Community Service Reflection: What? So What? Now What?

Last Sunday, UROP students joined other U of M summer groups to participate it team-building activities and assemble bikes for children who would appreciate them. 

After splitting into groups, my team dove into our activities. We quickly met everyone, mastered the dot-crossing game thanks to someone’s whirlpool-motion idea, and finished our group bingo, but getting a ball down a PVC track was challenging – we struggled with keeping the ball from “jumping” out of the track when it hit an unexpected curve or joint. Eventually, by experimenting with various balls, keeping our pipes at a slight angle, and positioning the lower pipe under the upper one, we got five balls into the can. With only the rubber chicken launch to go, we quickly moved on to putting together the bike.

Our bike was for a 12-year-old boy who arrived with his mother while we were still putting the bike together. Some struggles with the brake system kept us working on the bike longer than we would have liked, but seeing the boy’s eyes light up as he saw a member of our group test drive the bike to make sure the brakes worked made me glad my team put in the extra effort. The bike’s new owner was happily pedaling his bike to his car to put it away before he got lunch.

Our kid was not alone – two children, probably brother and sister, were riding their new bikes for what must have been a full half hour. When the boy's mother called him over to get something to eat, the boy grabbed Cheetos and his stuffed animal, but still kept riding his bike.

In groups, I am normally very vocal about my opinion during any and all decisions. However, during the UROP volunteering session, I stepped back - I’d already done some of our group challenges with other groups and was interested to see how a different minds would approach them. My group faced new difficulties – while we were more challenged by the PVC-ball course, we passed other challenges easily due to new solutions. Instead of my typical role, I became more of a “rule keeper,” making sure that we always stayed within the guidelines for each challenge. I think it’s really important to be able to  fill any available position to help your team, so while my position wasn't my typical role, I’m glad I found a way to be useful for my team.

Apart from the satisfaction of helping the kids, I took two things away from our team building/volunteering workshop. First, it’s important to be accountable for what you do – I wouldn’t have been nearly as pleased with my team if we'd stretched the rules to get past a task quicker, and I’m really glad we spent extra time making sure our bike’s brake system was safe for its new owner. Second, I need to remember that sometimes people are just as important as the task at hand – learning to work with new groups of people and finding the best way to utilize everyone’s talent is always a tricky process, but it’s an important skill. While it may be easy to proceed in whatever way you think of first, difficulties are passed easier when everyone’s skills are used. I plan to use both of these concepts as I continue my research – I’ll work hard to produce quality work and to use my know-how in the most useful way.