Pre-Trip Reflection ☺︎

Being an NTU USP scholar, I am given the privilege of having so many wonderful opportunities, and this trip to Chiang Mai is just the first of many. To be very honest, at this point in time (about 5 days before the trip), I am filled with huge bouts of anxiety and hesitation, and numerous doubts about what to expect from the trip. However, as a USP student, I am very excited to learn about other cultures and their different practices. Some of the things that really stood out to me as I stopped to think about our USP mission were – how we should all aim to be sensitive and aware of other peoples cultures through all this exposure we are given and hence fully appreciate and embrace the differences in all of us,  and also to develop effective personal, interpersonal and social skills that I feel are absolutely invaluable. Having gone on various school and mission trips over the past few years, there is one thing I do regret, and that is that I had let the language barrier stand between me and the ultimate experience of the trip. Because of my hesitance, language barriers and sometimes shyness, I did not reach out to the people I was interacting as much as I could have, and then greatly reduced the impact of the entire experience that I received.

By the end of this trip, I really hope that as a NTU USP scholar, I will be more aware of the different cultures around me, and not be stuck in my own little bubble as most of us are. I also hope to be more outspoken and take more initiative in my own learning via the tasks we have to undertake. I also hope to be able to change my way of approaching problems as I tend to give up really easily when I cannot seem to find a solution –  hence I hope to be more resilient in the area of problems solving, and hopefully be able to find more creative approaches as compared to my usual “tried and tested” style of problem solving.

This trip will definitely enhance my college experience and my overall “life” experience because it is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have never been to Chiang Mai before and I am confident that this if going to be an extremely fulfilling experience as long as my mind and heart are open to whatever comes my way. This fun and innovative style of “overseas class” is one of the first ones I am taking, because previously all my school trips were mainly for mission trips, hence none of them were the academic/educational sort. This will definitely make my college experience so much more unique and memorable.

Personally, I have not made many friends among the USP students or in NTU in general because I did not go for the camps and found it hard to talk to everyone who mostly know each other already. Therefore, I hope to be more outgoing and make more friends during this trip. I also hope that all this hesitance and fear will disappear by the end of the trip and turn into fun and enjoyment 🙂