Hi! My name is Tania Nainani, and today I am writing about my TREK experience as apart of the global citizens CAP stream. When given the choice of either participating in the sociology discussion or being apart of the TREK program and being able to work with students for 2.5 hours a week, I opted to participate in TREK, and I’m so glad I did! From this experience, I expected to learn more concerning my sociology theories that I had learnt in a classroom into practice by observing and educating the kids. Although this is what I had expected to learn, I was able to get much more out of this experience, being able to develop myself as a person, and give back to the community. I was able to make strong connections, and even friendships with a lot of the kids, who I soon considered to be very close to my heart. The children have made me mature as a person, as well as become extremely patient with the kids. The program has helped me learn more about others, as well as my community partner. Most importantly, I feel I learnt the most from myself. I went into the program with an open mind, and put in a lot of effort in order to get a lot out of it. I made an important effort to form friendships with the kids, and provide them with a safe space and a person they felt they could confide in. This learning connected to my studies through sociology, and I was able to observe the effects of socialization within a schooling environment. Learning about sociology in a classroom is one thing, but being able to apply it and fully observe people who abide by these theories is entirely different. It truly does make you learn concepts better and get a taste of outside experience.
Concerning the sociology write ups throughout the year, and ultimately at the end of the placement, I was extremely excited to be able to share what I had learnt with others. I was eager to be able to look back on my time with the kids, and reflect on what I had gained from this experience. From someone who has gone through being apart of the Trek Program, I strongly suggest opting for this decision instead of the discussion. Not only do you get to get off campus each week and get a change of scenery, you get to make true connections with students, people you work with, and other volunteers, even getting to hear personal experiences from the people you are working with. The connections you make will likely be able to benefit you in the future, and possibly make you realise what you want to do in the future, and My advice to anyone going into this program would be to keep an open mind, try new things, and try to gain as much as you can from this experience. These opportunities don’t come across often in first year, and being in TREK and having the opportunity to gain experience and add something to your resume is something I strongly would recommend.
By: Tania Nainani