CST462: Race Gender & Class in the Digital World, Week 8

For my service learning project, our team worked on PawPal, a lost and found pet app that is meant to help people report lost pets, submit sightings, and hopefully reunite pets with their families. As part of the course, we were required to complete 25 service hours during the term. The project gave us the opportunity to contribute to an app with a real community purpose, rather than only working on a traditional class assignment. Overall, I enjoyed that the project connected technology with animal welfare. The most meaningful part for me was knowing that the features we worked on could eventually help lost animals get back home. I worked on updates related to lost pet reports, editing pet details, improving trait fields, and linking sightings to specific lost pet profiles. Even though some of these features may seem small on their own, they all support the larger goal of making the app more useful for pet owners and the community.

One thing that went well was that I was able to contribute to real app features, even though Swift was new to me. I had to learn how the existing codebase was organized, how the different views connected, and how the app saved and updated information through Firestore. It was rewarding to see my changes actually work in the app because it made the service project feel more practical and meaningful.

One thing I would improve is the structure and workload of the project within the course. It was difficult to balance the 25 service hours with the other assignments in this class and my art class at the same time. Since we had not been taught Swift in previous courses, learning a new programming language while also trying to contribute meaningful work was challenging. I think the experience would have been less stressful with more project checkpoints, clearer onboarding, or more time built into the course for learning the tools needed for the project.

The most impactful part of the experience was being part of something bigger than a class requirement. PawPal has the potential to support real people, real animals, and the community. That made the project feel more personal to me. I especially enjoyed the lost pet and reunion aspect because it connected directly to animal welfare and community support.

The biggest challenge I faced was working with an unfamiliar language and existing codebase. Swift and SwiftUI were new to me, so I had to spend extra time understanding how to make changes without breaking other parts of the app. I also had to work through normal development issues, like Git problems, Xcode files showing as modified, and testing features multiple times. Those parts were frustrating at times, but they helped me become more comfortable problem-solving independently.

My advice for future service learning students would be to get organized early, keep notes as they work, and ask clarifying questions before getting too far into a feature. I would also recommend taking screenshots and documenting changes throughout the project, so the final handoff is easier for the next team. Since the site partner may not be technical, it is important to explain progress in a way that focuses on what the feature does and why it matters. Most importantly, future students should remember the purpose behind the project. The work can feel overwhelming at times, but it is meaningful because it could eventually help reunite lost pets with their families.