Is my heart calling?

05.12.2019 | Founding Story.

Support Youth Nurture Club HERE

No matter what people say, I am into this mission in which I must do something for my hometown, for the school where I grew up with. The types of actions to take have changed several times since I started to have the idea but not enough capacity. It began by the intention to go back when I am financially strong at some point in the future, I will invest in an English center for kids in my hometown. Sometimes, I thought I could open an Enrichment center while I am still attending school, then go back and forth once in a while.

When the New National Curriculum Plan 2020 was announced to be implemented, I wanted to teach this subject someday said me. I have never stood in class professionally as a teacher but I like all minutes when I helped some high school students to prepare for English exams, they nodded their head and smiled. I felt a sense of fulfillment. I don’t need anything else. The intention to do something never disappear from my head. Over the past 3 years, I have conducted 3 significant surveys targeting serious issues of youths in Vietnam, it’s just that I have not really done anything in this movement.

The first survey was in late 2016, my first community project called “The Core Element Project” we aimed to build a creative learning environment for university students to explore themselves. We worked on the need assessment on youths’ need to develop themselves including strengths and weakness, and engage in an effective learning space. The mission itself sounds vague and eventually, we had to stop it due to the differences in teammates’ life choice. It was how I began to familiarize myself with such terms about self-directed, commitment, peer feedback, 100% energy or respect the difference. I found the urge to do the project, but most of the time, I was the follower, in meetings, in presentations, as I was not confident enough to voice out and think logically. I didn’t know how to facilitate, how to talk about something properly, how to have eye contact towards others. My world view was honestly narrow. It has remained inside me the regret of not being able to realize our promise. It was a shame to say that “we are committed to continue this project”. I guess our coaches all knew that it was solely our physical presence and a claim, nothing more.

The second one was done at the beginning of this year during my YSI project. With the topic “Vietnamese Youth’s life phase challenges” regarding the transition time from schools to universities, we got 40 responses across the country from youths in 3 regions in Vietnam, out of which, there are youths already having family or work that helped us to have a better overview towards the landscape of youths’ issues. We took the survey as evidence to come up with an idea of founding a platform that provide assured courses and opportunities for Vietnamese university students to enhance their employability skill. The idea lacks viability as it takes time to accredit the quality of those courses, we are not based in Vietnam to go through that long process. Not to mention the technical requirement to produce a good website, we end up being lose out, again. My friend said that only around 5% out of all ideation challenges like that could come true because of many factors. Most of the ideas might sound fancy, yet lack the link to reality, and a sense of “convergence” as in Design Thinking term.

However, I don’t give up. The fire to support youths is around me all the time. It has never been off. I think I have figured out my life calling. I aspire to found this “Youth Nurture Club” for my high school in a rural province, a club nurishing youths’ belief in their potentials by organizing student-led activities and connecting youths with international volunteers to enhance their English communication skills & social awareness.

While everything in my hometown is changing dramatically except for education, most students in my high school encounter psychological shock in university life for the capacity gap between them and city students. The gap in English communication skills and social life skills have limited themselves from many educational opportunities because they hardly gain a sense of self-confidence to speak up among the crowd. That is what I went through 4 years ago and now I am ready to bring some light for my beloved miserable community where students deserve more than that. I aspire to support the younger generations to be able to discover and develop themselves at hand. Barriers of accessibility and mindset can’t weaken our steps, our dreams.

Dec 2018. A talk on a 7 degree C day in a rural school

A sharing day for 80 students in my highschool after 6 gap months with my friends! A kickstarting moment for the momentum since then...

Reading again the "Commitment blog” has inspired myself again. It is me who inspired me. I think the most suitable example proving some sense of commitment is writing this blog. I am into it, I don’t get bored sharing my reflection and pickups. I have to overcome laziness and the overloading information of the world out there. I love my world, and I love reading what I have read as well. It comes with satisfaction and self-love.

Today I have sorted out some folders saving some directions to develop the content of the club. I also have talked to Hang, she said the vision is big but I told her that right now my school does not have any club except for a music club thus I really hope the community to expand in the future. Of course, at the beginning stage, I want to focus on a particular aspect which is English communication. But over time, once the students are more accustomed to the club’s culture, activities and be confident in themselves, they might have the potential to realize what I wish. Otherwise, the club is not interesting, or not innovative (at least within the countryside border).

Some useful questions or insights I got when I shared my project to people, who gave me different questions:

- How do I run the project?

- What is my back up plan? Do what I could do, and comparing to others just lowers ourselves down.

- How to engage students effectively and find a committed team?

- How can others support me/ leverage on others' strengths?

- How to build the content innovative and ask for fund?

My own questions are:

- How to apply technology into the club management and operation effectively?

- How to recruit a good core team and good team members?

- How do I convey the messages/ faciliate efficiently in the training to empower students to understand?

My mind now is messed up. I have read again the surveys I have done. Slightly suprisingly, some students said that recently my high school allows them the space after class for entertainment and encourages them to be creative. This is great! But some students are in grade 12 confessing that they don’t know what they want to do in life, they know laziness is bad but they can’t be committed to achieve the goal. I think this is about lacking motivation.

I have researched some amazing technology platforms and tools that could transform the dynamics of classrooms. There are Mystery Skype, Microsoft Education Center/MIE/Skype Masters… my job is about how to apply them into this community. The resources are all around. The core is how to be the co-learners with the youths in the long-run. Try to keep the momentum on as much as possible to make the thing happen. There is nothing more to wait for. It is time now.

Thanks for my effort today. I don’t think it is very much. It is good to read inspiring stories to be inspired, and to continue moving.

#ambiguity

#learning

#dream