Reflection is one of the most important aspects of service learning. It is where our head, heart, and hands come together to make sense of our experience, better understand the context of those we work with, and for us to discern our learning and values. Check with your professor to find out if attendance at a reflection session is required for your course. Reflection sessions are specifically geared toward service learning experiences. Students should sign-up for reflection sessions through MUEngage. Students who RSVP get priority entry for sessions. Arriving more than 15 minutes late or leaving more than 15 minutes early for any reflection session will not be counted as a reflection session attendance. Sessions will be held in-person or virtually, please make note of where and when we will meet.
For online sessions, please note:
Register for reflection sessions through your service learning course on MUEngage. Refer to this presentation on how to register for reflection sessions on MUEngage if you have questions.
Please only register for one reflection session. If you would like to attend two, please notify the Service Learning Program. We need to make sure we have enough space to accommodate all the students who are required to attend a session and to make sure we have appropriate staffing. If you find yourself unable to attend the session you registered for, please cancel your registration so we can open up the space you held. Please note that reflection sessions do fill up, so you are highly encouraged to register early.
Special Offering: Living Stories
Co-Sponsored with Mission Week and the Office of Mission and Ministry and the College of Nursing
Step into a space where real lives become open books. Living Stories is an interactive event that invites you to listen to personal narratives from individuals whose experiences may be unfamiliar or eye-opening—stories of resilience, identity, and purpose. From navigating homelessness to the journey of a student-athlete, or life as a Jesuit, each conversation offers a chance to deepen understanding, challenge assumptions, and build empathy.
This experience is rooted in the Ignatian tradition of becoming contemplatives in action—pausing to reflect and then engaging the world with compassion and justice. Listening to these living stories is a form of faith conversation, a ministry central to Ignatian spirituality, where dialogue opens hearts and minds to God’s presence in all people. Through these encounters, we discern how our own lives might respond to the call for greater solidarity, hope, and love.
This event seeks to honor the legacy of Dr. Marija Bjegovich-Weidman, whose scholarship introduced Marquette to the Human Library experience. The session is open to all Marquette students.
Please note this session will be two hours long, and it is longer in duration than the other sessions due to the nature of the activity. Attendees are expected to attend the entire session.
R1: MKE 1001
Whether you are new to the 414 area code or if you have lived your entire life in this city, it is very likely that there are lots of things you don’t know about Milwaukee’s rich history or some of its current day hidden gems. Join us as we watch a documentary by Adam Carr, created for Marquette students embarking on community engagement opportunities to better understand the strengths, struggles, opportunities, and the beauty of Milwaukee. After the video we will spend some time discussing our roles, goals, and responsibilities in the city. Please come with any questions or concerns about starting your service learning and we will work to support you!
R2: Caring for our Neighbors: Empathy versus Pity
Empathy is a powerful attribute and resource in community-engaged work. But empathy is something much different than sympathy or pity. Together we will unpack the difference and think about how we can demonstrate compassion to people who are struggling, without being paternalistic or saviors. How can empathy and compassion motivate us beyond looking at individual needs to advocate for change and equity?
R3: Food for Today: Hunger, Food Access, and Poverty
Join us for this interactive session, conducted with support from our partners at the Hunger Task Force, as we learn what it takes to obtain “Food for Today” in this simulation activity about food insecurity. Students will learn about who is most at risk for food insecurity, the importance of a safety net to prevent hunger and starvation, and current advocacy efforts to make sure everyone has access to healthy food.
R4: Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty?: Asset-Based Community Development
Often when thinking about our communities we find ourselves thinking in a deficit mode, thinking about what our communities and our community members don’t have or what is wrong. But research suggests that the way to empower people and communities is to build on strengths, assets, and resources that already exist. Join us as we reflect on engaging with Milwaukee through a strengths-based approach.
R5: Impact of My Service Learning
It is important to consider how our service learning impacts the community, the agencies where we work, and the people we work alongside, not to give ourselves kudos, but to consider if we have indeed created the mutually beneficial relationships we set out to create. Service is full of power dynamics, and how we approach our work tends to dictate what we both give and take from the relationships we create in our service learning. What is our impact? How has this experience impacted us? What could you have done to make this experience more powerful? How has the experience changed your thinking, broadened your understandings, or inspired your future involvement in the community?
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