Volunteering at the Houston Food Bank for the final time this semester, I was placed in the Senior Food Box Project. Here, we sorted through donations and created boxes made to help feed older Houstonians in-need. My experience this semester with service learning was a little rocky at first, but ultimately I felt very lucky to be involved in the important work done at the Houston Food Bank. I honestly never realized just how many people in our city are in need of basic items, like clothing and food. I definitely feel that I will be spending more time volunteering in Houston in the future and am grateful that my classmates and I were pushed to get involved.

My second day volunteering at the Houston Food Bank was in the same location but I was placed in a different area of the building. I spent my volunteer hours working on the Backpack Buddy Project; this is a project where volunteers pack lunches for children to eat over the weekend. It felt incredibly rewarding to be able to contribute to something that I felt was so important.

My partnership with CIS did not work out and after a few weeks with no response, I decided to spend my volunteer time in another place. The Houston Food Bank provides the perfect opportunity to give back to the city's hungry and in-need individuals. I went to the Houston Food Bank for the first time and worked sorting through boxes of canned food with other volunteers.

I drove over to Lee High School today and had the opportunity of meeting the student I will be working with this semester. The CIS employee I spent the afternoon speaking with did not know about UST's partnership with CIS or what I was doing at the school. It was all a little confusing at first, but eventually we had everything straightened out and I ended up learning a great deal about the services provided by CIS and the need Lee High School has for outside help. The student I met today is eighteen and a sophomore; she needs help in all her classes but specifically asked for assistance with her Chemistry class, as she has failed it several times. I am very excited about the partnership with CIS and the opportunity to help them in any way. I plan on doing research this week, before I meet with the student again on Friday, to find out more about what tenth grade chemistry students do in the class room and hopefully find some helpful material online to take with me. The students do not have textbooks, so I feel that it will be very helpful if I am able to find any literature online to aid in the tutoring sessions this semester.

For the Service Learning project with Communities in Schools, I have chosen to partner with Lee High School. I have researched many of the schools in the Houston Independent School District but ultimately decided on Lee HS because of it's very diverse student population. From what I have read about the campus, I have learned that the student population is made up of students speaking over 40 different languages and a large portion of the population is made up of refuges of Hurricane Katrina. It appears that the school is struggling with financial problems as well as a high drop-out rate. I am slightly intimidated by the project, as the only service learning experience I have with students is with elementary school-age children, but I am also very hopeful. I believe this will be a very positive experience and I am looking forward to helping the school in whatever way I am granted the opportunity.