Lesson learned:
Be open.
How did I learn this?
Step 1 - I graduated High School
I graduated from Carroll Senior High School on June 2, 2017 at 17 years old after being a senior for about 3 and 1/2 months. I hate to sound dramatic, but it was pretty dramatic. There was depression, pills, crying, hating, quitting, getting help, losing everyone, giving up, not wanting to get out of bed in the morning, being so afraid a car accident would end my life before it ever began, just generally being afraid my life would never amount to anything, and ya know all that ucky yucky stuff. But, as seen, I made it to the other side. But, my other side might be a little different from your average 'graduate high school then go to college' kinda gal. My other side of the High School hang-up includes a three week service and immersion trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand and a gap year program taking me to 6 different countries over 7 months. And that leads us into...
Step 2 - I did a 180
I stepped onto American Airlines flight 1023 from DFW to LAX on the first leg of my 2 day journey to the land of smiles, and my life changed forever. I 180ed my world both literally and metaphorically.
Departure - 9 pm (GMT -6) June 19
Step 3 - I waied to Chiang Mai
Arrival - 5:20 pm (GMT +7) June 21
I exit the plane with all the other GLA students that joined me along the way, and we all made the slow confusing march through immigration. After I'd nervously stood there while an intimidating man with swords decorating his uniform carefully inspected my documents, I made my way into the exiting crowd. The room opened up and there stood a very jolly group of people wearing the same shirt as me and holding up a sign, 'GLA'. They welcomed me along with the rest of the students with a necklace of jasmine, a traditional Thai gesture. I had never felt more welcome anywhere in my life. And that's where my adventure began.
Step 4 - I chose my own adventure
20 students, 7 staff members, and 21 days.
My 21 days in Thailand taught me many things...
Lesson 1 -
I am now the person I admired.
As groups began to form, I stood back and observed. At first, I didn't understand why I didn't fit into a group. But, as time progressed, I realized it was because I chose to be a part of the larger group and include everyone, and there wasn't one person I didn't love to death by the end. In High School, I had always admired the person who could easily flit from group to group and be welcomed by all while welcoming to all. This trip, I realized that I could be that person, and I was.
Lesson 2 -
I am more privileged than I realized.
I thought privilege meant you were a rich white person, and even though that is a privilege, there are many other ways one can be privileged. In Thailand, every child is taught English in school. In fact, its a government requirement for them to graduate. Further, there is a group in southeast Asia called ASEAN. "The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional grouping founded on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines to promote economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the Southeast Asian region through multilateral cooperation," (1). Basically, this means that there is a lot more traffic between these countries, and the median language between them all is English. In Thailand, or any other ASEAN member country, speaking English gives one a higher chance for success. As a native English speaker, I felt privileged because I could enter Thailand with no previous knowledge of their language and teach English at a government school. One of the students in my class was overheard saying "Why do we have to learn English and they don't have to learn Thai?". That question highlights what a privilege it is to be a native English speaker.
Lesson 3 -
Lack of materials and 'things' brings a surplus in creativity.
The first half of our service was at House of Blessings Children's Home where we built a laundry facility and painted their playground. Day 1 we had to dig holes to put the support beams in for the laundry facility, so naturally that involved shovels... kind of. So, there were 3 shovels for 10 kids, but did that stop the Thai staff there from utilizing our help? No! They had 3 garden hoes as well and they gave us those to dig with. Another example of the amazing creativity at the children's home was the children! Everyday when the kids arrived back from school, the work stopped and the playing began. One game we played was 'cher' ball (I'm totally not sure how to spell it). For this game, you needed two baskets and a ball. Two people on opposite teams would hold the baskets and the other teams members would toss the ball around and try to get a basket. It was very similar to basketball only the ball never touched the ground. This game really showed me how creative these kids were, and not only that, it also showed me how creative kids in general could be. To get even more creative, the little girls would braid our hair then pick flowers right off the bushes and make flower crowns, earrings, necklaces, and all sorts of things to decorate us with. Even though we were sweaty and disgusting from the work we did earlier that day, our hair looked prom-ready. These kids didn't have 'things', but they had each other. And, that was perfectly enough. People don't need things they just need to be together, and together they can figure something out.
Lesson 4 -
Education is key.
Now when I say education, I don't mean high school or college. I mean learning. REAL learning, and that's different for every person. Everything you are is what you have learned, and what you will be is what you choose to learn. I could go deep into this one, but I want you to think about what education means to you, and then I want you to question it. Ask yourself what real education is. Awareness? Academics? Observation? I want you to think about this for yourself because I too am asking myself what this means. We watched a documentary 'The Last Elephants in Thailand' about elephant abuse for tourism, and then the next day we hopped onto elephants. The entire time my gears were grinding to make sure these elephants were being treated right. But, along our path we ran into another group on elephants. These people were riding in the metal cages on top of them, and from what I learned in that documentary, that was terrible for the elephant. But, assuming the best, I'm sure those people had no idea how harmful it was for the elephants. See, if those people had seen the same documentary I had seen, I would only hope they would not support such practices. Anyway, the point of that story was to show that education about the situation with elephant tourism in Thailand would help to prevent this bad practice from continuing.
Now, my time in the land of smiles brought me much more than I could ever express. I am so grateful for everyone who's helped me get to this point in my life. I can't articulate how much you all mean to me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
FUN FACT
In English, to let someone know we understand what they are saying we say "I see". But, the phrase in Thai (which I forgot) roughly translates to "I take it into my heart".
Human Highlight
Shout out to Julie Jamgochian for really making my experience in Thailand an unforgettable one.
BE Open.
I would not be anywhere close to where I am today if I wasn't open to taking risks or overcoming obstacles. Being open has proved to be critical to my success in making my dreams come true.
"If you want more, you have to require more from yourself" ~ Dr. Phil McGraw
Keep thinking,
Meg
References:
1. Association of Southeast Asian Nations. (1978). 10 years ASEAN (pp. 14–15). Jakarta: ASEAN. Call no.: RSING 309.2233 TEN.
