Pre-Trip Projections

Overseas should be a scary notion; it means stepping out into a different culture that sees and understands things from a completely different perspective. Your views may not be aligned, and your customs may be their taboos. Yet, with overseas vacations becoming nothing more than yearly affairs and opportunities for overseas community service projects abound, travelling has become almost a necessity rather than a luxury. But why has the prospect of stepping out into a whole different environment become so unfrightening? Maybe it’s because we never really need to understand them on such a deep level to be concerned.

Research work can be particularly sensitive – no matter which topic we are researching, it involves prodding and prying into the lives of the locals. This means having to be aware of their culture and feelings whilst remaining objective, being sensitive in collecting data and conducting interviews. This trip will thus test our inquiry skills and allow us to better understand how research should be conducted. For example, one of the first lessons I have already learned is how to frame questions – having to be conscious of the way we phrased our interview and survey questions to avoid offending our participants, but still obtain objective, unbiased views.

As many others purport, I don’t believe learning should be confined to a classroom. Rather than being taught the theory of doing research work, TOPS allows us to “learn on the job”; make mistakes along the way and learn from them. It is not a conventional course in school, as it pushes us to put ourselves out there to do research, and also present our findings in a comprehensible manner.

Initially, I had been apprehensive about having to commit myself to research on the topic of Sustainability as I had no interest in it – my interests had always lain in Tourism. However, the deeper we delved into the topic, the more I discovered the pertinence of the issue and it began to lie close to my heart. We often neglect the consequences of our actions, and the resulting torture of elephants to pander to the fleeting desires of uninformed tourists is a prime example of this. Locals are focused on earning a livelihood while tourists are concerned with having unique experiences, and there is nothing wrong with either mind-sets. However, the methods of achieving these objectives need to change if it culminates in the misery of another being – the elephants. And this is precisely the kind of awareness we want to raise with our project. We may not be able to effect significant change, but any step is a step forward, no matter how small. Going into this project with such a mind-set, I am definitely excited for what’s to come!

I believe that this trip will be an excellent opportunity to become more open to experiences and communicating with others of a different language and background, especially as we will be conducting street surveys and interviews. This will not only lend useful when I go on exchange, but also in the future as I hope to work overseas. Having to work on a media deliverable is also something I have never done before and this opportunity will allow me to explore other forms of presenting information in the future, rather than simply report writing.

As much as I’d love to proclaim – “how many other people can say they’ve had the opportunity to do overseas research work?” – it is also my responsibility to make sure that this trip is as meaningful and fulfilling as it sounds, by being open and unafraid to try new experiences. For an introverted individual like myself who enjoys living in her comfort zone, this would certainly be a challenge. But this is what university life and USP is about, isn’t it? It’s about daring to be different; stumbling but learning to pick yourself up. And perhaps just as importantly, I hope to be able to forge stronger bonds with the rest of the USP cohort as they are the ones whom I will spend the next two and a half years of my university life with. Besides, going overseas and doing new things should always be about having fun too!