Pre-Trip Reflections

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…we ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous, actually, who are you not to be…your playing small does not serve the world…we are born to make manifest the glory of god that is within us, it is not just in some of us; it is in all of us…and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” These are the words that are part of a quote by Marianne Williamson, words that have guided me through my teenage years and beyond. It means to believe that we all have the power to make a difference in the world, and that the only person that is limiting ourselves in this aspect is often none other than ourselves. Hence, by believing in the strength that lies within each one of us, and displaying them, we would also allow others to discover and unleash their potential, forging a world with greater fulfillment.

To me, that is the crux of being a USP scholar; the programme is designed to let us examine life and humanities in a more intimate way, to form human and spiritual connections and to shake off the self-imposed shackles that we often place on ourselves, by leading us to believe that we do have the strength to move the world one day. And that is only possible through the school’s empowerment, not just financially, but also by providing opportunities, rigorous academic training, and also simply by believing in the scholars’ potential.  I believe there is empowerment there in itself.

The upcoming Chiang Mai trip is no exception to this.  I am immensely thankful for the opportunity to be able to go on this research fieldtrip, as it is an experience that I doubt I would ever have a chance to go through in my course (ACBS) under normal circumstances. While I have been overseas more than a couple of times, it has mostly been for leisure purposes. But to be able to go to a foreign land, and study a humanitarian issue (Socio-economic Impact of Chinese Tourists on the livelihoods and physical landscape of Thailand in my case) up close and personal, it would definitely be a unique and eye-opening experience for me. I would definitely look forward to meeting the students of Chiang Mai University as well as interacting with the locals to find out their opinions on the subject. It would be interesting to note if their responses differs from our initial expectations, for example: whether they think that Chinese tourists have a net positive or negative impact on their society. Based on our research, Chinese tourism certainly benefits the Thais financially, but it is likely to have an overall negative social impact. So it may potentially boil down to which aspect do the Thais value more, and right now, my money is on the finance side.

Research aside, more importantly, I wish to have a greater understanding of life itself. As is the nature of Man, I believe that through human interaction, every person would consolidate information they learnt over time, examine them thoroughly, and eventually use that information to formulate their own answers to hard questions in life.  To put it in perspective, these questions can range from general ones, such as how does one approach life differently by virtue of being assigned to different stations in life, to even specific personal questions. Frankly, I do this type of reflecting all the time as well, though the answers I get may not always be the answers to the questions I seek. But such is life, I believe we would pick up random thoughts as we go through various experiences, thoughts that would eventually give rise to opinions and take form through our actions. Purposeful trips like this to Chiang Mai are especially potent, because by exploring a different field and examining the differences between other people, it highlights how my thinking, my actions or just “I” as a person would differ from others. And from this, I can draw further conclusions about others as well as myself.  In simpler terms, I hope that my thinking would be transformed by this trip, that it would make such an impact as to change the course of my life. While that may just be wishful thinking, I do believe that big or small, my life would be impacted in some ways by this trip at the very least.

While I would definitely look forward to the usual great food, great sceneries and interesting chance encounters that accompany most overseas trips, I guess my take on this trip is a little more introspective, or perhaps even a little abstract at this point in time. While I do hope as much that the research outcome would be successful, I hope that I would also be able to take away a little something that I can stow away for the rest of my life: Answers to questions that I may yet seek, and memories to be made that I can keep.