In the body of literature that situates service-learning within social justice or critical pedagogy, researchers and practitioners have written about the role service-learning plays in students' journeys from privileged, dominant culture backgrounds to an understanding of the lives people lead in non-dominant communities (Arries, 1999; Camacho, 2004; Dunlap, Scroggin, Green, & Davi, 2007; Kiely, 2004, 2005; Mitchell, 2008; Pompa, 2002; Rockquemore & Schaffer, 2000). Researchers have also tackled the thorny topic of service-learning's role in reinforcing students' hierarchical perceptions and attitudes toward non-dominant partner communities (Boyle-Baise & Kilbane, 2000; Eby, 1998; Morton, 1995; Pompa). Furthermore, with critical service-learning students examine social constructs that create inequalities while encouraging them to accept responsibility for implementing social justice-oriented change (Mitchell, 2008). However, I suggest that similar critical examination of faculty's own practices as service-learning practitioners is equally important, so as to constantly monitor our own attitudes and behaviors, which students and community participants may regard as models for their own interactions. Therefore, in this paper I document my own transformative journey, exploring my role as the instructor of an academic course for Spanish and education students, Crossing the Border through Service-Learning (CTB). As the person who designed and implemented the course that brought students in contact with a hitherto unfamiliar population, I realized I was unconsciously creating social hierarchy and patronization through a workday each semester when university students delivered material goods to partner families while meeting each other for the first time. My situation was particularly perilous since I had gained insider-outsider status in the immigrant community by collaborating and serving in various capacities for more than 30 years, always secure in the assumption I had figured out my role in the Spanish-speaking community, with the accompanying supposition that my actions were good for all concerned, students and families alike. Background I initially designed CTB to partner university students with immigrant women for whom I had been serving as interpreter at prenatal and family planning clinics at the Health Department for two and a half years. I often spent hours with the women in clinic waiting rooms, and we had become friends. Consequently, they began to request my aid as a cultural mediator and interpreter in other venues, often asking if I knew where they could obtain clothing and furniture for themselves and for other family members immigrating to join them. I continually solicited items from my university colleagues, church members, and various friends and acquaintances to honor their requests for assistance. Because time did not permit me to keep up with their requests for assistance, I decided to involve my Spanish students in the endeavor, responding to their interest in meeting and interacting with the families about whom I spoke in class. CTB resulted, offering a setting for reciprocal opportunities for the women to learn to speak English and navigate in a new culture, and for students to practice spoken Spanish and experience Mexican and Honduran cultures. In addition to their academic readings, class discussions, and journaling about Spanish-speaking immigrants in the United States, the students spent 50 hours per semester in the home of partner families. During their time with the families, the students concentrated on helping the women develop the ability to navigate in a new culture. They practiced English with the family, tutored school-age children, made phone calls to obtain information or appointments, provided transportation, interpreted when sufficiently proficient, and generally responded to requests made by families. In turn, the families enjoyed helping students practice Spanish and learn their customs, often over a meal or while watching television. …