REFLECTION

This whole experience for me was extremely successful. I have never done any type of service learning program before, and found this very beneficial. I have never realized how different communities truly are. When I first walked into Our Next Generation, I was nervous and not knowing what to expect. The neighborhood alone frightened me a bit because I had never been on that side of town before. But once I entered the building, I felt as if I had absolutely nothing to worry about. Everyone I met at ONG was friendly, helpful, and interested in the research I was doing. I am so thankful of the students that I met during this experience. Adante and Sandra were so helpful to me while conducting this project. They gave me a real perspective on what it's like to live in this specific environment. They told me the hardships they go through daily and how they cope with their problems. I am so glad that these students have a place like Our Next Generation to go to in order to better their lives. These students taught me how to value my life more and made me realize that I had a great life growing up. I could never imagine the hardships these students go through everyday. Even coming from a broken family would affect me greatly. Overall I am very thankful I had this opportunity and will definatley be participating in more service learning programs.

 My final visit to Our Next Generation seemed to be more educational and inspiring. For this visit I decided to focus more on the actual community. I interviewed a set of High school sophomore girls and learned a great deal about their role in their community. These students discussed how their community affects their entire life. One young woman described how she feels nervous and cautious all of time while walking through her neighborhood. Her name was Sandra. Sandra described how she would love to move out to the country in order to get away from all of the crime, violence, and poverty. She came from a family that had divorced parents and she is currently living with her grandmother. Sandra wishes that her parents were still married, lived with her brothers, and overall had a traditional family lifestyle. She described how it was hard to trust people in her community. People that live near here are involved with drugs and stealing. Sandra has had many possessions stolen from her, even from her own home. This young woman seemed extremely bright, intelligent, and determined to create a better life for herself. Sandra had a choice to come to Our Next Generation, and she said it was the best decision she has ever made. Sandra is currently a sophomore in High school and is interested in going to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee when she graduates. She plans to study chemistry and wants to be a science teacher at a middle school. This interview was so inspiring and refreshing to hear someone so determined in life. This young woman has been growing up in a difficult neighborhood, but it is not stopping her from achieving her dreams. Sandra even made me want to expand my goals and dreams in the near future. I felt extremely touched by her words she exchanged with me.

Another observation I made was located in the Our Next Generation building. This observation was the bulletin board. When I was on my way out of the building I couldn't help but check out all of the flyers posted. I expected to find flyers for jobs, pets for sale, or extra homework help. Instead the flyers contained information about Alcoholics Anonymous, help for homeless women, free income tax preparation, and domestic violence. I was honestly stunned when I saw all of these flyers in a High school student environment. These are the promotions that the organizations supports, because of the poverty level area. It is upsetting that parents of these children more than likely take at least one of these flyers to better their life. In an after school program that I attended I would never find any of these flyers posted on the bulletin board. But sadly, in this community, these flyers are nothing new. Overall, my research for the final project was very informational and touching. I am so fortunate I was able to talk to an actual student living in this community and hear her honesty about her life. Researching these flyers opened my eyes and realized that these kids have to deal with many more problems than I could imagine. I am so glad I was able to have this experience in my life, I definitely have a different outlook on life.

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Artist's ReflectionThis essay personally came fairly natural to me. I took my true feelings about each picture and experience and put them into a short documentation/story. The experience while visiting Our Next Generation was one I will never forget. I decided to take a taxi cab to the destination because I was curious about what a local had to say about the area I was going to. The first words out of the cab driver's mouth were “ I'm bringing you to the hood”. This frightened me somewhat because I grew up in a large suburb, nothing close to the hood. As we were driving I looked out the window and saw run down buildings, unkept streets, and people dressed in big baggy “ghetto” clothing. The taxi cab driver, who was from Africa, said he would never walk these streets alone at night. He described even though he was black, he was from a different country. So he would be discriminated against by the locals. As I arrived at the front door of Our Next Generation. I decided to check out the community. I took pictures of the surrounding community, and really compared these images to where I grew up as a child. A high school student that I interviewed attended the High school Connection program, this program really intrigued me. Adante was a tenth grader at Community High School/Juneau High School. He grew up in Tennessee and moved here when he was six years old. Adante lives near Our Next Generation and describes the surrounding community as “crazy”. I asked him what he meant by this, he described how he always hears police sirens, witnesses violence, and is scared to walk the streets by himself. The reason I am so thankful Our Next Generation is here, is because Adante specifically stated that “ being here keeps me out of trouble, especially doing drugs, and getting into fights”. He has met so many people here that help him throughout his life and this really is a joy to see. As I was taking pictures I was really trying to capture my exact adventure. I wanted to create a more “story line” of my documentation. I really enjoyed how I was able to use the photos and text in the slideshow to express my thoughts on each picture. I am extremely excited to continue on this journey and visit Our Next Generation numerous more times.

These people taught me new things about life. I look at life now in a completely different way. I have never actually walked a day in these student's shoes, but I can always imagine. I come from the suburbs, where I feel safe and not afraid to walk the streets. Not these students. Their scared, anxious, and frightened to walk from their home to the local store. Anything can happen. This neighborhood is full of violence, hate, and people who do not care about one another. Our Next Generation is a place where these students can feel safe and grow up with a great education. Our Next Generation has saved some of these children's lives.

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