CST 462S - Learning Journal (service learning)

Working with the American Technology Initiative was really fun, informative, and rewarding. I spent most of my time on their volunteer portal, a prototype level app that makes volunteer reporting way easier. The codebase was almost release ready, so I got to dive in, explore its parts, and see how a familiar tech stack scales up for real users.

Since the core features were already in place, I focused on user testing: hunting bugs, suggesting little tweaks, and polishing usability. Even though these were small changes, it felt great knowing they’d make a real difference for volunteers.

If there’s one thing I’d change, it’d be the length of the service learning project. 25 hours (over eight weeks) barely gives you time to get comfortable with a new codebase. From my experience, you need at least forty hours just to learn the ropes and even more to add substantial features. I’d love to see future SL programs run at least 120 hours (about six months) so you can really dig in.

The highlight for me was working alongside other students seeing different coding styles, problem solving approaches, and collaboration in action. My biggest challenge was the tight timeline; with more hours, I could’ve tackled larger enhancements and learned even more.

Advice for future SL students:

• Treat 25 hours as the minimum, not the maximum, spend as much time as you can.

• Ask questions early and often; every chat is a chance to learn.

• Keep an open mind, explore the code, and have fun with it.

With more time and active collaboration, SL can be both a huge learning boost and a chance to make a real impact.