Hi to any, future Trek volunteers,
My name is Oliver Ng and at the time of writing this I have recently finished my first year at UBC as a member of the CAP stream global citizens. At the beginning of the year Dr. Greer offered our class the opportunity to participate in the TREK program. At first I was apprehensive about choosing it, but now I believe it was one of the better decisions I made at UBC. I hope this blog will help you decide if you’re on the fence trying to make a decision
As somebody who has lived and volunteered in Vancouver my entire life I saw the TREK program as a great opportunity to learn firsthand how sociological concepts we learn in class effect my community. I was originally placed at Mt. Pleasant, but due to some organizational problems I was moved to Walter Moberly elementary as a classroom volunteer. This difficulty may be something that you face, however, through this difficulty I learned many different skills as I communicated with the leadership about my placement. It also helped me memorize the best route to the CIRS building which is a useful skill for any first year. If you face these issues don’t give up but treat them as a unique learning opportunity. (then you can write about that experience in your blog)
After waiting for a few months, I was eventually placed at Walter Moberly. When I got my placement, Ibecame very nervous. I was a first-year commuter student with a part time job and although I wanted to participate in the program I was nervous I would not have enough time for my studies. This I learned would not be a problem and, at Walter Moberly I learned a lot about the community and I found that my experiences at Walter Moberly helped me better understand the concepts I learned in Sociology. In class hearing about some of the social factors that affect our communities was interesting, but through theTREK program I was able to experience these factors in a real setting. The TREK program really solidified some of the sociological topics covered the most like poverty and multiculturalism. Seeing these factors in a real setting was a stark reminder of the privilege that we have to be able to go into these communities, and reminded me that these concepts that we are learning about effect real people that live just a few kilometers from us. This is an experience that would not have been possible if I had chosen to do discussion and I believe that participating in this really assisted in my learning of the core themes of sociology.
Being at the school also offered me the opportunity to interact with people outside of my community of Vancouver, and see how there are different needs and interests in different districts. At Walter Moberly, I helped the kids in talking to them about high school and university and how just like them university students like sports and watching TV. The kids at Walter Moberly were always very interested to hear how someone that was raised in an area very similar to theirs was able to make it to UBC. The students had ideas that you had to be a genius to attend UBC, but after meeting me many began to see that anyone can continue on to university no matter your race or where you are raised.
The TREK program also created a real sense of community within my CAP stream through the TREK discussion sections in which we were encouraged to share our experiences at our placements. Hearing other students talking about their positive stories and hearing how we could overcome challenges really helped create a true community within the classroom. The other events that helped create a real sense of community were the TREK dinners and meetings. At these meetings participants in the TREK program would discuss our placements in a broader discussion about the current societal state of Vancouver and British Columbia as a whole. These discussions allowed for a wide array of discussions about solutions and incorporated many concepts that we have learned in sociology and our other courses into the debate. These meetings also really established the TREK community in the CAP stream as we were able to talk to each other outside of the classroom about our experiences at our placements. This community really created some great friends for me, and it really helped me integrate into the UBC community.
The programs through the TREK program also provided us with many opportunities in the UBC community on how we could further work to combat and understand some of the pressing issue in our communities. These programs showed me how diverse UBC is, and provided me with opportunities I would not have been aware of because of this. These programs really helped me get involved with the UBC community and better understand all of the programs there are truly available at UBC.
My TREK placement offered me some amazing opportunities in the Vancouver area and provided a lot of insight into how the topics we learned in sociology map on to everyday people. The TREK program may not be for everyone, but for me as a commuter I was not able to participate as much in school activities compared to students that lived on campus, and TREK offered me the opportunity to do this. TREK is a great opportunity for many first years, and can really help you get involved in the local community, and while you may not help everyone at your placement your involvement is very likely to help somebody. I hope that in reading this you have a better idea of whether or not you will decide to do TREK, and that if you do decide to participate I hope it is as positive as the experience I have had.
Thanks for reading,
Oliver Ng
Citations
Oliver, Ng. (photographer) (2018, April 12) Front of Walter Moberly Elementary [Photograph]. Vancouver.