Service Learning Reflection Assignment

By: Alan Valenzuela, TTUHSC Physicians Assistant Student

Since 2023, The Field's Edge has had a partnership with the TTUHSC Physicians Assistant program. Students have taught the Neighbors about different topics to fufill their school requirements such as dental hygiene, vaccinations, healthy sleep habits, etc. Below is an assignment written by one of the PA students after his experience at The Field's Edge.

Today, I had the opportunity to spend an evening with our neighbors at The Field’s Edge. It was a really unique experience that didn’t go at all how I expected. As it turns out, this feeling was mutual but in the best way possible. This is explained by the attached image, a flyer promoting our visit which amusingly depicts an inconsistent date. To the knowledge of the entire community, including the two residents who warmly greeted me upon our arrival, we showed up an entire day early. Regardless, one of the gentlemen showed me to this cul-de-sac of miniature abodes, all proudly boasting their own unique design. In the center was a house a little larger than the rest, where the founder of this community resided with the rest of his family.

After knocking, we were greeting by four pairs of big bright eyes scrambling over one another to see who had come to visit. Not one stood more than waist tall, and only half of this energetic bunch seemed at all interested in the concept of shoes. Behind them stood their mother, who was equally surprised, yet happy to see us. “Follow me, they’re in bible study at the moment”. By now I had expected to have begun our monologue on the impacts of stress and trauma. Instead, we proceed to hijack a prayer circle made up of the remainder of the residents. Among them is the founder, who is kind and eager to host us regardless of the timing mishap. As we make our way to the chow hall, word gets out that my team and I were gearing up for a presentation and a crowd of about fifteen previously unhoused individuals gather around us ready to hear what we have to say on stress and trauma. As I scan the room, it dawns on me that I am lecturing this topic to a class of experts on the matter. I exhale the weight of this realization and simply begin.

Our voices were met with open minds and ears, and by the end of the presentation several members of the audience came up to us and were brave enough to share their own experiences. The strength of their resolve was inspiring, and it warmed my heart that they really took away what we had to offer and related it to their own experiences. Meanwhile, the smell of fried chicken surrounded the conversations among us, and we were so kindly invited to join them for dinner. Another unexpected moment came right after we sat, when come to find out it was our group and our group alone who had ever accepted their offer. The surprises just kept coming, as with faces filled with crispy deliciousness we were offered a tour of the premises. The hospitality we had received by this point overwhelmed any input we could ever provide, and it all came from people who had walked some of the hardest paths that life had to offer.

Somewhere between the vegetable gardens and the llamas, our tour led us to the flyer that had caught my eye upon arrival. There it hung in the doorway, still expecting our event to take place the following day. It was an innocent miscommunication, and a gentle reminder that life doesn’t always pan out the way we expect it to. I believe this holds especially true in our profession. Whether it be non-compliant patients or microbes who have their way with these patients, there will be times when the plan gets thrown out the window. Regardless, the turbulence of life must be met with the intention to serve and preserve the human dignity of every neighbor in need. Today’s service-learning event helped me realize that this responsibility is not only upheld by those wearing scrubs. It is one shared by all members of society.

Life has thrown many hardships on the members of the community who hosted us today, hardships one must live through to fully understand. Despite their experiences, their paths all led them to form a community which relies on itself to preserve each other’s health and wellbeing. When we first arrived, we were nowhere in the plans for the evening they had in mind. By the time we had departed, we left feeling like we really belonged. Not one person on the compound knew how that evening would unfold, yet that did not deter anyone from creating an environment which fostered community, kindness, and good health. Service both employs and is employed by all these elements and more. Today, in the most unexpected yet greatest way, that service was mutual.