Wassan Nasreddin, Grade 12
UWC Li Po Chun
Life at UWC can be quite hectic and difficult to manage, with the academics, extracurriculars, cultural events, in addition to socializing and keeping in touch with home. The key, however, is to follow your passions. By choosing to do what is truly meaningful to you, it becomes much easier to cope with the overwhelming schedule you have at a UWC.
At my school, there is a wide range of activities to choose from, which made it a bit hard for me to decide what I wanted to do. Being a strong believer in the power of education, though, I knew I wanted to put that belief into practice. So, I joined a service activity that aimed to help local students in Hong Kong improve their English. The goal was to have one weekly session, in which we would carry out several interactive activities that we had organized.
Before our first session, I remember being slightly nervous, because I knew we would have a big group of people whom we had to talk to, and that they would be around our age. How would we ensure they listened to us? However, despite my fears, it went quite well. We kicked off our session with a brief introduction and a few ice-breaking games. We then shared a presentation about diversity with them, followed by two more activities to help them reflect on the topic. The following sessions had a similar structure, with a different focus every week, which was often related to one of the UWC values.
I admit that it was challenging at times. Our sessions always took place after a long school day. The students were often exhausted, and they wouldn’t always pay attention to us. Additionally, communication wasn’t easy. Some of them didn’t have sufficient English proficiency to interact with us, and those who did were often too shy to use them. Sometimes, a few would act disrespectfully and would refuse to even enter the class. In response, we would try different techniques to deal with these challenges. For instance, we used certain hand gestures to communicate, to avoid having to raise our voices or yell. We tried to talk to them before the session started, which proved to be effective, as they seemed to develop a more personal connection with us that way and would, therefore, treat us more respectfully.
As I reflect on the experience, I realize how much I’ve learned along the way. In the beginning, I was a bit discouraged. I knew it was unrealistic to think that one session per week would be enough to teach them and achieve lasting results. But I later realized that these experiences were more about what I would gain from them than what I’d be offering to others. This experience helped me bond with amazing people from my school, whom I deeply respect. We managed to work cooperatively, gained new organizational skills, and had the chance to use our creativity in coming up with new ideas for the sessions and the activities we organized. Moreover, being part of this initiative allowed me to be directly engaged in the community and helped me learn more about Hong Kong by interacting with the local students. It also helped me enhance my communication skills and learn how to be more patient.
All in all, I’m glad I had the chance to be part of this initiative. It taught me a lot, and I found it quite meaningful. While I hope I’ll do more impactful services in the future, I learned to acknowledge how much value small-scale services can hold, and I look forward to doing more of them in my next year at UWC.
At my school, there is a wide range of activities to choose from, which made it a bit hard for me to decide what I wanted to do. Being a strong believer in the power of education, though, I knew I wanted to put that belief into practice. So, I joined a service activity that aimed to help local students in Hong Kong improve their English. The goal was to have one weekly session, in which we would carry out several interactive activities that we had organized.
Before our first session, I remember being slightly nervous, because I knew we would have a big group of people whom we had to talk to, and that they would be around our age. How would we ensure they listened to us? However, despite my fears, it went quite well. We kicked off our session with a brief introduction and a few ice-breaking games. We then shared a presentation about diversity with them, followed by two more activities to help them reflect on the topic. The following sessions had a similar structure, with a different focus every week, which was often related to one of the UWC values.
I admit that it was challenging at times. Our sessions always took place after a long school day. The students were often exhausted, and they wouldn’t always pay attention to us. Additionally, communication wasn’t easy. Some of them didn’t have sufficient English proficiency to interact with us, and those who did were often too shy to use them. Sometimes, a few would act disrespectfully and would refuse to even enter the class. In response, we would try different techniques to deal with these challenges. For instance, we used certain hand gestures to communicate, to avoid having to raise our voices or yell. We tried to talk to them before the session started, which proved to be effective, as they seemed to develop a more personal connection with us that way and would, therefore, treat us more respectfully.
As I reflect on the experience, I realize how much I’ve learned along the way. In the beginning, I was a bit discouraged. I knew it was unrealistic to think that one session per week would be enough to teach them and achieve lasting results. But I later realized that these experiences were more about what I would gain from them than what I’d be offering to others. This experience helped me bond with amazing people from my school, whom I deeply respect. We managed to work cooperatively, gained new organizational skills, and had the chance to use our creativity in coming up with new ideas for the sessions and the activities we organized. Moreover, being part of this initiative allowed me to be directly engaged in the community and helped me learn more about Hong Kong by interacting with the local students. It also helped me enhance my communication skills and learn how to be more patient.
All in all, I’m glad I had the chance to be part of this initiative. It taught me a lot, and I found it quite meaningful. While I hope I’ll do more impactful services in the future, I learned to acknowledge how much value small-scale services can hold, and I look forward to doing more of them in my next year at UWC.
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