Reflection; Aireen

When I first met my group members , I was very skeptical on whether we could make our programme a success and whether or not we could achieve our goals as team members . To summarize the plot , it was a success ! And we really did well as team members ! . The very first meeting , we decided on going to a few orphanages , we even had listed and called many orphanages but were only greeted with disappointment , but as time went by ,after many discussions and disputes we eventually came to an agreement which was selecting a high school to do a 3-day and 2-night camp that will benefit both the highschool students and us . We had practices for zumba , did housekeeping to fund the programme , did a lot of researches to make ourselves well-equipped with knowledge and confidence .Although it was hard to find perfect dates to carry out the activities , everyone finally gave in and cooperated so we finalized our dates which was from 5th of April to 7th of April 2019 at SMK Shah Alam.

Our first day ! The most exciting part when we finally got to the school and greeted warmly by all of the school staffs and participants . We went to our dorm that provided us a place to stay for two nights . Although most of us forgot our blankets and bedsheet , Mahjoube kindly shared her bedsheet with four of us and to be honest i was very overwhelmed with her kindness , from there I could tell that we could become closer not just as a team , but as friends. On the first day , i played my role as the facilitator that was in charge for the team building games and it was very fun and enjoyable ! Seeing the laughters and sharing jokes with students , i knew our priceless bond had just begun.

For the second and third day , I was in charge as the photographer and i honestly think i have found my new hobby .Some of the pictures were taken by me and I really enjoyed it . It was an indescribable feeling when you captured pictures of people smiling and enjoyed the things they were doing . The thing that I think I have achieved from Social Engagement is my enhanced communication skills and empathy . I communicated with the participants which most of them come from a background with lack of education awareness . Most of the students have very low self-esteem and thought lowly of themselves , they were uncertain of their future , most of them don’t even want to pursue tertiary education , some even feared of failures and some were very unprepared for their SPM . From there , it changed my mind and I learned to be empathetic and I knew what I had to do , I knew they needed a change , I knew they needed guidance and support and i knew i need to do something and i did and i was very proud of it .

I was very glad i helped them with my knowledge, guidance , stories , motivation and support . I know it was not very much but I was happy that I could make a change , it just gave me a different kind of satisfaction and happiness . Social engagement also has taught me how to deal with people from different wavelengths , how to communicate , how to carry out activities by ourselves , how to find money but most importantly how teamwork makes everything a success . I am not hesitant to join more programmes that will change people lives for it , also change my life . That is all from me