Megan Rodella's Reflections

When I first began working at CPS in my sophomore year, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect or what I was looking to gain from the experience. I knew that I wanted to become more involved on the campus and that I was looking for a place that would allow me to collaborate with other students on campus who were interested in community service and social justice issues. Of course, it ended up being so much more than that.

My involvement with CPS has helped to change me so much that I sometimes cannot remember who I was before it. I’ve become more aware of the world around me and grown more confident in myself and my abilities. It’s given me a direction in life from which I can not imagine straying. It’s affected my learning in a way that’s made it more experiential, more in-depth, and much more personal. Because of this, I feel that I’ve received an education far better than one derived strictly from books. Rather, I’ve learned how to become a compassionate and responsible citizen of my community, my nation, and my world. This learning is not something that can take place in a classroom. Though necessary in order to enact change, knowledge without action is nothing but knowledge. It does not actually accomplish anything. Through my involvement with CPS, I’ve learned how to take the knowledge I’ve gained in college, and the knowledge I’ll gain after college, and apply it to initiate action. At times, this journey has been frustrating, terrifying, and tiring. However, it has always been worth it. Without this experience, I would not be who I am today, and for that I have to thank the Gettysburg community for affording me this opportunity.

The WeeCare Learning Center is a partially state-funded daycare center located a few blocks from campus. As the Program Coordinator for WeeCare, I am responsible for running the after-school tutoring program for elementary school students along with my community partner. My primary responsibilities include recruiting and training volunteers each semester, attending and supervising during each session, planning any other activities or special projects that occur during our time their, and maintaining open lines of communication between the children, volunteers, and community partner.

In working with the Wee Care Learning Center, I’ve learned that a strong partnership takes work. I’ve been able to develop an effective working relationship with my community partnership that allows us to talk about the both the positive and negative aspects of the program. Although it’s not always easy to discuss an issue, it is always more beneficial to just talk about it and work towards a solution. Working with a community partner has been a fantastic learning experience that has shown me the importance of partnership in combating social justice issues, especially within the setting of a college. Living in our little bubble on campus, it is sometimes difficult to notice what’s happening in the community and what role we play in those events. Working directly with Wee Care, this transition from campus to community is much smoother for both me and the campus volunteers.

This entire experience with partnership has taught me how to communicate on a level that I was unable to before. I’ve realized that you cannot achieve anything in a partnership without knowing what each person‘s goals are and what they need to achieve them. I’ve always been uncomfortable in this kind of communication and approached it with a great deal of trepidation. However, I’ve come to find that I am actually capable of communicating with partners, teammates, etc without this innate fear of reproach. Rather, it’s refreshing. I’ve also found how much more productive it can be to work with another person or organization on a common goal. There are many different kinds of partnership, but in its best form it is a reciprocal relationship with both parties learning from one another as they go along. It’s when this level is reached that we can accomplish our goals.

The experience of the learning circle I’ve been involved with this year has opened the door to a multitude of different interactions and experiences with the Gettysburg community, specifically within the migrant community. In our exploration of issues surrounding migration and immigration, we have gained a variety of first-hand experiences and interactions: from a trip to a local orchard during the fall harvest, to discussions with various members of the community through a variety of panels, and more personal discussions in an effort to widen the breadth of our knowledge. However, this learning circle has offered me more than a wide array of individual experiences, but a much deeper understanding of an issue that is currently on the minds of many Americans as the political debate becomes more and more heated. For me, this experience crossed the boundaries of my CPS and academic live, becoming the topic of an ethnographic research paper for an anthropology course in the fall. While CPS has always offered me a chance to expand my understanding of social justice issues, the learning circle has been unique in this by giving me a much broader knowledge of the ins and outs of migration and immigration in the United States.

My experience with the migration learning circle has become essential to my understanding of the current immigration debate that is ensuing within our nation. While politics and the media continually have immigration in the limelight, the focus is on what the solution to the problem is without really forming in-depth analysis of the issue. However, my experience with this learning circle has shown me that the issue is much more complex than we typically like to see it. Rather, every action, from crossing the border to building a fence, has a consequence, and because of this, it is imperative that we take a much more in-depth look at the issue. This is not true only for immigration, but all issues and debates plaguing our society. The learning circle experience has allowed me to learn to critically look at a situation in an attempt to understand it, because how can we solve a problem that we don’t understand?

Working in the CPS office, I’ve come to recognize that each one of the students is a leader on this campus, even though I’ve sometimes had a difficult time seeing myself as one. In supporting my volunteers, I’ve learned how inspiring it is to watch somebody else’s experiences with social justice issues evolve as they become involved with the program they are working with, whether it be tutoring a child or participating in an immersion project. As hard as it can be to try and reach new sectors of campus, bringing new people and perspectives into a project enriches the learning experience. Furthermore, working alongside my community partner and other members of the CPS staff, I’ve realized the importance of communication. Not just talking, but discussing problems, achievements, and new ideas. Without this, we can’t expect to accomplish anything.

These experiences that have been afforded me through the Center for Public Service have taught me a few different things about what it means to actually be a strong and effective leader. For one, a leader can never stand alone. Rather, the ability in a leader to trust and rely on others when needed enhances the experience for all involved and will lead to a better outcome. Secondly, strong leadership is a culmination of action, education, and dialogue. I’ve learned that the best way to advocate for change is through educated discussion with others that is followed by action. In my experiences with CPS, education, dialogue, and action are the basis of everything that has been accomplished. Furthermore, I’ve learned how to challenge someone or something when I feel their actions or ideas are unjust in someway. As difficult as it can be, challenging ourselves and others to reach new heights is the only way to promote change. 

Working at CPS, I can’t help but develop both personally and professionally. Professionally, I’ve honed a variety of skills from setting goals to public speaking, communicating with coworkers and partners, and writing effective emails, letters, etc. The responsibilities of being the PC for Wee Care require that I learn to organize my time, keep open lines of communication with a variety of people, advertise through the appropriate outlets, and plan different events. These are all skills I can take with me when I leave the college after graduation, but I also feel I’ve grown much more. On a much more personal level, working with CPS has taught me to be more confident in myself and look at my accomplishments and not just things that do not work out. I’ve found that I have a passion for social justice issues in a variety of different fields from fighting poverty, advocating for improvements in the education system, and fighting the extremely harmful effects of racism in our country. The way in which I’ve grown personally in my time at CPS isn’t something that I can just leave behind when I graduate. These ideas have become a part of me and a part of who I am. The impact that CPS has had on me in terms of development, both personally and professionally, is something that I will carry with me well after my time here has ended.

In all my experiences in terms of personal and professional development, I’ve come to realize that this development is a journey that doesn’t end at any particular point. Rather, it’s a continuum that we move along as we grow. I know that I’m not done developing in any of these areas, and I doubt I ever will be. However, I can look at the progress that I’ve made and see a difference from where I started and where I am now. Through this process, the most important things I’ve learned are the things I’ve discovered about myself. I’ve found a direction in my life that I was lacking before and an innate responsibility to give back all I can to a community that has given me so much. I know that I am nowhere near done in terms of growth and development, because in terms of personal and professional development, we never really can be done.