trainings like this one in the future.
Currently, I am at the Boys and Girls Club in Troy. My main role is to be there for the children wheather it is for homework or keeping them company. I would like to help implement a program or even create trainings that the kids with learn from and enjoy.
For the serive day on Saturday, October 8th, I went to the MAC to help with recruitment. Bonner has many different things to offer and it was great to be able to share with others the good work that we do on a daily. In the moment all of the requirments can seem like alot but the amount of work we accomplish and the expriences that come with it make the journey extraordinary. I learned a lot about my goals in bonner and what other people thought of the program. All in all it was a great day meeting people and sharing our message!
My service site is with the next program, on the Food as Medicine project. My main role is to conduct research on my assigned articles (there are about 22 of these articles). My articles are something that the partners that we are working with are not too familiar with, so it is vital for me to truly understand them and bring any new ideas to our Weekly meetings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Although it is a little unclear what our professional goal for the end of the semester looks like, I have set a personal goal for the next two weeks or by the end of midterms week, which is to completely read all of my articles and upload their summaries.
By far my favorite Bonner meeting this semester was the one presented by Abby. She did a wonderful job at presenting such a serious topic. The fact that she was able to bring her personal experience into the presentation made me realize the importance of the topic. I was able to learn the extent of the trauma that the children in the foster care system have to confront on a daily basis. This training helped me realize how important it is to be mindful of others around me because you never know what someone has been through.
I work with SBANYS and also am an intern at Sunnyview Rehab Center through the Social Work program. With SBANYS, I do marketing and fundraising for their events particularly the Dare to Dream gala coming up. At Sunnyview, I work with patients and families and work towards learning more about medical social work. A goal I have at SBANYS is to complete my Dare to Dream work and a goal I have at Sunnyview is to complete a patient assessment and admission.
My favorite training we did so far was the foster care system training. It was very enlightening as to certain aspects of the system. For me, learning about the website with the children on them was eye-opening and hearing personal stories from Abby’s previously fostered and now adopted siblings was very meaningful. I felt like it was a very open and authentic conversation about a complex and difficult topic.
1. My service site is at the Boys and Girls Club in Troy. My main role there is working with the children to help them with homework after school. I have started working to provide workshops with the kids, which should go into effect soon. I would like to keep working on bettering programs for the kids to help them get involved and give them activities to do. My professional goal this semester with the site is to maintain a strong foundation by working with the staff and setting the groundwork for further projects.
2. I liked the foster system training that we did this month. It was extremely eye-opening to me. Working with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club has given me a good connection and knowing that that is a thing that some of them might be facing is hard. I would like to further my knowledge about the system and learn ways to try to help.
This semester I am serving with the Spina Bifida Association as well as with Bonner as a PA. Along with both my sites, I have also begun my capstone project where I am hoping to partner with Seal-a-Smile. Mostly with SBANYS, I assist with their marketing campaigns for their annual Dare to Dream Gala that will be held in November. This semester specifically, I’ve been working on their community calendar posts, and a press release to send to sponsors and donors. This semester my goal is to feel like I am in a strong spot with my capstone project. Things have felt a little bit uneasy about what my topic is and how I am going to incorporate sustainable deliverables, but I am hoping that I will be able to get more comfortable working on it.
So far, my favorite training was on the Foster Care System. I have several family members that went through foster care and seeing how it impacted them and how it has impacted my life made this training feel very powerful. I enjoyed how the facilitator connected this training to her own life and experiences. This made it very personable and brought a topic that is so apparent in many families to the Bonner program.
This semester I am serving with the Boys and Girls Club in Troy. My main role at this site is to teach the children and help them with basic tasks such as homework. A professional goal I would like to complete this semester is organization. Planning out weekly activities for the kids to participate in helps the other staff know what the kids like to do and what they don’t like to do. Through these activities I am able to teach the kids about a deeper meaning behind these activities while keeping them engaged.
While at my site, I have experienced many people becoming more open to change. The people in charge at the BGC are more than willing to help us plan activities for the kids. They are easy to work with and are willing to provide their own advice or insight on how to expand the club. I learned that communication and comprehension are key.
My service site is working on a survey for the Food Pantries of the Capital District. Right now my main goal is revising the survey and ensuring that the wording is understandable for the clients at the Food Pantries who will take this survey, so that their answers allow the Food Pantries employees to provide the most productive aid to their clients. The professional goal that I would like to work on this semester is organization and coordination. I want to be able to administer the survey, and arrange means for the survey to be distributed. Along with many other tasks, this could include finding transportation, ideal timing and a range of participants for the survey to be given to. Developing these skills are helpful for understanding how non profit organizations function and work with the community to provide the best support. This skill will be very helpful for me, and allow me to learn how to best interact with communities in the future, as I hope to work hands-on with non profit organizations in my Bonner work, and my future career.
A Bonner training that I thought was super well done and informative was the training focused on the foster care system. I learned so much about this system, and the ways in which it functions. This includes the services that are involved in this system, facts about privacy, and the ways in which this system is abused as a way for American adults to make a profit. By also being able to listen to real life experiences of children who had previously been in the system, the harsh and damaging effects that it has had, and the trauma that it is bound to put onto a child was made incredibly clear. I want to do a lot more research on this topic, and how it can be reformed. This is an issue that is a result of so many other issues within the United States, such as the prison system, and the lack of mental health services. To be able to address these issues, I would like to understand how the foster system can be addressed and changed so that the children are set up for success, and given support and care throughout their childhood.
My service site this year is Food Pantries for the Capital District. My main role is as a network coordinator for their online site Oasis. I am currently working on a larger project surrounding transferring delivery data to be delivered by the Food Pantries. This allows for their data to be more up-to-date so that they can better identify the areas of need within the Capital District. Moving forward I would like to also take on another project before the end of this semester. In terms of capstone, I hope to meet with a possible advisor and have our community partner meeting soon.
Unfortunately this semester I’m taking a course during Wednesday night meetings, but I was able to attend the beyond borders talk. I really enjoyed hearing Sam speak about her journey of growth as well as the challenges she had to overcome. A lot of the DACA information surprised me, especially how there currently isn’t a path to citizenship for her. I would like to learn more about the immigration process and attend more talks that are also sponsored by the Damietta Center.
My capstone is working with the connect center on recruitment and engagement for the after school programs. I am currently doing research on how to engage and retain college student and community member volunteers. My upcoming goal that I am working on is getting approval from the IRB to be able to hold focus groups with the college student volunteers.
A training I attended recently was on the foster care system, which Abby led. I really enjoyed this training and learning more in-depth about the foster care system. I think that learning about all of the different aspects of the foster care systems was very important and I am glad that we got to do a training on this because we have not done anything like this before.
1. I am at the Connect Center and my main role is volunteer coordinator. We have been working on recruiting drivers for our backpack food program and so we have been canvassing and stuff like that! One goal I have this semester is to recruit volunteers for the Backpack program!
2. I liked hearing everyone’s perspective on service and its meaning to them at the training called “Service isn’t Simple”. I like hearing different stories and ideas about service!
This year I am working at Girls on the Run. There, I help with volunteer recruitment as well as retention. I have helped reach out to local schools and businesses to raise awareness about our organization and gain volunteers. I have also been given the opportunity to make some social media posts to get engagement from both volunteers and members of the community. This year, I would like to learn more about the social media side of businesses and how to best get engagement.
This month I attended a Bonner training on the foster care system. I learned a lot about the pros and cons of the system and got some real world stories about kids in the foster care system. These stories helped me truly understand what it’s like in the system because it felt like what I was learning was real rather than just stories or movies in the media. This training truly interested me and I would love to learn more about social work.
My service site is the Connect Center in Cohoes. My role has been to recruit volunteers for the centers backpack program and help spread the word about some of the programs the Connect Center has to offer. I have also helped out with the after school program keeping the kids on track and supervising the different activities that take place. At my site I would like to expand upon my leadership skills and really go deeper into my role at the Connect Center. This past month of service has been great, I have learned so much and have already done so much for the Connect Center. Last week, Abby, Kim, and I canvassed around Cohoes and spread the word about our backpack program. Abby made me get comfortable with the uncomfortable by going into Stewart’s and asking if I could hang up one of our flyers. This was a new experience for e and I was honestly pretty scared. I look forward to more experiences like this one where I’m truly able to grow my skills as a leader, even if it makes me uncomfortable.
What is your service site/capstone project? What is your main role there? What is a professional goal you would like to achieve at your site/with your capstone this semester?
My capstone project is focusing on the selection process of social innovation projects. I am researching through literature and Dr. Salmons class how projects are selected and rejected. I would like to be able to produce some form of a paper for Dr. Salmon by the end of the year.
Please reflect on any service experiences or Bonner trainings you have attended over the past month. Describe what you learned, and what you would like to know more about as it pertains to the specific topic.
I really enjoyed the Bonner meeting when we went to an on campus talk. I learned a lot about immigration and how families are affected by trying to come to the US. I am curious how others ended up, if they are successful as her family.
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