Holding a space for dreams to be told
- Aoyumi Jung
- Feb 6, 2024
- 3 min read
06 Feb 2024
On the first day of arriving in Vietnam, I didn't take rest but went straight to meet up with members from 5 generations of Youth Nurture Club. How time flies! 5 years ago, I was drafting the proposal to send my high school’s Committee to found the club, as an alumni. Now, there are around 100 students including members and alumni; and it has given several hundreds of students the chance to apply and express themselves.
Every moment only happens once. When I arrived, the students smiled and said Hello to me. There were familiar faces like Manh, Trang, Ha, Hue, and new names I could call such as Vinh, Minh, Hung, Tung, Hoang Anh, Huyen, Ngoc, Ly., and more. It felt so good to be surrounded by young people. The spirit is still there, young spirit, with lots of dreams and talents.
Without careful planning like other serious events I did previously with YNC such as recruitments, Social Emotional Learning, Community Building, Leadership and Reflection. It was the first casual event I joined. Still, I couldn’t just sit and go with the flow like talking with close friends. They might not know each other! I brought some post-it notes and pens just in case I might need to facilitate the space! And it happened, since I knew it would happen. :D
Facilitation blood arose after the first minute. We did a round of self introduction with interesting facts about ourselves. The table was filled with fun stories and laughter.
In the end, leaning on the “Love” theme of February, I asked them to say thanks-notes for themselves, and hope for YNC in the year to come. They deserve self-appreciation. I could feel how the atmosphere became more respectful, focused, safe and relaxed over our meet-up. From being distracted, shy, not knowing each other, they eventually turned their ears and eyes towards the speaking ones without me formally setting the tone. I simply said, with the short time we have, I want us to have quality time to connect and have memorable moments. Thank you everyone for coming.
There came a moment when some students said they wanted to study something but parents don’t support it. I just went:
“You are mature enough to make your own decisions. I believe you are very mature thanks to the access to good resources of information and living conditions. Especially when you are almost 18 and you know which one is right for you. Make the choice that you won’t feel regret. You can take responsibility for it. You live only once.”
Today, in our family gathering, I talked briefly to my niece while cleaning up. She’s in 2 minds of not sure what to study. She might go to do Pedagogy Education, to become a teacher, which I bet is an adult's advice. Then I asked her if she had other considerations besides going to Korea as well. She said she likes nursing. “Do you like taking care of people?” “Yes”. I think that fits her, though I barely connect with her. She seems to be a hardworking girl. She assists us to wash dishes, and often stays quiet.
I just said:
“If you truly like the field, go for it. Don’t be afraid of not having jobs in the future. There are always many job opportunities. What’s more important is choosing the right field you love. So, please do it at the moment when you can. Young people like us shouldn’t or needn’t use parents’ money to get jobs, we can apply for jobs by ourselves, by our competences and skills.”
I help young people around me as much as I can. Applying coaching/ facilitation/ Instructional Design skills I have. A small talk can change someone’s mindset and life. So, keep going! <3
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