Random thoughts about the project this year

Grand Anse Beach, Grenada

Preparing for a trip is always fun, but preparing for a unique learning experience can be a combination of fun and challenges.  There are so many unknown factors.  Adaptability and flexibility are the most important skills to possess as an international learner.  Our students this year are discovering their own personal degrees of adaptability.  Heat, long days, new people, changes in food and small and narrow roads all factor as part of the challenge.  At the end of each day, we debrief about what our "onions and apples" were.  The onions are decreasing and the apples are becoming bushels.  Some of the common apples are meeting new people, learning about the culture, sharing Canadian culture with our counterparts, developing professionalism and practicing interview skills.

My learning is based from observation.  I do not have as much involvement in the day to day aspect of the project since this is a student led project.  I am there for support and logistics at this point.  Next week I will be facilitating presentations and entrepreneurship lessons.  So as I watch the students, I need to be aware of my surroundings and use all my senses.  I am listening to the interviewee stories, breathing in air that has a sweet smell (it is the isle of spice), feeling overwhelmed at times with the schedule and travelling, touching plants and insects that do not exist in Canada, and thinking about how fortunate I am in participating in this project for a second year.

Classroom 8 at TA Marryshow Community College

Personal knowledge cannot solely be gained from reading books or searching the internet.  Our behaviour is changed by what we do, not from what we know.  This project has me doing and experiencing things that will remain as part of my deeper knowledge.  The challenge is how to use this experience in my career and personal life going forward.