This study examined students' encounters with and responses to poverty-based experiential learning during an undergraduate sociology class. Students' academic readings and experiencing real-life context were channeled through reflective analysis of public policy's implications. Students' writing, which had reflective and diagnostic elements, was scrutinized using qualitative content analysis methods by two trained researchers. Findings revealed deep student engagement. Feelings of empathy, solidarity, and fearing failure's inevitability emerged within students' clear, complex, text-based writing. A small sample prevented large-scale extrapolation, which was a key limitation. Practical implications included suggestions for economics, civics, and sociology instruction as well as guidance for how, when, and when not to use experiential learning.