Running head: POST-EXPERIENCE REFLECTION 1

Ephesus Post-Experience Reflection

Bryan G. Wharton

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

Dr. Arlene Holowaychuk

NUR 4116P

November 6, 2018

Honor Code: “I pledge”

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Ephesus Post-Experience Reflection

This practicum was one of the best experiences I have had in my nursing school career.

Ephesus Junior Academy (EJA) exceeded my expectations. I thought we would go there and just

observe after the first day of health assessments, but I was wrong. We were very involved in the

classroom activities, even doing some academic teaching to go along with the nursing teaching.

Noticing

EJA is a small private Christian school with a total of 24 students, two teachers, a

principal and a secretary. Everyone else that is there is a church volunteer or parent volunteers.

These kids came from all types of households, but all of them were just kids. And that is exactly

what I expected. I heard them joke a lot. I heard them be mean to each other. I heard them stick

up for each other. But at the end of the day, everyone had a positive attitude, everyone got along

and there were no real problems we had to deal with. They were just kids being kids.

In the classroom, both the older kids and younger kids were very cooperative for their

teachers. I did feel like we were a distraction, but we also were able to help the teachers get work

done by watching the kids and helping them do their work. The older class was easier to work

with, obviously, because they were more advanced and could focus longer. The younger class

had some students who were focused while others were more interested in showing off for us.

In the gym, they wanted to play sports and goof off. The older kids all played basketball.

They picked teams and were quick to pick us to be on their team. This got intense because there

were twin brothers who were very competitive and would always be on the same team. I think

each day we were there ended in a fight except the day their grade was on a field trip. The

younger kids all did their own thing, but it was organized chaos. I was throwing the football with
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a few of them, others were throwing the football with others and then there was a group just

running around.

Chapel was my favorite part. Listening to them sing was the best part of this practicum.

We only got to listen to choir one week but, listening to them sing in chapel was great. One day,

a kid made me sit next to him and 30 minutes in, he had his head on my shoulder and was

sleeping. They all like to clap their hands or make ‘beats’ on their seats and with their feet. After

the singing they did their pledges and creed. Then they acted out plays or said prayers. Every

time was different.

Interpreting

My values and experiences did not really change after this experience. I have always

liked working with kids and I have experience working with under privileged kids. This

population seemed a to be a mix of underprivileged and religious, but I have always worked with

and treated these two populations the same I would with my ‘spoiled’ girl’s soccer team I coach.

I did see there was problems with learning. Some kids did not seem interested in learning while

other kids wanted to learn but just could not in this environment. One day, I was asked to teach a

kid math. It was not advanced math and was not the same level the rest of the class was in. We

went to another room and he did seem to understand it until we took the next step. He could not

do this step and started crying from frustration and probably embarrassment. I think this problem

could be solved if the school had a way for him to work on his own more. I am sure this is the

first time he got one on one teaching with only two teachers available. All the kids are at

different learning levels and should not be learning the same things as each other.
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Responding

I learned these kids just need attention. They need attention from their teachers, families,

friends and us. They tried to impress the teachers with their work a lot and most of the time the

teacher was too overwhelmed to acknowledge them. We were able to give them this attention and

so much more. We provided them with some nursing teaching they needed too. They all are

active, but they do not know why they need to be active. They all wash their hands but did not

know really what not washing their hands could do. We taught them about being active and

living a healthy lifestyle and what good hand hygiene does to prevent getting sick. We also

talked about safety and nutrition.

Reflecting

Like I have said this was one of the best experiences of my school career. It opened my

eyes to how all kids are the same no matter what their socioeconomic status is. This helped

specifically with this semester because I am in pediatrics class right now and am working with

kids in the hospital too. I know now that not all kids are the same. They all are at different levels

of education and have different abilities to learn. This also helped my personal life because I am

planning on going to their winter concert at short pump town center. I am not just going to forget

about this experience and say it was just something I had to do for school. I may even volunteer

if I ever get free time.

Conclusion

This was an awesome experience and I would not go back and change anything. Even

having the kid cry was a good experience. It was tough in that situation but gratifying when I

was able to get him through it and out to the gym laughing and smiling again. Yes, it was what I

said and did with him, not just because he was going to play basketball.
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References

None.