Reflective Essay on Service-Learning Project

Service-Learning Project Individual Reflective Journal

Last Saturday, Jan 31th 2015, we successfully accomplished our service-learning group project on Special Olympics. Memory of that day still floods into my mind clearly.

Planning & Preparations

Our service clients are the athletes in Special Olympics HK. Before our departure, having been told about their intellectual disables by our supervisors, Dr xx and Ms xx, we remember that when conducting our service, care and consideration are quite essential. Considering that one vision-screening activity last semester was also on Special Olympics, leader and I shared our experiences on it with other teammates. Additionally, our supervisors introduced Ms xx to us, who is a very experienced optometrist on Special Olympics service. She taught us many points needing attention as well as how to face several special circumstances, making our preparation much more sufficient.

Project Conduct

Although we had prepared a lot for the difficulties we might meet, the actual problems we faced on service day were still not small challenges. One of them was the clients’ incorporation. I have a very deep impression on one girl we served when I was operating the Distant NA test. During the test, she was just picking the symbols on the card randomly no matter whether she could see which I was pointing at or not. In order to get reliable test results so that clients can get the most effective directions on their eye-related health, we know that we must ensure almost every client could be tested correctly. Thus, we asked a favor from her mother, together talking some sense into her. However, it did not work. Till then, we had already spend over 10 minutes on her without getting any useful records, which made us quite worried. Luckily, we thought of another method immediately. Considering she is still a little girl, we thought we might first attract her interests on us. So I put a toy on my point stick, asking her “Could you help sisters to find out where this little car is stopped now?” Happily, it really worked and we completed her test successfully!

Although problems we faced were quite hard, we kept seriously treating each record and holding ourselves responsible to every client. Students on public relation position, kept explaining and persuading, which made them mouth parched and tongue scorched. Students on concrete operations, kept the devices lifting and holding, which made