​Senior Service Reflection: Alec Mullan '15

Each spring, Xavier seniors spend their Mondays at a self-selected service placement as part of the Senior Christian Service Program. Now more than 30 years old, the program allows seniors to follow their own interests while encouraging them to be "men for others." The Xavier E-News checks in with a senior every few weeks to learn about his service placement, why he chose it, and how the experience has affected him.

This week, Alec Mullan '15, who will attend the University of Colorado next year, reflects on his experience at the Macedonia Child Development Center in Flushing, Queens.

Over the last few months, I have been fulfilling my Senior Christian Service requirement near my home in Flushing, Queens, working with the lovely people at Macedonia Child Development Center. I was tasked with entertaining the kids, like an overexcited teenager who really enjoyed playing BINGO, and making sure that they handed in their homework from the previous week.

When I first started volunteering at Macedonia, even some of the smallest responsibilities were daunting to me. I went into this endeavor fully aware that it was challenging working with young kids. I had intentionally selected a service placement that would be challenging for me, but I wanted to do it in a field where I might get some useful knowledge in return.

I distinctly remember my first morning, greeting the kids and parents with smiles and nods as they hustled in, still bundled up and bitter from the January cold. A number of toddlers had arrived at this point, so I took it upon myself to join the circle they had made in their kitchen area. I was greeted by a variety of looks, ranging from confusion to terror, but still managed to introduce myself without making any one of the young kids cry - a big success in my book. I continued my conversations with four other children, asking simple question after simple question, only to see meaningful looks exchanged between the kids - if only I knew what those looks meant! "His glasses are huge...I don’t understand a word he just said."

Unfortunately, working at the Macedonia Child Development Center wasn't quite as simple as reading their thought bubbles. Only after my immediate supervisor Mrs. Abida told me that many of these children don't know English yet—most of the students only spoke Mandarin—did I realize just what a challenge laid ahead of me, and how I needed to learn to properly communicate with them and help them learn in the best way I could.

Though it was challenging, I plugged on week after week and slowly started to see some improvement in my own behavior around these children. I stopped being nervous and second guessing every other word I said to them, and became more focused on making sure that no matter what words I did or didn't use, that they got the message. My communication skills improved, as did my ability to work with others who I may not initially share a lot in common with. From what exactly "sharing" is, to how one should properly yell "BINGO!", I sincerely hope that those kids learned as much over the past few months as I did.