Pre-Trip Relfection!

Carpe Diem. Or more simply put – You Only Live Once.

I love traveling. Like a caged bird that yearns for the clear blue skies, traveling has been liberating and even therapeutic for me. Observing local culture, learning about the traditions and history that each place offers, and interacting with the locals – It continues to fascinate and delight me to no end to learn about the wonders of the world.

As such, I am exhilarated to be a part of the Chiang Mai Study trip. Not only does it give me a chance to broaden my horizons, it also allows me to bond and have this precious experience with my fellow USP peers.

We did not have many chances to bond together as a batch before, and I really hope that this trip will create many wonderful and memorable experiences that we can all share. After all, we will be together for 7 days!

As scholars, we often run the risk of being seen as elitist as well as being disconnected with reality. I believe that this overseas trip really helps us to witness first-hand how other societies work and function. Instead of just reading and absorbing information from the notes or slides, we get the opportunity to personally see it ourselves.

I strongly believe that we should be able to put ourselves in other people’s shoes, to understand the perspectives of different factions. Singapore is truly a very safe environment, and I honestly feel very blessed to be living in such an environment. It is therefore easy to be lured into a false sense of security, tricked into thinking that the world behaves and functions like Singapore.

In reality, many of the world problems are multi-faceted and require a long term problem that tackles the root cause of the problem. Thus, I hope that this overseas trip really helps us to get a glimpse of the bigger picture that is happening in the outside world.

This trip also allows me to learn more about Thai culture, which is something that I am pretty much unfamiliar with. To me, it is intriguing to learn about how their way of life, as it represents their way of thinking. I honestly find that it is incredible that different groups of people living all around the world can produce such vastly different customs and traditions.

My sub-group is doing on the cause and impact of tobacco usage in Chiang Mai, which I personally believe that is an eye-opening and exciting opportunity. While I do not smoke, I hope that this would allow me to understand why people in other countries smoke and to learn about how the government there is trying to curb this problem.

As a Communications Studies student, I believe that learning about such different contexts will give me valuable insight and understanding of different cultures. This is important in news gathering and storytelling, which I do not want to unintentionally commit an embarrassing social faux pas. Most importantly, this also allows me to understand the different viewpoints people have and to put things into perspective. This overseas trip also gives me a chance to practice my videography skills, as well as to put what I learnt in my first semester into action.

At the end of the day, I personally wish to make the most out of this trip and enjoy myself too. Being able to travel outside of Singapore is already a blessing to me, and I really want to treasure and relish this opportunity. Life’s too short and I want to live in the moment.

After all, you only live once!