by Kaitlin Fisher

• What stands out to you most from your work at Asheville High School? What was especially interesting, surprising, rewarding, or even frustrating?

The thing that stands out to me the most is how open the students were with me. The first night, these students were telling me about their future goals, how they plan on achieving their goals, and how they came to this point in their lives. I think this was also so shocking to me. Another shocking thing was how interested the students were with me. They asked me why I went where I did, what I majored in, etc. I think the most rewarding thing will be hearing where they end up going.

• How has your service-learning experience influenced your understanding of writing? The writing process? Of teaching and learning?

This service- learning experience has influenced my understanding of writing through actually helping students with their writing. It is one thing to write it down on paper, but to actually help students write their own papers was an amazing experience. This experience also influenced my understanding of teaching because I was able to compare how I worked these students to how I worked with my AVID students. I think the two different groups helped me to see what no class will ever be the same and that I will need to prepare for complete opposite classes.

• How has your service-learning experience influenced your personal growth? (For example, what have you learned about yourself from this experience? About your own biases or assumptions? Have your ideas changed?  Have you discovered any new skills or personality traits?)

I have learned that I love helping seniors! Even though they are so excited to be moving on from high school, they are still willing to engage with me about their work. I have also learned that I love helping students write. Many days my students already had essays to edit, but the days that I had to help them craft essays, were the best days!

• How has your service-learning experience influenced your understanding of the Asheville community? Of the public school system?

This service-learning experience has helped me to see the diverse educational aspects within the Asheville Community. To begin with, I have also worked with AVID students at Asheville High. My AVID students did not turn on their cameras to talk with me. These students never wanted to have an actual conversation with me most days. In contrast to that side, helping seniors craft their college essays was a completely different experience. The high school seniors were excited to talk to me about my experiences in college, and about their essays. I think seeing these two opposite sides of Asheville high have made me think more about how to truly engage with students, even those who do not speak back.