Pre-Trip Reflections – Stephanie (Heritage)

I’m in awe of how things work, be it how society shapes us as individuals or how as individuals we shape society. I’m amazed by intercultural differences and similarities. This trip gives me the opportunity to experience Thai culture in a less commercialised way. It allows me to understand in interact with the locals and hear their story. This allows me to understand Thai social norms in a greater depth and what they mean to the individuals on the ground. Through this trip, I hope my groups finding would be able to surface pertinent topics in heritage that may benefit the people there. This may be through increased preservation of heritage sites or through educating the young about Thailand’s history. These benefits may be farfetched as they are decisions made at a policy level, however, that’s the level of impact that I hope our project has. Hopefully, this would enable me to be a more civic-minded invidual with a vision to make a difference to society. Although we have a rough idea of what we hope to research about, we have to be adaptable to the situations we face in the trip. This would help us to be more attentive to our surroundings and more creative as we would have to come up with new research question. Thus helping me to develop the characteristics of creative and understanding as a USP scholar.

Through hearing stories from my friends studying abroad, I’ve realised that every college educates it’s students different. In fact, every student receives a different education, although we may be put through the same tutorials, lectures and seminars. The college education that we receive is dependent on what we allow ourselves to. I hope that through this experience, I’ll be able to change my perspective of education from the hectically studying to eagerly learning. I came into university with a strong passion to understand the way we think and make decisions and behave as people. I was fascinated by the wealth of knowledge and the depth of understanding that awaited me. Somehow, as weeks went past and exams drew closer, I lost that passion to learn and I soon was trapped in the vicious cycle of studying for the results. This lead to my not-so-excited attitude for this semester. Hopefully, this would change. Contacting Son (our Thailand friend) before the trip brought me much joy simply because he was so keen and genuinely excited by the trip. He sounds like someone with a huge passion to learn and serve and I hope to learn much from him. I’ve heard stories about how the students in Thailand are passionate and eager to learn. Indeed we are so blessed. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to enter into a university. I’ve been blessed with an entry into a double major course. I ought to be happy, glad and excited for each new semester that begins. Through this trip, I hope to regain my passion for learning and my curiosity in understanding. Through this trip I hope that I will truly realise how much I’ve been blessed that I learn to bless others out of an outflow of my gratitude. I am blessed to be a blessing.

Personally, I hope that through this trip I would be able to get to know my batch mates better and make new friends. As someone who enjoys being immersed in new cultures and new environments, I hope to be able to make friends with the locals and get to hear their story. I hope to grow in humility and love for my fellow school mates and to learn to love them more. To realise that they have an innate value regardless of the way they live their lives, simply because they are people.

The trip is tomorrow and my heart is prepared for the adventure that awaits me.