Regifting of our talents, passions
The recently completed holiday season is a time of gift giving and, sometimes, of regifting those gifts that you might already have or feel are more appropriate for another person. Regifting can be playful, such as in a white elephant gift exchange. But sometimes the gesture is one of sincere generosity. What about regifting part of our very selves, of giving to others out of our own surplus gifts and talents and passions?
Part of the mission of the University of Oklahoma is to “provide service to the state and society.” Service-learning is an educational tool in which students learn and practice vocational skills while actively providing a service to Oklahoma communities in need and those beyond its borders.
There are many opportunities for service-learning on the OU Norman campus. OU Community Engagement provides opportunities for students and faculty to partner with the knowledge and assets of diverse communities. By doing so, OU cultivates strong leaders who will learn to participate fully in the civic life and political processes of their communities.
One student helped improve severe weather communications to the Spanish-speaking population in south Oklahoma City. Another student, an avid gardener, is using ArcGIS (mapping software), census data, and on-theground analysis to identify Oklahoma City metro schools that are most in need of gardens and fresh food options. His goal is to increase the viability of urban agriculture, especially to the benefit of vulnerable and low-income populations. For this work he was named the 2018 Newman Civic Fellow.
Through the OU WaTER Center, the university offers a minor degree in Water and Sanitation for Health and Sustainable Development. Students of any major can add this minor degree to their curriculum and it prepares them to do development work in places of need all across the globe. Students are required to take courses specific to development work as well as spend at least 3-6 weeks in a developing country while engaging in service-learning. One former student and her new husband are now Peace Corps volunteers in Panama, designing improved drinking water solutions for a rural village. Another student graduated with a degree in environmental design, but her coursework for the Water Minor and her summer work in Uganda have helped her to refocus her career toward pursuing a master’s in public health.
Briefly, service-learning is the creditbearing educational experience in which a student engages in service activities that meet the needs of a community, while also reflecting on the experience of service in light of broader educational goals. In some cases, a student’s career passion intensifies as she sees it put into the service of humankind. In other cases, she may be profoundly changed in ways that direct her to seek another path. But always, the students come to understand their own gifts as a blessing to be shared for the good and in service of others.