Date & Time and Service

The service event I decided to participate in this semester is Tunbridge Service-Learning, which I had the privilege to participate in last semester as well. Something I admired throughout my experience was that the environment at Tunbridge promotes the mental and physical health of each student. I found that this connects directly to the core values of Loyola’s Jesuit education, specifically its focus on the “whole person.” On Loyola’s Core Values webpage, it states “Loyola manifests its effort to honor, care for, and educate the whole person by encouraging its constituents to strive after intellectual, physical, psychological, social, and spiritual health and well-being.” In this regard, Tunbridge and Loyola have a similar goal in how to successfully educate and prepare their students to be influential people in our world. 

Service-learning is a perfect example of how Loyola educates the whole person, for it requires students to get out into the Baltimore community to learn from the people they serve. Being able to connect these experiences to class discussions helps students to think about the bigger picture through connection real-world experiences to the themes and topics in the course. In addition to this, service helps students gain the ability to work with various people and situations. Specifically, at Tunbridge Service-learning, students interact with people of all ages such as teachers, secretaries, and the students. Loyola promotes diversity by encouraging students to be open to new experiences and perspectives which also can be achieved through service. At Tunbridge, there is much to be learned and appreciated by interacting with the people who work and attend school there. Even the most simple things, like helping a student understand a math concept or completing tedious tasks for a teacher, can teach a valuable lesson. Every act of service makes an impact on others. 

In our Understanding Literature class, we are currently reading the book titled Date & Time by Phil Kaye, a Jewish and Japenese American poet. Kaye’s purpose for writing this book was to share his own experiences with his identity and how he has come to accept it and appreciate it. I feel as though Kaye focuses many of his poems on perception, specifically how others may perceive him and his family. Since his father is Jewish and his mother is Japanese, their family’s culture seems unique to most of the people around him in America. I personally feel as though this idea Kaye presents connects to Loyola’s efforts to break stereotypes, specifically the stereotypes of our community in Baltimore. Through encouraging students to take service-learning courses that require service events like Tunbridge, the Bridges Program, Refugee Youth Project, and Soccer Without Borders, Loyola exposes its students to various different situations and areas in Baltimore that have negative stereotypes in the public eye. 

From my experience at Tunbridge Public Charter School last semester, it is evident that the message Kaye communicates in his writing about self-acceptance is also actively communicated by the staff at Tunbridge. The teachers do not just simply provide students with information about the core subjects of math, English, science, and history. They make sure that each student feels valued and respected by offering positive affirmations and participating in activities unrelated to the school subjects. Personally, I think that self-love and appreciation for your differences is extremely important to learn at a young age so that these students can grow up to positively impact the world. I am thrilled to be returning to Tunbridge Public Charter School this semester. I know that while I will be benefitting those who I am serving, I also will be gaining so much knowledge from my experiences with them.