By SACHA MALLI GERARD CHRISTOPHER
Today’s society demands us to be better than our peers. Obtaining just a degree is not enough to get you that dream job anymore.
One of the ways students can increase their sellability is by learning more about the world outside their comfort zones. What better way to achieve this than to join exchange programmes?
Taylor’s University School of Engineering student Yim Hoe Yen, 22, went to Taiwan for an internship programme with AIESEC.
“I worked in a power distribution company called CHEM,” Yim said. “I was the youngest person there at the time.”
One of the biggest things he had to overcome was the language barrier.
“They speak Taiwanese Chinese, which is a mix of Hokkien and Mandarin,” said Yim. “I only spoke broken Mandarin but I took it as a challenge to learn the new language.”
Yim was able to speak and understand many idioms and native sayings because of the kindness shown by the people there.
Yim has become more aware of his surroundings now.
“In a local company, I would not need much time to adapt to the environment,” Yim said. “But in an entirely new country, the office culture is very different so I made it a point to observe everything around me very closely.”
The exchange also allowed him to experience Taiwan like no other.
“On weekends and holidays, my hosts would take me to interesting places that a foreigner would never learn of over the internet,” Yim said, citing examples like the Dragon Boat Festival that happens during summer, and a cross country trip through various small towns.
Yim experienced much more than he bargained for when he signed up for this internship programme abroad.
School of Biosciences student Choo Hang Jie, 21, went for a six-week global community development programme to Thailand in January.
The Province of Sisaket is a rural town southeast of Thailand and a nine-hour bus ride from Bangkok. Choo’s job, along with 26 other participants, was to teach rural primary and secondary school students to read and write in English.
To prepare themselves, they attended a seminar that gave them an idea of what to expect on their journey and also a few useful Thai phrases for their daily usage.
Choo said, “The memories from this experience are things that I will hold on to forever.”
Choo lived with a local Thai family and was treated just like their own son. They went out of their way to make him feel welcomed within their household and made sure he was comfortable at all times.
According to Choo, teaching primary students is very much different from teaching secondary students. But they taught him the value of selflessness and kindness, despite the language barrier.
On weekends, Choo travelled to neighbouring small towns with his host family and sometimes with other exchange participants.
“These are places normal tourists would not see,” said Choo.
Choo is inspired by his experience in Thailand as he quotes an old Chinese proverb that says ‘To give is a hundredfold better than to receive’.
“I hope to go back there one day to see my students and how much they have grown,” Choo said. “Maybe within the next two years, by then they should be out of school.”
Exchanges help build character too. Like Yim and Choo, we should all aspire to be able to one day leave our comfort zones and venture out into the world, making new paths for the people who come after us.
Today’s society demands us to be better than our peers. Obtaining just a degree is not enough to get you that dream job anymore.
One of the ways students can increase their sellability is by learning more about the world outside their comfort zones. What better way to achieve this than to join exchange programmes?
Taylor’s University School of Engineering student Yim Hoe Yen, 22, went to Taiwan for an internship programme with AIESEC.
“I worked in a power distribution company called CHEM,” Yim said. “I was the youngest person there at the time.”
One of the biggest things he had to overcome was the language barrier.
“They speak Taiwanese Chinese, which is a mix of Hokkien and Mandarin,” said Yim. “I only spoke broken Mandarin but I took it as a challenge to learn the new language.”
Yim was able to speak and understand many idioms and native sayings because of the kindness shown by the people there.
Yim has become more aware of his surroundings now.
“In a local company, I would not need much time to adapt to the environment,” Yim said. “But in an entirely new country, the office culture is very different so I made it a point to observe everything around me very closely.”
The exchange also allowed him to experience Taiwan like no other.
“On weekends and holidays, my hosts would take me to interesting places that a foreigner would never learn of over the internet,” Yim said, citing examples like the Dragon Boat Festival that happens during summer, and a cross country trip through various small towns.
Yim experienced much more than he bargained for when he signed up for this internship programme abroad.
School of Biosciences student Choo Hang Jie, 21, went for a six-week global community development programme to Thailand in January.
The Province of Sisaket is a rural town southeast of Thailand and a nine-hour bus ride from Bangkok. Choo’s job, along with 26 other participants, was to teach rural primary and secondary school students to read and write in English.
To prepare themselves, they attended a seminar that gave them an idea of what to expect on their journey and also a few useful Thai phrases for their daily usage.
Choo said, “The memories from this experience are things that I will hold on to forever.”
Choo lived with a local Thai family and was treated just like their own son. They went out of their way to make him feel welcomed within their household and made sure he was comfortable at all times.
According to Choo, teaching primary students is very much different from teaching secondary students. But they taught him the value of selflessness and kindness, despite the language barrier.
On weekends, Choo travelled to neighbouring small towns with his host family and sometimes with other exchange participants.
“These are places normal tourists would not see,” said Choo.
Choo is inspired by his experience in Thailand as he quotes an old Chinese proverb that says ‘To give is a hundredfold better than to receive’.
“I hope to go back there one day to see my students and how much they have grown,” Choo said. “Maybe within the next two years, by then they should be out of school.”
Exchanges help build character too. Like Yim and Choo, we should all aspire to be able to one day leave our comfort zones and venture out into the world, making new paths for the people who come after us.