lecture given by Fr. Rick Malloy. The lecture was titled, “Jesuit Education and the
Helping Professions”, from which a whole new perspective about my career choice,
values, and morals was introduced. From this lecture I gained a lot of valuable
information that will affect me in my pursuit to prioritize my beliefs, obtain a successful
college life and embody my greatest attributes in my career.
Fr. Rick Malloy touched on several areas during his lecture including reaching out
of your own comfort zone, preparing ourselves to be the healers of the world and
enabling the use of dialogue. Coming to college for me seemed like one big culture
shock. I was now showering with shoes on, sharing a room, and trying to get a complete
stranger to eat a meal with me and maybe be my friend. Of course at the time coming out
of my comfort zone seemed like a traumatizing experience, but in hindsight the reality
was that it was exciting and a great insight to see who I really am as a person. I believe
stepping out of your comfort zone is a great way to learn your strengths and attributes.
When looking at service learning I definitely wanted to do something that I probably
wouldn’t feel comfortable with at first to maybe improve on skills or aspects of my life
that I wasn’t so familiar with. That’s why for my service learning I chose to do the Prayer
Shawl Knitting Group. Knitting is a new skill to me and is something that I can maybe
use later in life to talk about with some of my patients to connect with them. After the
first couple of meetings I met new people, strengthened my personal skills with others,
and learned how to knit! I think stepping out of my comfort zone will really make my
stay here at the University of Scranton even more of a unique and worthwhile experience.
Through service learning the students at the University also get to prepare themselves for
their actual careers. All the students in the Panuska College of Professional Studies are
hoping to have a career where they are going to be coming to the aid of another human
being. At first like any other jobs this is going to seem overwhelming for all of us no
matter how much studying we did in the library here. Having the opportunity to become
more comfortable with giving back to your community will really put us above students
from other colleges. We will no longer feel overwhelmed maybe a bit nervous, but in the
back of our heads we already know that giving back is what we love and are good at
doing. So through service learning I will learn how to apply myself in the best ways to
give back to other and have a more successful