Today I received an email asking for me to awnser a few questions which will be featured in a publication by St Paul's University College (a great supporter of the International Development program). I found my responses kind of gave a quick overview of my whole placement experience so I thought I'd share them!
1) How are you finding your placement and the country/environment you
are living in?
Hanoi is a crazy but wonderful city to live in. It can be chaotic with the traffic and the noise, but there’s always something new to do and see. Even having been here almost 7 months now, I’m still discovering the city every day! I love that there is no shortage of history here too. The museums, architecture, and monuments of Hanoi are all so rich in Vietnamese history and culture. Part of that culture is of course the food, which is one of my favorite parts of living in Vietnam (granted some dishes are much more adventurous than others)! Getting delicious street food for cheaper than you can cook yourself a meal for is a habit I think anyone can get used to. Besides the living environment, the NGO working environment I am a part of is also one thing I’m really enjoying about placement. My coworkers have become my close friends, and are very willing to share their expertise in the fields I am interested in. There is a big sense of family and community when you work for a small NGO.
2) What have you learned (which you did or did not expect to)?
Something that I’ve learned that I did not expect to is how to be more independent. Having lived in another country before and having been away at University the past 3 years, I considered myself a pretty independent person before going on placement. But having a 24-hour plane ride and 12-hour time difference between me and home has forced me to become independent on a whole new level. I really had to make my own decisions and I have to everything myself. It has also made me more independent in terms of my learning. You don’t have a professor to lecture and help you you in person, so you have to take charge of your own learning. You’re forced to analyze your experiences and what you see around you/ In other words, no one can tell you what you’re supposed to learn and how you’ll learn it. It’s a chance to have a completely personalized learning experience.
3) What are you looking forward to now?
To be honest, I’ve been avoiding this question even from my friends and family because I don’t have a plan for post-graduation quite yet! The freedom to do anything after graduation can make you feel overwhelmed with choice. However, I have been looking for jobs at NGOs in Toronto/Montreal/Ottawa, but I’m also applying to masters programs in Disaster & Emergency management at York and Royal Rhodes University. Either way, I know graduate school is in my future (whether it’s this year or next). Working for an NGO that does disaster risk reduction and response work has really motivated me to pursue a masters in that area. Climate change will cause more extreme weather events and the poor will be the most vulnerable to these events so I’ve become driven to help decrease that vulnerability.
No comments:
Post a Comment