Benjamin Shedd

1.What skills did you develop or improve through this service experience?
I really worked on my teaching skills as this time I ran my event all on my own and I really got into a groove and learned how to do the teaching all on my own it also helped me learn how to manage large groups and learned how to delegate responsibilities to other people.
2. Did this experience change your perspective on your role within the community?
This made me realize how teaching can be such a powerful tool and how I can use my abilities in the community to help the community learn and be more aware of the world around them.
3.How might these relationships influence your future involvement?
I had a great interaction with the kids, they are so funny and full of life and eager to learn about everything. It is really cool to see them be so happy to know there learning, its a drive I wish I stilled had.
4.Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
Very much so, the staff was amazing and I couldn't get enough of the Asian garden. I plan to do a lot more there and always enjoy my time.
5. What unexpected challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
I did not realize that I was going to run the event today, and I was not at all ready. I had to use trial and error at the start to learn what worked with the kids and what didn't but at the end every kid loved it.

1.What skills did you develop or improve through this service experience?
I really worked on my teaching skills as I worked under this woman named Mary who showed me the ropes of how to teach the kids about Chinese writing and history and I was able to work on my public speaking skills and able to work on my team management skills as I was helping these young kids do their projects.
2. Did this experience change your perspective on your role within the community?
This made me realize how teaching can be such a powerful tool and how I can use my abilities in the community to help the community learn and be more aware of the world around them.
3.How might these relationships influence your future involvement?
I had a great interaction with Mary, the person I worked with, and made me realize that working with and meeting people is not so bad. It is ok to talk and meet random people and sometimes you get a really cool experience out of it.
4.Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
Very much so, the staff was amazing and I couldn't get enough of the Asian garden. I plan to do a lot more there and always enjoy my time.
5. What unexpected challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
We were over run by 500 children all day and it was very stressful. I learned sometimes you have to have fun and lean in to the chaos an just have fun.

1. What skills did I develop or Improve this service experience?
In this experience Improved to skills. First, I learned to interact with those different than me and learned to work together. The man i was put with was named Nathan and was double my age and was at a very different part of life than me. Despite that, we got a long well and had a good time teaching and kids about the troll Sofus Locust. I also learned a lot about improvising as I had no idea what I was doing and i had figure out what I could say to these kids with minimal understanding and a minimal script.

2. How did your service influence your understanding of social or environmental issues.
Being out in nature mainly made me realize how important having nature integrated with society is such a blessing and how important teaching the importance of the environment to younger children.
3. How might these relationships influence your future involvement?
The relationships I made with this event really made me enjoy the Gardens and made me come back to the gardens two more times for the rest of my service hours this semester.
4. Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why?
Yes, the Gardens are so beautiful and the staff is so understanding and fun to work with I loved every second of being there.
5.Did your service align with your personal values and beliefs?
Yes. all in all I was raised in boy scouts and learned a lot about environmental conservation and working at the gardens really highlighted that.

How did your direct service benefit members of the broader community?
Overall, my service benefitted the broader community by helping facility and help people that were at the event to have the best experience they could. I helped support seminars that provided the opportunity for local educators to get professional development and learn more about not only how to be better teachers in a musical sense but also learning how to be supporting of LGBTQIA+ communities in the classroom, along with working with nearby and local students to get them audition experience so that when they go into world and are working for Jobs, they already have experience in a professional audition setting, just like how most major ensembles do their ensembles. I also helped with the set up and take down of the event helping to get necessary supplies and equipment so that everyone that came to the event had the best possible experience.

Which population(s) did you serve?
I served students and educators in the nearby area.

What was their reaction to you/your group being there?
It was a very warm reaction that we got from those in attendance. They appreciated the help that we provided for them and the guidance we had in were to go in the building.

Did you work individually or as part of a team during your service? How did that
impact your experience?
I worked with a group of people which helped a lot as sometimes some of us would forget about where something was, or how to work some of the technology for presentations. We helped each other and got through the week easier because of it.

Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
Yes I do, we were working on educating and helping people learn more about two things I love dearly, Music and Education. It was a lot of fun and I hope to help again.

What skills did you develop or improve through your direct service?
I definitely worked a good amount on my interpersonal skills throughout the process as I helped a lot of people get around and talked to them about where the different lectures were.

How did your direct service benefit members of the broader community and describe your service?
It helped benefit the community by helping people be able to celebrate a normal Christmas even though they might not be able to otherwise. I was helping Toys for Tots by doing a few different things. When I first got there I was helping taping up boxes and putting the proper stickers on it so that they were ready to be shipped. The second part of it was getting the gifts together and packing them for the kids they will be sent to. The people running it were really happy to be there and were saying that we were moving really well today.

Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
Overall, I would like to work with this organization again although I probably will not this season because I just have a lot going on in my personal life. The people there were really great and the work was not hard, but it was fulfilling. It was fun to work with the people there and it was not that far from the university.

Did you work individually or as part of a team during your service? How did that impact your experience?
I worked in a group during my service and it made my service way better. While we were packing boxes it would have taken twice as long as it did in order to get it done without help, not to mention having someone to talk to and work with allows the work to go by faster simply because you are able to enjoy yourself more. If I didn't have someone to work with it would have been pretty grueling simply because I hate working alone.

What impact do you think your service had on you personally?
Overall, It made me grateful that when I was growing up I was in a situation that allowed me to have good Christmases that I got what I wanted and my parents were able to get the things I wanted without me really having to worry about on if I would get it. So I was just grateful that I had always been in a good childhood.

How did your direct service benefit members of the broader community and describe your service.
My service benefited the community by helping the look of the Nature center and making it look more presentable for people coming to enjoy the park and for those wanting to buy plants from the center. The person who was working the event was very happy with us that were working and enjoyed the speed and consistency that we had while working.

Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
I do plan on coming back in the future. The person who I was working for was a member of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and we had a lot of really cool interactions. on top of that the Nature center on it's own was really pretty, even in the winter, and the work was fun and I got to get a little dirty while having fun.

Did you work individually or as part of a team during your service? How did that
impact your experience?
I worked in a team for this, and it helped a good amount because we were moving a lot of pots around the area we were working and because of that the extra hands was helpful, made the workload less and gave me someone to talk to.

What skills did you develop or improve through your direct service?
I really improved some of my potting skills as most of what I did was repotting plants and watering them. I was moving these bushes from one pot, cutting the roots and pruning the roots in places so that when I put it in a bigger pot there was room for it to grow.

How did your direct service benefit members of the broader community?
Overall, I feel that my service helped those in the broader community by really helping the people really get a chance to appreciate the nature they were surrounded by. My job was taking pictures for those walking around helping them find spots to take the pictures and making sure they they could have everyone they wanted in these photos. Me being there not only helped the families build bonds closer to themselves as one of the members was not left out of the photo, but it also helped them see some cool places to take pictures in some really pretty parts of the garden that they otherwise would not have seen. It was very rewarding the entire time getting to see the smiles on their faces.


Which population did you serve, and what was their reaction to you/your group being there?
I served that the Memphis Botanic Gardens during their Holiday Wonder at the Gardens Event Which serves anyone who comes in the Memphis Area. The guests walk through the garden and see all of the beautiful Light displays on the trees, bushes, and other plants in the garden. Me and the group I was stationed with were around the walkways helping people who were trying to take pictures of themselves with their families. Whenever I came up to people to ask they would like me to take the pictures for them they were always extremely happy and grateful for someone to take their picture. I tend to see that someone in the family ends up not being able to be in a photo because someone has to take the picture, but the simple act of just having someone to take the photo so they could have a family photo made their Christmas a little brighter and a little merrier which is all I could really ask for and it honestly made my day.

What skills did you develop or improve through your direct service?
The skill I developed the most during this was getting over the awkwardness of just going up to someone and asking if they would like help. My personal skills are not always the best and this helped me a lot with just going up to someone and talking. If hadn't gotten over my awkwardness with going up to people, I would have not been able to help anyone during the time I was there. I also think I got a little better at taking pictures and working with kids in pictures during this. I had to use a lot of different phones and cameras throughout the process and I wanted to make sure people got good photos, so I ended up learning a little on taking photos with different devices. Furthermore, taking pictures with little ones is always fun because you have to find ways to keep them looking at the camera so I did a little learning with that too.

Did you work individually or as part of a team during your service? How did that impact your experience?
I did work in a team of about 3 people which overall made the experience better. It was a bit cold out so it really helped to be with other people during the slower parts of the night just to have someone to talk to and hang out with so you can get your mind off the cold. Furthermore, when we were busy it was way easier to help people when there is more than 1 person. Even with the three of us there were still times we couldn't help everyone so we just did what we could, but having more did definitely helped some.

Do you plan to continue volunteering with this organization? Why or why not?
Yes I do. This is because first they are close to campus and and were really easy to work with. I really enjoyed being out in nature and helping people where I could. Seeing the joy in peoples eyes and seeing the little kids be filled with the joy of the holidays honestly just makes me smile and laugh right along with them. It was to the point that I didn't feel like I was serving anyone. I was just there and I think that is the way service should be.