My name is David Arens, and I am a senior at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. I am an honors student and am currently taking my Honors Service Learning Capstone class to complete my Catholic liberal arts education. I will be doing service work in the local Dubuque community and reflecting about my experiences in this blog. I grew up in a very small town in Nebraska where service consisted of helping my friend’s grandma weed her garden or working the concession stand at a baseball game. In college I took a service trip to Kentucky which was the first time I got to work with underprivileged individuals. I did a multiple array of tasks but always performed them in a group. This will be the first time that I will be doing service alone, in an area that I live close to and an area that does need help. I want to take this opportunity to learn a great deal about myself, my core values and how strong they really are. I will continue to work on answering my personal question of what I am called to do after graduation. To do this I must use all of the skills that I have developed through my liberal arts education, as well as improve those skills that need it. The greatest way my liberal arts education has prepared me for this would have to be teaching me to be open minded. When I first came to Loras the only important thing I wanted to learn was science. But through my many general education courses, and my study abroad experience, I have learned that there is so much more to learn from college. This open mind will not make my experience a piece of cake either. I do expect to be challenged in many ways, and I perceive to be most challenged in determining what the community needs from me and what I need from the community.
Earlier this week a group from my class and I took a walk through the community where we will be performing most of our service. I noticed right away that this is an incredibly diverse neighborhood. There are many people of many different ethnic backgrounds and houses that ranged from many different economic and upkeep states. The first part of White Street has several very nice Victorian homes that are kept in good order. The picture perfect scene is completed with flowers outside and small front porches with swings. But just down a house a two from these homes, however, the upkeep deteriorates rapidly. Though these seem to be from the same time period and still have beautiful brick, they are not kept up to their full potential. The flowers outside are replaced with trash, overgrown lawns and bushes, and an old, fat, and ill-cared for dog. The porches are not painted or stained but instead look ragged and unused. The windows have cardboard or plastic over them, and one house even had a warning sign about lead poisoning.
During this walk I thought about how the members of the community might view one another. Due to the wide economic class and ethnic range I expect them to be very distant from one another and not very supportive. I don’t know what I can do to try to bring a sense of equality and community to the neighborhood. That I believe is something that I will have to answer as this semester unfolds.
