Monthly Archives: April 2017

For my Trek placement I worked at Kickstand Bike co-op in East Vancouver. Kickstand opens its doors to anyone who wants to work on their bike. They provide a supportive workspace, equipped with tools, parts, instruction and support. They want to get everyone who comes through their doors on a bicycle.

The underlying social issues that a community bike shop like Kickstand helps to address are not as obvious as with social services like tutoring, mentoring, food distribution and family support. When you tutor someone, you give academic support they may not get at school or at home. When you mentor someone, you provide a role model where there may be none. When you provide a meal, you feed someone who didn’t have the means to feed themselves, at least for that day.

Volunteering at Kickstand opened me up to understanding some of the more implicit functions of community bike shops. Their goal of increasing the number of people riding bicycles is conducive to building social connections and a healthy society. As you ride the streets, you are exposed to the outside and engaged with your fellow citizens, your community and your city. When you drive a car or ride a bus, you are isolated inside the vehicle. You are just “passing through,” skipping by neighborhoods without making any connection. Riding a bicycle fosters a mentality that you are a part of the community, and bike shops like Kickstand facilitate those connections and foster them. Kickstand has been described as a space with a “living room quality.”

While Kickstand’s explicit purpose is to give people a space equipped with all the resources they need to fix or maintain their bicycles, one of its implicit goals is to provide a safe, community space. Anyone can come to the shop for any reason. No one has to pay to be in the shop. You can come in, have a conversation, relax, and just see what’s going on.

I think Kickstand is doing great things for the Commercial Drive community, but money, as with many small non-profit organizations, is a problem. With a larger budget I think they could reach even more people. Visibility and awareness seem to be a challenge for them. The shop is in a basement at the end of Commercial Drive, before it crosses East Hastings. It is a shame that I had never heard of the shop prior to my placement, because it has a lot to offer.

Bike shops like Kickstand are not the only solution to Vancouver’s poverty problem, but they are definitely part of the solution. I think they could do a lot to strengthen community ties across class groups, promote equal participation by residents, and support the city’s efforts to increase bicycle use in its attempts to become the world’s greenest city.

Regardless of whether you decide to sign up for trek or decide to work at Kickstand, if you need a used bike for the school year check them out!

Hi, my name’s Maria and for my first year at UBC I chose to join the Trek program. I can definitely say that it has caused me to have a much more engaged and rewarding first year at UBC. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I would personally recommend it for anyone who is new to Vancouver or even someone who commutes to school, like me, because it can be nice to explore different environments once in a while.

To start off I’ll give you some background information on my placement.

I volunteered with Frontier College, who are a Canadian based literature organisation. Through them, I was placed at Morley Elementary in South Burnaby to help out with their program called Discovery Club. My job was to engage with the kids and help them with their homework, and occasionally (if the weather was nice enough) we would go outside and play on the playground. I chose this placement because I had some background knowledge on how to interact with children through my years in tutoring, so I felt fairly confident going into the program. What I quickly came to learn is that I had never really been in a position of authority, I was always working under someone else. Trek in this sense helped me to gain a sense of responsibility because I was now partly in charge of a group of around ten children who were looking for me to help them and organise activities for them.

I also chose Morely Elementary because it was fairly easy for me to get to. I knew my first year was going to be tough, from adjusting to a new environment to the piles of reading I had to do, I wanted this to be as easy for me to get to as possible. I got lucky in this sense because the school was in a neighbourhood very close to my own. Working in a community that seemed pretty similar on the outside to my own is where I learned a second lesson: you have to dig deep to understand the full story. The longer I spent there the more I understood how important the work I was doing there was. My volunteer supervisor once explained to me that Morley is in a “high needs and low serve” community. This is where many of the sociological concepts that we had been learning in class really kind of clicked for me, concepts which included social mobility, gentrification, schooling and social class. Many of the children at Morley came from immigrant or refugee families. This means that there might be a language barrier between the families and the material that the children were reading, so when I was helping them with their homework I came to realise the importance behind my work. Helping them with their homework made it so that when they got home their work would be done, this meant that maybe the parents didn’t have to struggle with the language barrier, or if the child was home alone for an extended period of time and they had a homework related question it would get solved at Discovery Club. All the tasks we were doing were designed for the kids to get help if they needed it. The meals that we were providing for them were there because there was a chance that there wouldn’t be one when they got home. Us teaching the kids how to cook easy meals at home that didn’t require the use of a stove or anything more complicated than a toaster oven was put in place because they kids needed these skills. This put into perspective my position in my community but also what it meant for me to be attending UBC.

The biggest lesson I learned from Trek was that I don’t want my time at UBC to be wasted, that at the end of my 4-5 years I want the years to not only have been memorable but I also want to have made some contribution to the communities outside of UBC. Trek inspired me to look at careers where I can help others, that school isn’t just about getting a financially stable job it’s also about using the advantage I was given to help promote positive change. I still don’t know the specific career I will choose, but at least I have some newly found sense of direction.

Finally, I want to leave you with some answers to the questions I had when I was in your position.

1. What requires me to do the most amount of work, Trek or Discussion?

They both require the same amount of work, it’s just in different forms. Discussions, in my opinion, are based more on written work, like papers, and of course in class participation.

Whereas Trek required from me more time and dedication. What I mean is it meant that I had to be at my placement every week for about an hour and a half and then I got to go home. This was easy for me because I lived nearby, but if you live on campus you have to take into consideration what the route looks like in the middle of winter when it’s dark outside. Trek also had group dinners that you have to attend twice, they’re not incredibly exciting but you get free food. You get to meet with Professor Greer and your Trek classmates a couple times per month to discuss the program, they were a little intimidating at first but once you get comfortable they’re pretty cool. Finally, you have to write Trek reflections, which are based on your experiences.

2. Will I be missing out on any learning experiences if I’m not in Discussion?

To be honest I don’t think you will be. This is because help is available in a variety of ways in the CAP Program. You have your CAP peer mentors who hold group study sessions before tests, and professor Greer is available during her office hours she’s quite welcoming and I’m more than certain that she can answer any questions you have.

Trek also puts the terms and concepts you’re learning in sociology into perspective. There’s nothing more educational in my opinion than learning from hand on experience. Getting out there in the field is what’s all about.

3. Will I learn how to write university level research papers, if I choose Trek?

You will learn how to write research papers in ASTU no matter what, so no worries.

4. What happens if I choose Trek and then I realise that it’s not for me?

At the beginning of the year, you will have the chance to see how discussion works because you have to attend the first two discussion classes and write a small paper for it. After that, you have to make a decision.

5. Will I be spreading myself too thin if I do Trek and I have to commute to UBC?

this was one of my concerns because my commute to UBC averages 3 hours a day. It was not pretty, but I got a lot of reading and sleeping done. If you choose your location wisely then I think it should be fine. If you choose a placement that is either close to where you live or just easy to get to by bus then it should work out. Plus a major pro for Trek is that you’re not just going to school and then home, there’s a lot of chances to be independent in volunteering. As well as exploring new communities is always very educational and interesting.

Anyways, I hope I have answered some of the questions you have regarding Trek and your first year. I’m sure everything will go just fine whether you choose Trek or Discussion, sociology is an incredibly interesting course and you’ll have fun either way!

What is ASA/ What is its Role in the Community?

The After School Adventures program, located at the Strathcona Community Centre, provides a safe environment for children from ages five to twelve to attend after class. Being a community part of the Downtown Eastside, Strathcona faces various challenges of housing, alcohol and substance abuse, unemployment and development pressures. Majority of the residents are low-income, resulting in a problem of eviction, as well as community shelters turning away people due to their limited capacity. Living in Vancouver, one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world, this issue also contributes to the rise of others, especially regarding child poverty.

The 2015 Child Poverty Report Card States that the highest number of child poverty rates are situated in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, with of rate of seventy-percent. As a result, ASA not only provides parents a resource to watch their children when they cannot, giving a space for at-risk children to go afterschool, but it also provides the children a healthy and safe environment to explore different activities, and consequently promoting self-growth. The program balances healthy eating, with physical activity, as well indoor crafts ranging from crayon art to literature. In addition to providing the support that some children may lack, the ASA also provides healthy snack options that for some children may be their only meal of the day.

Source: “Lord Strathcona School” Wikimedia Commons. 2012. Web 20 Apr. 2017. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lord_Strathcona_School_02.JPG

A Day at ASA

3:00pm – 6:00pm

The children are divided by age. The primary children are grouped into two groups – ages five to six together, and ages seven to nine together – while the intermediate children are grouped ages nine to twelve together. The day starts off at 3:00pm with an afternoon snack prepared by the staff. As a volunteer, your main role is to assist the staff in giving out food, or keeping the younger children in their seats during snack time. After snacks, the rest of the time is dedicated to playing with the children, whether it be indoor crafts, taking them to open gym hours, or playing outside on the playground! You really have the freedom to do whatever activity you wish to do, although it definitely gets overwhelming at times to manage and allocate your attention to multiple kids .

On your first volunteer day, if you can, it would help to go a little bit earlier to familiarize yourself with the space, as well as get to know the staff a bit. Unfortunately I was not able to come earlier, and seeing it was the Halloween weekend, I was thrown into the mix of children going to the gym for the Halloween Fair. Trying to befriend the children was definitely a scary experience, and if you feel that it becomes too much, my advice is to ask a staff to introduce you to someone – trust me, once you really get to know one, it becomes a lot easier to go about the activities, meet the other children, and really get involved in the program.

My Experience

Being a Trek participant has definitely been an extremely rewarding experience. It has allowed me to expand my viewpoints and understanding of the community around me. Being from around Vancouver, and having volunteered in various programs and organizations around the city, I would undeniably say that Trek has allowed to me further understand the social issues that plague the city in and interactive way, one that has ultimately lead to many connections, to both the staff as well as the children, that I am extremely grateful for.

Getting to know the staff, and the running of the program was one of the most eye-opening experiences for me this year. One of the organizers for the program talked about both the positives and negatives of running under a neoliberal government – a concept that will be heavily covered in Sociology 100 with Dr. Kerry Greer, and one personally, I did not have a real grasp on its outcomes and impact in the society until I was integrated into the Trek Program. It was interesting to see the issues that she talked about, such as that even with subsidization and government funding “the ASA program still continues to run at a deficit”. This lack of funding is evident in the various makeshift and run-down equipment throughout the center.

Furthermore, this also leads to a larger staff per child ratio. Often times, especially when the staff is busy, and you are the only one around to really engage with the children, you’ll find that multiple children will be fighting for your attention. I found that during these times it is very difficult to allocate my time so that each child feels that they are getting the attention that they deserve (if a child does start crying, my recommendation: distractions, distractions, distractions!)

Children also love building forts! (and crawling into any small space that they should not)

So although you may feel at times that you are doing nothing, and that your presence can easily be replaced, trust me when I say the connections that you make with the children, and the feeling that you get when they run up to you in uncontrollable excitement, is indescribable.

Things to Consider

This placement, however, is one of the longer placements, especially with the added in commute time. The program runs from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, which means if you are commuting from UBC, realistically you will have to dedicate an hour each way for bus time, making it a 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm dedication. My recommendation is to schedule your placement on a Friday, making it less stressful that having a five-hour commitment in the middle of the week when other assignments may be due the next day.

I would also recommending eating a bit before your shift, especially if you had class in the morning, or a really long week, and all you want to do is sleep after your last class on a Friday afternoon. It definitely gives you more energy through the shift, and more energy to focus on the children (especially when it is their snack time!)

Also, during the winter, wait for the bus downtown can be frustrating, especially when full buses go by you. I would highly recommend dressing extremely warm for the weather! Layers upon layers, gloves and scarves!

Overall I highly recommend the Trek program! Don’t be scared of losing the opportunity to write a research paper (trust me, there will plenty more to come!). Get out, learn, and explore the city!

All the best!

Maya

Works Referenced

First Call BC. “Child Poverty in Metro Vancouver” Fact Sheet. Family Service Toronto. Toronto. N.p., 2017. Web. 2 Apr. 2017.

Hi Everyone

Coming to UBC, I was pretty much lost, unsure of everything. Having lived in Hong Kong for the past 15 or so years, I had no idea what Vancouver was like, despite being born there. I had no idea what UBC offered in terms of opportunities. I wasn’t even sure what I was signing up for in the courses that I was about to take this year, such as sociology, geography, and ASTU. The name of the stream I was in under the Coordinated Arts Program (CAP) was a mystery to me: What does it mean to be a global citizen? What do the things that I learn in sociology have to do with being a global citizen?

In sociology discussions, one could either choose to work on papers and assignments, or choose to go out and volunteer, through the UBC TREK program under the Centre for Community Engaged Learning, and to submit reflections based on their experiences in their placements, positions where volunteers help in the operation of a group or organization in what they do. I chose to volunteer, through UBC TREK, in Beauty Night, which aims to help vulnerable women and other people living in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. To be honest, I first decided to take the TREK route because I didn’t want to face the daunting prospect of more papers and assignments, given that I was already taking six courses in the first term (which I really do not recommend you do), but in the end, I found volunteering through TREK a very inspirational and educational experience that enabled me to understand more about communities and my direction and commitment.

To me, joining Beauty Night has been an eye-opening experience in itself. Very often than not, we remain constricted by our perceptions of gender, and gender stereotypes. Not only was I breaking the gender barrier by having my placement in Beauty Night, an organization which was classified as a female-only organization by UBC TREK, but I was also breaking barriers by breaking gender stereotypes, applying manicures, pedicures, or massages, tasks which have usually been associated with females.

My experience in UBC TREK, in Beauty Night, allowed me to not only greatly understand the Vancouver community that UBC is part of, but also identify some of the sociological problems associated with it. Throughout my placement with Beauty Night, I was able to visit a variety of shelters in the Downtown Eastside, not only helping vulnerable women who have been victims of sexual abuse, but also aboriginal people, and people suffering from mental illnesses. Working with Beauty Night and understanding these population minorities is crucial because their presence in the Downtown Eastside, and in the shelters that we visit, more often than not have a lot to do with the lack of resources dedicated to aboriginal people, the release of mentally ill people into society due to the decrease of resources and closing down of asylums devoted to mentally ill people as a result of neoliberalism, where mentally ill people were no longer treated as patients but as criminals whenever they commit crimes, where ‘administrative segregation’ is used as a solution to their behaviour. The presence of these vulnerable women in shelters also indicated the gender problems existent in society, such as the gender wage gap, and violence against women in society. Understanding the challenges faced by organizations such as Beauty Night, such as the moving out of the people they serve from the Downtown Eastside to places like Surrey, as a result of gentrification, which hampered their ability to continue reaching out to them due to the poor transport network in Surrey, also further enabled me to understand relevant sociological concepts and problems in society.

Perhaps what is more interesting is the things I have reflected upon in my experiences and the questions asked in the monthly sociology discussions in regards to my experiences at TREK, to reflect on these sociological problems from another perspective: what are the reasons for the existence of volunteering and organizations in the Downtown Eastside, if the social system had been perfect and capable of catering to the needs of the people we help in the Downtown Eastside? Are a lot of the services we provide as volunteers in the UBC TREK program, such as tutoring children, and helping vulnerable women, supposed to be jobs that should receive pay? Is the reason why a lot of organizations and NGOs exist because the government ‘contracted’ the task of handling the needy, in a way through neoliberalism? How are these organizations funded, and would donors actually have a motive behind the funding of these organizations? On the other hand, in my experiences in TREK, I have gained valuable experience not only through serving vulnerable women, but also by listening to the stories and experiences behind every women I help while doing things like foot massages to them. Such activities have allowed space for conversation, and without that, I wouldn’t have learnt about the amazing lives behind a lot of those women, with some who had lives as models, or who had children leading lives in the music industry. Such things increase my understanding of the people that I serve, increases communication and helps build relationships, but most importantly, also helps me reduce the dehumanization prevalent in society towards people in the Downtown Eastside, through understanding and conversation, something, which I believe, is important as a Global Citizen, and something you will definitely continue to encounter in other courses such as ASTU. Being part of my placement in Beauty Night also allowed me to talk with other volunteers, where I have also met many people who have interesting lives, from voice actors to people who interned in the WHO, and quite a number of UBC alumni who may or may not have been part of the TREK program previously.

What is more important, however, in terms of applying sociological knowledge to my work in TREK, is how the things you learn in sociology can change yourself. During one of the last lectures of sociology, professor Greer talked about what we can do to change the world, to resolve the issues brought up in so many of our previous lectures. More often than not, a lot of people together become bystanders, and do nothing in the face of need. To solve this ‘bystander effect’, individuals have to make a difference and persuade other people to help through their actions.

At the end of the day, one of the best ways to bring change, is to be active in encouraging others to act. By joining UBC TREK and being part of Beauty Night, I was able to take action and actively engage with the community, and to translate these experiences into becoming a Reading Week Leader in the Centre for Community Engaged Learning, and in other experiences outside of campus, such as volunteering for and working with like minded candidates in the provincial elections this year, who hope to resolve the problems in the Downtown Eastside. I believe, it is with these experiences that can enable me to understand more about the society we live in, and to become a better global citizen by actively engaging in it. Don’t be discouraged by the time commitments required for volunteering, nor be daunted by the process of stepping out of your comfort zone. By volunteering, you can gain valuable experience that not only applies to sociology, but also to CAP as a whole, and also to you yourself as a person.

Good luck, and have fun in your journey through CAP and TREK!

Mathew

With the five months volunteering works, I have been worked in the drop-in program at UBC Learning Exchange. My work is to help residents to solve some problems. At the same time, I also have done different types of work to help my colleagues. Learning Exchange is an interesting volunteer position. Instead of working with children, it is chance for you to work with adults. It will definitely give you an different and wonderful experience.

Learning exchange is in the Downtown Eastside, which is an old community. This area is one of the city’s oldest area. In order to be responsible, I have to tell you that this is a community with a lot issue that you need to keep in mind. It is notorious for its open-air drug trade, sex work, and high rates of poverty, mental illness, infectious disease, and crime. So it is really a challenge for me to volunteer in this community. I have to admit that I was really scared by the first sight of this community. But I still strongly comment volunteers to work in this community. Even though it seems like dangerous and not as friendly as other place, it actually is a really good place and gives you a chance to have a look at another side of life.

I was working in the dropping-in program. Drop-in program is a program that allow residents of this community to have a access to internet and have a chance to use this new technology. Most of the residents coming to this program are not so good at using computers. So they will run to different problems when they are using computers. We also serve free coffee and tea. It also gives residents a chance to communicate with others. They will chat and read newspaper in this program. This whole program holds in the lobby of UBC Learning Exchange. My job is helping arrange the schedule of using computer and help to clean up cups at the end. At the same time, I also help residents to solve some simple computer problems.

It is a wonderful experience to volunteer in UBC Learning Exchange. At there, you will give away all your stereotypes and get a new understands to these residents who may be really in a low social states. For my own experience, when I first come to this place to get my orientation, I was really shocked by what I have seen. There are many residents with low-education level and in a not good finance situation. I was thinking to quit this program but I have changed my mind after several times of my volunteering work. I met a man in UBC Learning Exchange. He often wears a hat and sometimes he also uses a scarf to cover his hair. He always keeps several thin braids at his left side near ear. This man looks not having a good personal hygiene. But he always shaves his mustache in good order and cuts his nails neatly. Every time he shows up, he will have a cup of tea. He is a guitar player and brings his stuff with a small trail car. He usually uses computer to searching music score for guitar. One days, when we were chatting, my volunteer leader asked him how was his arm. He was suffering with tennis elbow. He answered that that is really serious. He almost couldn’t lift his arm in morning. So his doctor suggested him to give up playing guitar at least for a year. Then he answered “If I can’t play the guitar, I would rather broke my arm.” This really touched me. Later I known that he had his own live at a hall in the community.

With the experience in this community, I really discover the other side of this group of people. Maybe they have some issue with them and they are not so accepted by the society. But they have their life. That life may be tough but they still survive bravely.

As a volunteer in this community, you should get rid of that attitude that you are coming to help. Instead of thinking about helping others, I think we need to think about what I can learn from them. Just like this organization’s name: UBC Learning Exchange. Just like my volunteer leader has said “ We come here not just giving out. We also get some back.”

Trek is really a wonderful experience for me. It gives me a chance to get out of that university and get into society. As an international student from China, I had never seen this side of western countries. It is also a good chance for me to know the western society in the round. It helps me to break out of the boring schedule of keeping study. For my first year university life, Trek is really an important part. Through the course I took in the first year, trek program gives me chance to using what I have learned in to real life. And it also help me to understand my sociology class much better.

In conclusion, Trek is a wonderful program for your first year in university. It may be a little tough to keep working as a volunteer. But it really gives you an impressive first year. It has so much possibility for you. This program shapes your thinking of your life and future. It also is a good chance to practice your skills of getting along with others. So I highly comment you to take your chance to join Trek program.

Volunteering at Hastings Kids First (an after school program for mainly at-risk kids, grades 1-7) for the past two terms has been an adventure. Participating through the UBC Trek program has shown me what defines a community, and has allowed me to explore so many perspectives about society that I would not have otherwise been subject to. But to me, the connections created between individuals is what brought the most value to my experience. Interacting with the kids, and having fun with them not only helped participating, time-bound families (in relation to Hochschild’s “Time Bind”), but it also helps with the kid’s stress levels within their school and family lives.

I remember my first day of volunteering. Just like anyone in a new surrounding, I was nervous, shy, and unsure of what I actually had to do. So, having a child suddenly break down into tears (due to problems outside of the school environment), and watching one of the leaders comfort her, clearly didn’t help my growing panic. In that split second, 3 things happened… 1) I understood that my placement at Kids First was going to be more emotionally draining than just being an “extra pair of hands”, 2) I suddenly had inner thoughts of “why am I here?”, and “what did I get myself into?”–albeit only for the first week or so, and 3) I realized that having people–volunteers–who are willing to give up their time, energy, and emotional stability all for the sake of trying to help these kids, was exactly what the program needed (both theoretically and physically, due to the prevalent threat of being understaffed).

Within the couple of months after Christmas, a girl in grade 7 suddenly began to be more-or-less attached to me. As one of the more perceived “tough kids” to handle, her explosive personality and expressive voice had initially caused me to try and avoid her–mainly due to my selfish wish to not get involved. We had never talked before, but one day she came up to me unexpectedly and draped her arm through mine.

The more I got to know her, the more surprises I encountered. For what I thought to be an eccentric, loud, tough girl, became completely silent and lost when confronted with homework. The first time I sat down with her to help with her math, it was almost like I was sitting with a completely different person. It was as if she was overcome with feelings of stress, panic, and a general sense of being overwhelmed. It was at that moment that I had decided to try and make her smile every time I helped with her homework–if only to lessen her stress for only a couple of seconds. Even though I may have had a tough day, or I may not have been “in the mood”, seeing her (and all the other kids) smile made all my efforts completely “worth it”. It was instances such as these that made me feel the most alive.

I think that for me, it is the individual interactions that make up the most important aspect of my placement. Although I do believe it is essential to analyze and understand the broader issues that affect those in Kids First (as well as all other social programs in general), finding possible solutions (such as food security, housing security, job security, etc.) to those problems and influencing those involved is impossible without human interaction. And evidently, I think that it is these individual interactions that have impacted me and my worldly perspective the most.

I solved a Rubik’s Cube at Kids First once. It was almost the new “fad” among [mainly] the boys, with there being at least 5 Cubes being in the room at one time. But despite owning Cubes, most of the boys didn’t actually know how to solve them. I initially had a hard time getting to know the guys (compared to the girls), so I walked over to them and told them I could fix it. One of the guys looked at me, unbelieving, and told me I couldn’t. Well, I did. Since then, every week I volunteered, the only words he would teasingly say to me would be “you can’t solve a Rubik’s Cube”. This small, constant remark from him may seem insignificant (and possibly annoying for some), but to me it symbolized a connection between us–the idea that I had made such an impression, that he was willing to come up to me and talk.

Whether you are a student thinking about participating in TREK, an individual contemplating volunteering, or a person who just happened to stumble upon this blog, let me tell you one final thing… Taking care of, and watching over kids can be significantly emotionally draining. It does requires a lot of emotion management–while I cannot possibly count all the days where I had a bad day, tried to put a smile on my face, and attempted to genuinely converse and have fun with the kids. it is also an impossibility for me to count the instances where I had to try to keep my tears from falling off of my face, when confronted with kids who are crying due overwhelming feelings of frustration and anger, to their perceived inevitability of their own failure.

Being with these kids required patience, kindness, and understanding–basins of emotions that can possibly disappear quickly, against our better judgement. But in my personal opinion, seeing those kids genuinely smile, learn, and grow were the most valuable, precious moments that I have taken away from my experience. Without a doubt, volunteering at Kids First was completely “worth it”.

Whatever you, Reader, decide to do, and whatever choices you make, my suggestion would be to try and find something that you can put your time and effort into, and still feel that it was “worth it”. Being excited and passionate about what you do (whether it be volunteering or anything else) can help provide a sense of dedication that drives everyday life.

As for me, I’ll just be over here–fixing those Rubik’s Cubes.

Hello! My name is Sheryl. For the past two terms I’ve been volunteering with the Writers’ Exchange at the Queen Alexandra location. Personally for me, TREK has been an amazing experience and I highly recommend anyone who is considering joining to sign up.

To take the program at face value, you trade off volunteering for your discussion sections. This means you don’t go to SOCI discussion every week, and instead you meet with other TREK students once a month. The nicest part about this deal is you don’t have do the work that is required in discussion- including the 16 page research essay due at the end of the term. This has been extremely helpful because around the time the research essay is due, a million other things in other classes will be due. Including a billion other research papers. You and your GPA will be glad to have the extra time to focus on other things.

TREK, however, is so much more then an easy ride through Sociology. Yes, trading off discussion work/the term essay is extremely nice, but TREK’s has meant so much more to me and the others who have chosen to go through the program than that. For starters, you get to go into the community and make change. In my job at the Writers’ Exchange, I helped kids in multiple grade levels learn how to read/write for around an hour and a half after school. I’ve had  a lot of fun volunteering with the Writers’ Exchange as they try and shy away from traditional methods of teaching (exe: sitting in a chair and writing out sentences) and try to make learning fun by incorporating new things like writing a story about UFO’s invading earth or writing stories about who left a jar of Jelly Beans in the classroom and why. One kid I was working with said that the UFO’s that were invading were going to demand all the eggs and Power Rangers we had. Why? The Aliens really wanted to make scrambled eggs and apparently really like Power Rangers. The changes you make at your placement can be as big as teaching as teaching a kid life long writing skills, becoming one of the first stable adult connections that a child has ever had, or as little as making a kid laugh when you stick 6 Marshmallow in your mouth while trying to read them Diary of the Wimpy Kid.

Change is a two way street. While you help the people you volunteer with at your placements, they also can help change you. Again, this can be a little and big change. In my personal experience, volunteering has helped me integrate into Vancouver and Canadian society as a whole. Before I had come to UBC, I had little knowledge of Vancouver itself as I came from the U.S and because I had only visited occasionally. However, now I’m an expert at taking the Skytain/Bus system because TREK forced me to explore. Without TREK I probably would have stayed in the UBC “bubble” for all 4 years. I would have never gone to the area near my placement (Commercial-Broadway) because most people would regard it as the “ghetto”. The placements that most TREK programs are located in are mainly low-income areas, as they are the ones that need the most help due to the lack of government offered social services. TREK made me aware of the unseen side of the Canadian society. For example, many students at my placement were First Nation’s children, and many of them were at a disadvantage educationally and needed the program because of the legacy of residential schools and discrimination First Nations people have faced in Canadian history. SOCI 100 taught me some ways I could help change society for the better, like  through trying to change legislation, ect. Other ways that TREK has changed my perspective is that before I started volunteering, I didn’t really like kids. (I lied about this only my application to Writers’ Exchange, shhh). However, my placement made me slowly like kids as I worked with them more and more. Teaching them was one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences of my life but it’s also something I feel good about and take pride in. All the children I worked with were great (thought a bit rowdy at times) and I hope for all of them to have a successful future.    

The only regret I have about my placement is letting the kids know I could draw. This has lead to a lot of temper tantrums when I refused to draw the kids Pokemon for the 10th time (I’m not even kidding about this, I counted), and fights over which kid I was I was next going to help with designing their Ninjago characters. Basically, if you volunteer where there is children, deny any and all artistic talents you have, no matter how much they beg you to draw. It’ll save you a headache.

Another nice thing outside of your placements itself is the once a month meetings with other TREK students. I personally found this good because we have a little community going with each other. During the discussions we get to share similar experiences, and it’s a good opportunity to get to know a small chunk of your CAP stream. Even though you see the same faces for the whole year, when friend groups are cemented at the beginning of the year, it’s difficult to get to know some people in the stream. This is a good opportunity to interact with people you’d otherwise would not be talking to. Who knows, maybe one of your fellow students in TREK will become the connection/tie that’ll help you get your job in the future, or become your significant other 😉

Finally, if you’re worried you’d be missing out on extra learning/understanding of the class through discussion sections, you really won’t be missing it. Personally, my grade has been fine throughout SOCI. As for learning the course material, a lot of things at my placement has related back to the things we learn in class. Throughout the year I’ve had little “aha” moments whenever I connected something at my placement back to a Sociological concept. Learning things in Sociology has helped me understand why some things at my placement are the way they are. For example, learning about Neoliberalist governments pulling back funding for social services in the 1980’s to the present helped me understand why there was a need for volunteering organizations such as the Writers’ Exchange. Another example would be that Canada has a smaller amount of private schools then the U.S, but still has a major imbalance between the quality of education in public schools, such as Queen Alexandra, compared to private schools, which again is due to Neo-liberalism making the public regard education as a good rather than a right. Another would be the reason behind the need of after school programs like the Writers’ Exchange, which can be attributed to the shift in the Global North from an industrial economy to a service economy in the 1970’s/1980’s- which lead to more women in the workforce working longer hours, leaving a need for daycare and after school programs. If you have no idea what I’m talking about don’t worry, you’ll learn it soon! Generally at all placements, you’ll be able to connect back something you see to what you’re learning in class. Working at a placement really helps you actively learn about the class, and about the world in general. Not to sound like a broken record but TREK has been a great opportunity, and please consider volunteering for a great cause (and so you don’t have to write a massive research paper)! I hope to see you in the program next year!
P.S, not to shamelessly plug the Writers’ Exchange, but you should definitely consider volunteering for the Writers’ Exchange 😉