Mitch Davis:
Professional Writing Portfolio

In my first journal entry this semester, I wrote that I had minimal experience with refugees, and planned “to use this semester to explore this field as a possible career path.” A fairly ambitious declaration, but this goal has helped me professionally engage in service learning. I believe my empathy has developed the most as a result of my mindset and the material featured in the course. Journaling about the one item I would bring if I were leaving my home country to watching two very different families enter the United States for the first time has provided a very real look at the refugee situation that I previously found inaccessible.

My experience with NICE has encouraged me to take refugees more seriously. This may sound simple, but I find many Americans stop seeing them as individuals, and started seeing them as threats to jobs, safety, and freedom. Ironically, the vast majority of refugees seek these three things when they come to America. Watching both a large Burmese family greeted by dozens of relatives at the airport and another family of three from Burma via Malaysia arrive alone served as the first time I had seen refugees in person. The contrasting arrivals provided an identity for the refugees that I was unable to capture watching the news or even through NICE’s website. This developed perspective will allow me to project a more serious and three-dimensional view of refugees in the face of the current crisis.

As I wrote in my journal on November 17th, I find the greatest difficulty to be acting on the empathy I have developed this semester. I find it easier to think about and discuss the refugee crisis after working with NICE this semester, but difficult to take action. I regret missing more active volunteer opportunities such as the Halloween party at the apartment complex and the citizenship classes. While I was able to observe refugees as they arrived in the United States, I was not able to interact with them or provide any tangible assistance, and thus limited myself as a student and a volunteer. Going forward, it is encouraging to know about the various opportunities that NICE will continue to offer after the semester ends. Further, I am pursuing an internship with the Bonnaroo Works Fund, a local non-profit company. This intensive opportunity caters more toward my interest in music, and will hopefully inspire me to have a greater influence on people in need.