This week at the UBC Learning Exchange, I participated in fun and engaging activities. The first event was called Summer Connect. Summer Connect was taking place at the Union Gospel Mission at Hastings, Vancouver. There were many information booths set up for local residents to get the help they might perhaps need. One of my tasks was to ask local residents to fill out a speech bubble of what they enjoyed, what they think the downtown eastside needs, or what the Summer Connect should have next year. A lot of the local residents said they would like to see more housing, more enforcement of the law, and clean streets (more garbage bins). What stood out to me the most about this event was when I was talking to two gentlemen who live in the downtown eastside. They said they come from third world countries and living there was harder, because they wouldn’t have services offer to them. They wouldn’t know where to find a place to sleep, eat or use the Internet. What surprised me the most of what these two gentlemen said was the people of the downtown eastside should appreciate these services and not to take it for granted, they know what hard life is like. Moreover, they said these services allow people to stay dependent on them, which make it harder for people to leave the eastside of Vancouver. I learned a lot from this event and I appreciated people sharing their stories with me. Another activity that I took part in was being the facilitator for an ESL class of level 3. It was a small group of people and I helped them understood what the Internet is. I made connections of my own personal experiences using the Internet, which made them feel comfortable. They never used a computer before, so providing them insight made them want to try the beginner’s class of how to use a computer. I felt accomplished that they took another interest at the Learning Exchange. Last activity of the week was the Indigenous Art weaving project. This activity puts you in “Zen mode” its relaxing and fun to do. I never thought I would learn how to weave, which was really interesting. I was even the first one to finish (haha). Overall, I continued to create lesson plans, help organize the Legal Access Forum, which takes place this Wednesday June 24 at 9:30am, and communicating with people. I learned that if I’m bringing connections from my personal life that it helps people want to connect and feel comfortable sharing their stories with me or to others.