Pre-Trip Projections

This trip will also allow me to gain a better appreciation of other cultures, and better develop skills in cross cultural communication. The internet is a treasure trove regarding such information. Nothing, however, triumphs personal interaction with locals and students. I believe I will gain more in-depth insight about the lifestyle of the Thai people, and better mindfulness of little subtleties in communication such as gestures. Moreover, I will have the opportunity to gain fresh perspectives on the aspirations and dreams of people that come from a different background. I believe this will broaden my horizons and will perhaps enable me to examine life from another perspective, and hone my decision making skills for major life decisions.

The main aim of college is to prepare us for the workforce. We will encounter challenges in this globalized age where we have to work in tandem with others from a different culture. By having an increased understanding of other cultures, we can show better tolerance and appreciation. This helps to mitigate conflict due to miscommunication on a cultural level. One example is that of finger gestures. A gesture of goodwill in one culture (like a thumbs up) may have an entirely different meaning in another (and might even have offensive overtones). Awareness of these differences in body language will allow us to cause less misunderstanding in the workplace.

Personally, I think this trip allows me to forge better bonds with my USP peers and deepen relationships with them. It is a precious opportunity for us to better know one another through fun and meaningful activities!

Furthermore, I believe that the mindset and changes in attitude approaching this trip will enable me to develop a greater sense of gratitude for my own surroundings back in Singapore. Usually, we proceed to a lesser developed country for travel with the intention of exploration and relaxation. Our mind then intuitively places more emphasis on fulfilling these desires, and pays less attention to less salient things such as the people and how they lead their lives. This nature of the trip (fieldwork and documentation), on the other hand, primes our minds to focus on the behaviours of the locals, their lifestyles, and our surroundings. I believe that this increased conscious awareness will allow me pick out nuances and subtleties that I might not have observed before during my travels, and will lead me to better appreciate the little perks that we have in Singapore that are overlooked and taken for granted. I hope that through this experience I will develop better fondness and willingness to protect what I have back in Singapore.

Regarding character development, it is my natural inclination to want to stay within my comfort zone and feel safe by having as much control of situations as I possibly can. This trip thus gives me the precious opportunity for me to learn to be flexible to adapt to an environment and situations where there will be many factors that will be out of my control. It will allow me to learn to let go and deal with uncertainty on a smaller and safer scale. Lessons learnt here would help me significantly to deal with the greater uncertainties in life~