Colleges herald service-learning classes as a perfect tool to combine academic learning goals and community service to further both the growth of the student and the community. More specifically, administrations and civic engagement centers on the different campuses promote this form of education as an opportunity for students to learn about “real-world” issues and to get to know the community outside their campus; latter being especially important for predominantly residential colleges (see for example, Campus Compact, 2014).

For many faculty, bridging two very different disciplines can present a challenge. After all, we have been trained and are thus very accustomed to working in our separate silos. But “the real world” does not work like that and many brilliant ideas are created through collaboration. That said, we set out to create assignments that challenged students to use different outlets to engage others with a topic that they felt passionate about.

At the conclusion of the semester we asked our New School students to reflect on their experience volunteering with immigrant youth at MASA (Mexican American Student Alliance). (Quotes have been edited for clarification and spelling errors.)