The Ways of Knowing: A Shy Smile
For my service-learning assignment, I worked with the Mommy and Me Family Literacy program in Clarkston, Georgia. The most exciting aspect of this assignment was the opportunity to work with underprivileged children from different cultures. On my first day, I was excited, albeit a bit nervous, because I passed by a few rooms with crying babies – an unfamiliar environment. Thankfully, I was asked which age group of children I would like to be placed with and I chose three to five-year-olds. To my surprise, a delightful little boy, named Mohammad, approached me, signaling for my help to build a Lego house. As a nurse, I would have to apply a knowledge framework to care for the client, Mohammad, such as what Brugger …show more content…
Later, I began mimicking the signals he made but putting words with them so he would understand fully what I meant. When I returned the next time for my service learning and I met Mohammad, I began talking to him without using hand motions and signals and at first he did not respond to me and became cautious, but he later started whispering small words to me – eventually engaging in near full conversation. I know I am an impatient person, so it was difficult for me to not at once dismiss him and interact with another child who was talkative and outgoing. I decided to take that moment of difficulty as a learning experience and continued building trust with Mohammad – this was the most important aspect of his success. Mohammad’s anxiety about interacting with new people was evident from the beginning, and it was clear that the teachers and volunteers were frustrated with him constantly crying, but I knew that I had to separate myself from them and figure out how to work through his distress with him from a nursing perspective, “As nurses become more self-aware, the potential for authentic relationships, self-advocacy, and advocacy for others exists” (Hentz & Lauterbach, 2005, p. 26). I am extremely happy that I worked on building patience with others and formed a relationship with Mohammad. Eventually, once he felt comfortable with me, each time I would come in the classroom for service-learning and he would at once approach and we would talk and laugh – at least on his
For my service-learning assignment, I worked with the Mommy and Me Family Literacy program in Clarkston, Georgia. The most exciting aspect of this assignment was the opportunity to work with underprivileged children from different cultures. On my first day, I was excited, albeit a bit nervous, because I passed by a few rooms with crying babies – an unfamiliar environment. Thankfully, I was asked which age group of children I would like to be placed with and I chose three to five-year-olds. To my surprise, a delightful little boy, named Mohammad, approached me, signaling for my help to build a Lego house. As a nurse, I would have to apply a knowledge framework to care for the client, Mohammad, such as what Brugger …show more content…
Later, I began mimicking the signals he made but putting words with them so he would understand fully what I meant. When I returned the next time for my service learning and I met Mohammad, I began talking to him without using hand motions and signals and at first he did not respond to me and became cautious, but he later started whispering small words to me – eventually engaging in near full conversation. I know I am an impatient person, so it was difficult for me to not at once dismiss him and interact with another child who was talkative and outgoing. I decided to take that moment of difficulty as a learning experience and continued building trust with Mohammad – this was the most important aspect of his success. Mohammad’s anxiety about interacting with new people was evident from the beginning, and it was clear that the teachers and volunteers were frustrated with him constantly crying, but I knew that I had to separate myself from them and figure out how to work through his distress with him from a nursing perspective, “As nurses become more self-aware, the potential for authentic relationships, self-advocacy, and advocacy for others exists” (Hentz & Lauterbach, 2005, p. 26). I am extremely happy that I worked on building patience with others and formed a relationship with Mohammad. Eventually, once he felt comfortable with me, each time I would come in the classroom for service-learning and he would at once approach and we would talk and laugh – at least on his