|
|
Chung, Wei An (鍾惟安)
This amazing opportunity struck me like never before. Little did I know that I have so much tear in me and how precious these kids are. This journey has taught me so much and it is definitely a life-changing experience for me. It all started from being assigned to the Squirrel Class (Advance) with my amazing partner, Lynn and our awesome assistive teacher, Iris. During the first week, we came up with classroom rules and got to know the kids a lot more than just strange faces. Most of them are really good, but a few have been troublesome since the first day. Throughout this teaching experience I think what I gained the most was independence, leadership, and being loving. Each one of my kids were special in their own way and I am so glad that I was able to be a part of their long, successful lives.
The first week of training was expected. Lots of friend making, group training, and most importantly, rules. It was so strict that even my posture contributed to demerit deducting! But at the same time, I learned different ways to teach and to keep my lessons fun and interesting. I was becoming very nervous throughout the week of training because I realized that we will not be given any assistance while teaching. I was also informed that the kids will be crazy and loving. On the last day of training, we said goodbye to our roommates and the typhoon hit. I was given another day to settle down my emotions and really prepare for the next 2 weeks.
….And this is where this amazing journey began. On Saturday, we arrived at He-Ping Elementary School through a very narrow and steep hill. We were filmed by the principal’s sons and little did I know, they were younger than us! The military service men then came out and greeted us, and their names I will never forget, Roy and Jimmy. Throughout these 2 weeks, they took us everywhere and took care of us in every way possible. The principal and Ms. Lee were also awesome for assisting us every evening with our concerns and planning fun things for us during our free time.
While I was teaching, my partner and I stayed up until midnight each night to plan our lessons plans for the next day and we barely got any sleep. I was so afraid that we will not be able to teach these kids as well as we were prepared for, but I think we did well. All the hard works we put into the lessons worthed every minute because seeing these kids enjoying our lessons made anything bearable. So, just like this, we became really close to Roy, Jimmy, the awesome people at the school, our own team (A1-3), and especially the kids. During the closing ceremony on Friday, we all broke down and cried...on stage!!! 2 of our most troublesome kids also cried though they didn’t want us to know. The emotions from the last 2 weeks were flooding into my head and just thinking about leaving brought tears to my eyes. The kids were just too precious and adorable, if I ever get the chance to teach English to any kid in remote schools I would do it again, I will also follow up with my kids to watch them grow up into successful people because they will always be an important piece to my life.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cigas, Sarah (辛書樂)
I am so glad I decided to volunteer for this program. During the teaching weeks, I was able to not only help the students learn English, but I was also able to form friendships with them. Since the students were eager to learn, we were able to have fun and play games. At the beginning, we had a few rough days since we were still inexperienced teachers. However, as the days went on, we learned from our mistakes and were able to improve our teaching methods. By the end of the two teaching weeks, I was really sad to leave. Leaving the kids and all the people from the school was hard since they had all been so kind and welcoming. Throughout this volunteer experience, I have also been able to form new friendships with the volunteers. Living with my small group allowed us to really bond and become a small family. However, I liked how during the last week we got to meet with other volunteers and make even more friends. It has also been great that we have been able to learn about and experience the Taiwanese culture. This whole experience had taught me how to be a better teacher and how to work better with others. It has been one filled with many laughs and much joy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chao, Emily (趙芷萱)
These past few weeks have been some of the most eye opening, memorable weeks of my life. I'm extremely glad that I took part in this program. I loved meeting new people, making close friends from all over the country (and the world), and making a difference in the kids' lives.
It was exciting to meet all the different people in this program. I loved taking to new people and learning about them. In fact, the thing I'm most grateful for joining this program is meeting my group. We grew so close in such a short amount of time and I honestly can't imagine not knowing them. I remember us being amazed multiple times about how we felt like we'd known each other for ages, when in reality, it had only been a week. We truly became a family and I'm so glad I got to meet them.
My other favorite part of this program was the two weeks we spent at Bali Primary School teaching the kids. My partner and I taught the youngest level (7-8 year olds) and they were the cutest, sweetest students. All of them were very eager and motivated to learn English. Not only that, they loved to play games, dance, and sing songs with us. By the end of the second week, the kids not only improved the English, but also grew really close to us. It was heartbreaking to see how sad the kids were when we had to leave. I felt so touched that we impacted the kids' lives so much and it was really a life-changing experience. I will never forget these past few weeks.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|