1. My service learning STEP project involved volunteering to answer calls on the National Suicide Prevention hotline (Lifeline) as well as a few lesser known call lines. This involved learning about crisis intervention, specifically preventing suicide for the next 24 hours. Many callers are going through a life threatening crisis and need a reliable person to help them work through these crises through access to resources, conversations, or even emergency service intervention.

2. Volunteering to be a National Suicide Prevention hotline worker proved to be transformational in unforeseen ways. I have learned that there is an infinite number of crises that can cause intense emotion among every call. Additionally, It has become increasingly apparent that each crisis can affect people in contrasting ways. As a result, much of this transformation has involved learning about people and mental health. I have developed a deeper understanding of how mental health can greatly alter the trajectory of our human experience.

Furthermore, I have developed a broader perspective of what human experience is like outside of my interactions with privilege. I have developed a greater capacity to listen to others. In addition, I have developed a deep gratitude for the small and large things that have allowed me to be where I am in my life. I have learned that many people find themselves without similar opportunity. Many of the obstacles that these callers face were completely unimaginable. I have learned to be a resource for people in crisis and have saved lives over this summer. I feel confident that this experience has and will continue to reap many more transformations in myself but more importantly the lives of others.

3. Throughout this project, I had many experiences that contributed to my transformation. I have had calls with individuals on the hotline who have stated that if I did not answer the phone they would have taken their own life. Furthermore, I have had calls with individuals that I spoke with at the store the day before. These calls have instilled how fragile we are and also how mental health is prominent in people you might least expect it to be.

Furthermore, the people who I have worked alongside have shown me what it means to give to others. People who I have worked alongside have been volunteering for the hotline for over 25 years. I have had the great privilege in getting to know these caring individuals. These experiences have even shown me life lessons in living my own life. Furthermore, I have learned how to deal with these crisis from experts in the field.

Lastly, I have had experience with callers who were about my age or younger. These experience were especially difficult to hear about. I have been a person who has struggled with mental health in the past and hearing about these similar experiences from other people in my position invoked great emotion. It is especially emotional given that I have had a friend who took their own life. Presently, I intend to prevent these suicides in all age ranges but especially in adolescents. This group I have found the most trouble helping but the most reward when I can successfully help them.

4. This transformation is especially important for me. I hope to become a psychiatrist and this experience has given me great insight into many of the people I may find myself working with in the future. I hope to make an impact in this regard for the rest of my life and this project has truly given me the tools I need to pursue that life.

I flew to Lawton Oklahoma and stayed for about a week to volunteer with Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI). OBI taught me how to bundle tubes, work the front desk, make snack packs, sort and fold donation shirts, and a few other things. I also checked up on an old project that provides hand-made hats for the cancer center at Comanche County Memorial Hospital. I made some hats before flying to Oklahoma and then dropped them off at the cancer center and visited the knitting group that is keeping my project sustainable.

This trip was one of the first times I was traveling someone that I did not have family. I had to contact old friends to find a ride to the hospital and grocery stores. It was hard to rely on someone else to pick me up and then drive me everywhere I needed to be, but after a few days I got used to it. The pandemic made me out of practice of waking up to my alarm with enough time to get ready, eat breakfast, and walk to my destination, but this project required me to get back into a good rhythm. I was confident that I could do it and after the first few days, I was able to find the perfect schedule. By the end of the project, I began seeing my self as more independent and self-sufficient. I now have more confidence in myself and my ability to commit to a schedule based off what others need from me. Some days I be at the center by 8am and other days I had to be there by 9am. I made sure to be flexible and willing to change my plans to better serve the Oklahoma Blood Institute.

The staff at the center were very nice and welcoming. I received a tour on the first day to get to know a few of the staff members and to familiarize myself with the layout of the center. The friendly environment made my trip more worthwhile and kept me excited to come back every day. I learned so much about the OBI mission and how they operate on a day-to-day basis. It was eye opening to talk with the other volunteers and the volunteer coordinator. One day, two other volunteers and I got in the car with the volunteer coordinator, Kasinda, and were able to drive around the neighboring cities to drop off blood drive flyers. This short road trip showed me how OBI gains support from the community. There were about four blood drives in within a 45-minute drive from the OBI center that were occurring within weeks of each other. It was amazing to hear about the community coming together to help people they may never meet.

I was able to witness how sometimes things do not go as planned. At the beginning of the week, I sat down with the volunteer coordinator on the first day and planned out the whole week. I came in each day excited to see what it would hold. One morning, I was supposed to go to Chickasha for a blood drive, but the driver had car problems and could not drive me and show me what to do at the drive. Instead, I rolled shirts and learned how to bundle tubes. On a different day, the Kasinda, a volunteer, and I drove down to the Texas Blood Institute to introduce a new volunteer and help the new volunteer get set up. We arrived at the center to find out the volunteer was not going to be able to make it. We hopped back in the car and Kasinda decided what to do next. She did not hesitate; she was able to create a new plan and then contacted the necessary people to put it into action. It was transformational to see how smooth the transition was to having cancelled plans to being able to find something new to make the day worthwhile. From seeing how Kasinda could be so flexible, was a role model that helped me gain the confidence to become more flexible myself.

Another big reason I wanted to travel back to Oklahoma was because of an old project I started in high school. I needed to make sure everything was still going as planned and that there were not any problems occurring. I taught a bunch of students at Elgin High school how to crochet and then created an agreement with the Elgin Key Club and a group at

the local library to continue the project when I graduate. I visited the local library and was excited to hear that they are still making hats for my project. They still drop off hats at Comanche County Memorial Hospital cancer center. It was wonderful to see how I was able to make a continuous impact by created a sustainable project. The whole project was created to provide comfort to patients going through chemotherapy. It was amazing to see that the new patients are still receiving the same care from the community after two years.

This whole trip was transformational for me because it taught me that there is more to the medical field than what people see at first glance. I want to work in a laboratory but have thought about getting a phlebotomy license to help people on a different level. It was interesting to see that there are so many people that are regular blood donors. OBI relies on them to donate platelets, whole blood, or plasma every few weeks they are eligible. The donors enter the center and are welcomed by name, which encourages them to come back each time. They are helping so many people by just sitting down for 30 minutes to two hours and donating. Thus, from this experience I am going to do more research into getting a phlebotomy license and in the meantime, I will continue to donate blood when I can. The people that come back repeatedly make a huge difference for people that they do not even know. I want to be that person and I want to help others be that person. I believe altruism is an easy solution to helping others.

Thank you STEP and OBI for making this trip possible and for teaching me about myself and the people around me.

1. My STEP signature Project was in service to the Buckeye Food Alliance. Over the course of approximately two months (May-July), I not only worked in the pantry itself, but I also did research into making a survey for the pantry in order to gauge improvements patrons of the pantry wanted to see. My research for the pantry also involved helping determine which demographics the pantry needs to do a better job of reaching out to, those that are generally most food insecure.
2. The transformation that took place for me personally during the course of this summer was that I gained a better understanding of what it meant to be food insecure and how the pantry itself can do a much better job in the future of reaching out to those most in need. I researched impressive amounts of articles and blogs and research proposals regarding food insecurity and the best way for communities to tackle the problems themselves. Overall, I gained a greater empathy for those in need and a greater knowledge for how their needs may be fulfilled in the future.
3. While I worked in the pantry, I met a wide variety of people who helped me better understand the struggles of food insecurity from a variety of different perspectives and prisms of thought. I learned how young college freshmen who are food insecure may have different issues than an older lady with two children who is in the process of getting her masters degree. I have gained a deeper knowledge of how the term “food insecurity” affects people in a wide variety of ways and situations – it is not a monolithic problem, nor is it unidimensional. I have spent a significant amount of time avoiding the forest in order to get a better look at the leaves themselves, at least from a more personal perspective.

The research aspect of my STEP project has helped me look at the issue of food insecurity from a more detached point of view – I have been able to better see what issues have impacted the ability of people to survive through their social, political, and economic status. I have spent a significant amount of time avoiding the leaves in order to get a better look at the forest itself, at least from a researcher’s perspective.

1. These changes are valuable for my life because they will help me as I continue to work for the Buckeye Food Alliance. And no matter where I go or what I do in life, I will always need to have empathy for others, a skill and attribute the Buckeye Food Alliance has helped me acquire.