STEP REFLECTION

1. The Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System provides outstanding health care, trains America’s future health care providers, and conducts important medical research. With the STEP fellowship I was able to volunteer at the RHJ VA Health Care system for a week. Service will took place from approximately 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. each day. I worked in various wings of the hospital assisting with tasks such as visiting and building relationships with patients, transporting patients to and from appointments within the hospital, restocking supplies in the rooms, and supporting other administrative/organizational projects/needs. I also had the opportunity to visit with veterans as well as their families and friends and partake in many fun activities with them. In addition to that I had the opportunity to shadow doctors, surgeons and other healthcare workers alongside sitting in on surgeries, etc.
2. With the completion of my STEP Signature Project I was able to gain a better understanding of the life of senior citizens and veterans. Before completing this signature project my only experience with senior citizens and veterans was through my family. When caring for and interacting with senior citizens and veterans you have to maintain the cadence that’s conducive to the lifestyle that senior citizens and veterans live. This project really opened up my eyes to how senior citizens live especially after experiencing war or being active in the military. The care that they require and receive is different. Not only is the care that they receive and require different they also require Specify the individual accommodations due to their lifestyle that is different from civilians. This project helped put into perspective just how different lifestyles can be in different communities and generations.
3. During my signature project we were given the opportunity to interact with the patients by distributing donations and gifts. The gifts ranged from Armed Forces paraphernalia to food. When interacting with the veterans and patients while giving out the armed force paraphernalia I got a firsthand look at how the different branches of the Armed Forces interact with each other. The banter between the different branches showed me just how connected they all are. The paraphernalia had different dates, countries, and years to represent different wars across the world. This helped me put into perspective how much work the armed forces does and get a scope of their roles. Throughout our service we were also given the opportunity to work with the patients and their families through navigation and providing information. During this process they shared personal stories and experiences from their lives. This helped me gain more insight on the lives of senior citizens and the lines that elders walk. The stories from elders vary as they were leaders not only in their military community but also in civilian lives. As veterans aged into senior citizens their lives past lives weren’t forgotten. They told us testimonials about their military life as well as reentering civilian life and acclimating to society as it changed. Because I am not a part of their generation, I was able to learn more about not only history but how I may navigate my future. Break Alongside service we also had the opportunity to explore the historic community that Charleston offers and explore historical sites that made the States what it is today. South Carolina is one of the original thirteen colonies, so it has a rich history when it comes to colonialism and the development of the United States. We learned about war history and indigenous populations in the South. This translated my academic learning outside of the classroom. This experience changed how I learn.
4. This transformation was significant to my life because before this I had no concrete knowledge about armed forces the military and working with senior citizens. It gave me a better understanding on the importance of giving back and investing in communities that I am not actively a part of. It also taught me to take advantage of the fact that I still have access to primary sources of history in my community, and to leverage that.