For my service project this summer I taught nature and climate science based crafts in my local elementary school for three weeks of their summer school program. We had learned about the carbon and oxygen cycle, weather science and renewable energy and were beginning to assemble our knowledge of human relationships with the environment. For the final project of my classes at summer school, the kids constructed a volcano out of recycled materials, paper mache and paint. Each grade got to create an element of the final model, and murmurs of “explosion day” hummed through the hallways. On the last day at recess, we set up our construction; poured Coca Cola into the bottle in the center, made a giant circle out of splattering distance, and finally, poured in the Mentos. The soda fizz at the top quickly dissipated as murky, sticky liquid dripped down the sides of our creation. We all stood in silence before ushering the kids back to recess. As I dumped out our failed experiment the uncertainty I had been feeling throughout the project begun to really bubble up.
One teacher volunteered to go get more ingredients and try the experiment again, and I begrudgingly went to the picnic table with the other teachers. We brainstormed methods for the second round of our experiment and the summer school’s director shared with me a story of teaching virtually during the pandemic. She explained how she had performed the “egg in the bottle” air pressure experiment, and how it had failed on two different tries, all in front of the whole school community on Zoom. As we all laughed together my disappointment started to melt away, an even deeper understanding of community service replacing it.
The teacher who had gone out returned with the supplies and we again gathered up the students in the grass. We took a step back and saw the contents rush up and pour down the sides of our creation, warranting claps and gasps from the students and faculty alike. This experience exemplified my experience with my summer project as I realized the importance of strong community and capacity for imperfection in service work.
In the past year, community service has become a big part of my life and a strong passion of mine, so when I embarked on my own project, I came in with many predetermined standards. I had my timeline, my goals and measures for success mapped out, and felt confident in my ability to successfully execute the project. The process of communicating with my partners and feeling secure in the impact of my project presented challenges for me, as it wasn’t following the plan I had so meticulously planned out, but I eventually realized that the trajectory of a service project is never perfectly linear. Growth happens when mistakes are made, sometimes experiments turn out differently than expected, or engaging with project stakeholders presents difficulties. Like the very first project I hosted at summer school constructing clay models of the earth’s layers, community service is also layered and complex, and requires a holistic approach based on connection, catered to the community’s specific needs.
The understanding that I have gained from this project will allow me to contribute to my community in a responsive and robust manner, understanding that it takes not one person, one project, or one initiative to grow and adapt, but collaboration and collective action. This new knowledge will allow me to leave more space for growth and adaptation in future service projects. I believe that sharing project struggles as well as successes, especially in service, is extremely valuable, as it creates a realistic precedent which allows for more change to be achieved.
