Crystal Srock
IND 209-Reflection Essay
December 15, 2011
I really was unsure of how much I would get out of this service learning class, but in
retrospect, I think I've learned a lot of important concepts that I never even gave a thought to
before. The fact that we went to the Pelion Community Garden multiple times gave me a sense
of satisfaction just seeing the progression of our project there. I didn't know we would be
visiting the same place a few times, I thought we were going to go to different places each
week, but going back to the same place was way more effective for teaching me just how many
hours of work goes into a project that I basically took for granted before.
The East Side has a reputation for being a rougher neighborhood, yet when we went to
the Pelion Community Garden, I did not feel at all unsafe in that area. This garden will be a
great asset to the City Honors school because it provides the students a safe, natural
environment that they can hold classes at. This garden is a great use of space as opposed to the
vacant houses that used to be there. I think for the most part, this garden will have a positive
impact on the school and the surrounding vicinity. The garden will be able to teach students
about how to plant fruits and vegetables, which correlates to teaching them how to eat healthy
and natural foods. The garden will teach them teamwork skills, as I assume they will be
responsible for maintaining the garden once it is completed. Working in the garden is also
beneficial exercise too, and I know how important it is now for schools to make sure their
students get proper exercise. This garden will bring students into the fresh air more, which I
think is important after sitting in the classroom all day. There's more to learning that what is
confined in the classroom, and just being in a more natural environment will help students to
get out of the classroom rut when it comes to learning.
This garden gives the East Side community a sense of hope. The children raised in this
area will be used to the garden always being there, and it will be a normal part of their lives. A
community garden can bring people together because they will all care for it to preserve it. A
community garden can also help prevent crime in the nearby area. Since this is a public area,
people will feel less inclined to do anything dangerous or harmful to others right there because
it is out in the open and across from a school. This area will be used as a safe place where
neighborhood kids can go when they are not in school.
I believe that basic sustainability practices should be taught when children are very
young, so they grow up with the concept their entire lives. If children are exposed to the
concept of sustainability at a young age, they will be more accepting of it and will just naturally
follow these values that were instilled upon them during their formative years.
The Garden of Stewardship, adjacent to the Sheehan Hospital, is a spot in Buffalo I've
never been to before. That is a great utilization of space, since it's near hospital grounds, that
makes the area seem safer, and the soup kitchen is right there as well, so produce doesn't have
to go far to make it to the plates of people who really need the food.
I think Groundwork Buffalo is making an impact on the community. I have heard of them
before this class, but I never knew what they really did to help the community. I think
Caesandra is doing a great job and she was the perfect person to help us get excited about
community service. It was obvious she has a passion for helping people, and the first day when
she showed us all the photos she has taken of other projects she was involved with, that made
me realize how much volunteering is going on that I did not even know about. There are
definitely ways to get involved, and I think Groundwork Buffalo just has to publicize community
service events to the public more.
I learned about how much time and energy is put into designing a garden of that size.
It's amazing how it didn't seem like it was coming together at first, everything was sort of
planned out but we couldn't figure out how everything would fit together, like where the mulch
was supposed to go, and where pathways should have been filled with stone. I mean, we could
figure it out, but it just didn't seem like everything had an ultimate plan just yet. But after we
got all the mulch spread out, and the stones down, and the place actually started to resemble a
garden, it was a great feeling knowing that everything came together in the end.
I do plan to volunteer on community work in the future. I am definitely considering
working on pro-bono graphic design work for local nonprofits. I realize that there are smaller,
local charities and groups that just can't spend money on meaningful, well designed materials
for publications that promote their organization, so I would really love to contribute in that
way.
I was not sure how I felt about taking this class at first. Sometimes I felt like I just did not
belong, since it seemed like most of my classmates were used to working outside or in gardens,
and I was not used to it. However, after spending more and more time at the Pelion Community
Garden, I began to develop a sense of pride in the work I was contributing to there after seeing
the progress we made since the first time we were there. It is important for kids to be exposed
to service learning so they can also feel a sense of pride in the work they do. Not only does it
improve self-esteem, the satisfaction you feel when you give back to the community is worth it
alone.
With the Pelion Community Garden, I definitely support the idea of getting students
from City Honors to volunteer their time there. Once they volunteer, they will want to preserve
the area and they definitely will not litter or trash the place, since they should have pride in the
work they did on it. I know I definitely felt that way after volunteering my time there; I
definitely would be upset if I found out that all the work I did went to waste in some way, since
I spent my valuable time contributing good towards the cause.
Working at the Pelion Community Garden really opened my eyes to many things. It is
amazing how much work can get done with so many people contributing. I'm usually very selfsufficient; my work style is usually based on doing things myself and relying on other people
only when absolutely necessary, and this class forced me to get out of that mindset. We had to
work together on everything we did. For instance, on one of the last days at the Pelion Garden,
I dug trenches for the edging, and this worked in unison with the people installing the edging.
I think one of the most important things that I took from this class was about the
Community Supported Agriculture. Now, this concept seems very natural to me, but it seems
like many of the farm markets around my house have higher prices, but now I understand why.
Paying in advance is what makes it possible for consumers to pay a cheaper price. I grew up in a
rural area, where farms surround my neighborhood, but I haven't had much exposure to
actually buying directly from many of the nearby farms-many of them just don't have an outlet
for selling to the public other than at the grocery stores. However, the rationing concept of CSA
is a great solution for buying produce. I plan to buy from a farm that has a program like that in
the future when I'm buying more of my own foods. Grocery stores commonly mark up prices
because they can, but buying directly from a farm really helps the farm more since there is no
middleman, and since customers pay for their produce for the entire season ahead of time, this
allows the farmers to use the money when they need it at the beginning of the season.
Taking the end-of-semester quiz about responding to the photos was actually quite
difficult for me. I'm curious to find out how much my perception has changed from the first
quiz. As much as I love being outdoors, I really take living in a rural area for granted and spend
most of my time indoors, and purposely go to cities to spend time outside. I like being outside
in a purely natural environment with a scenic landscape, but I'm really inspired by architecture
and old cities.