Student goals reflection

Student reflection on their previous goals and fears about the trip to Vietnam
At the beginning of the school year students were asked to write their goals and fears concerning the trip to Vietnam. A few months ago they were asked to look at their goals and fears again and both reflect upon them and write an action plan for dealing with them. Then half way through the Vietnam trip students were asked once again to reflect on their goals and fears. Below are what some of the students wrote:

“I am surrounded by a world which I never could have imagined; something that I assumed would make for an easy adjustment. I made goals to be fearless and bolder than ever. I never even feared homesickness, because I simply thought I was the kind of person who wasn’t that way. Yet being here has destroyed all I thought I knew about who I am. It has been harder to step outside my box, I have been homesick and nearly every interaction that I have surprises, both in what happens and how I respond. The molds I fit into might have never really fit me all. A feeling of being lost and confused, without any bearings was what first encompassed me. But not knowing who or what I am made me able to think about and interact with Vietnam with and open mind like I could never do while still obligated to fit into the reputation that both myself and others have constructed for me. Here is the perfect place to re-form the person who I thought I was, now that I know a little bit more about the world and who I am when surrounded with the unfamiliar. Or maybe now, though it intimidating to even consider, I am ready to reject the idea that I will ever be one thing or one person, and instead accept that I will always be changing, spiraling off in whatever direction new knowledge, new surrounding and new goals guides me towards.”

“Before I left for Vietnam, I had many goals: To try street food, to stay healthy, etc. Now, my only goal is to forget all of my preconceptions and live in the moment.”

“1. I’m worried that I will not be able to live in the moment: Looking back on it, I think I have been living in the moment, because I haven’t been thinking about living in the moment. My feelings are based purely off of what happens around me, and not on the past or what I’m worried about and that’s how I measure living in the moment.
2. I’m worried about seeing everything: I think that I’ve been so tired that I haven’t been worrying about seeing everything, I’m just appreciating what I do see.
3. Interacting with Vietnamese: I think that I’ve done relatively well at this, but I still want to work on not being as intimidated by the aggressive culture.
4.I want to learn about the culture: I have achieved this because I’ve put myself out there and tried things I wouldn’t usually try, I think I’ve become braver.”

“My goal was to be open minded to new things. I accomplished this goal because I have been trying new foods that I have never tried before, such as pig ears and intestines. Also, I used to never even want to tread water because I was afraid of water. I didn’t know how to swim. Our first night in Hoi An we went to the beach were there were major waves. I went n the water and rode the waves. In Sapa I learned how to swim because I was open to going in the water. I realized that just trying new things can lead to astounding accomplishments."

"Before arriving in Vietnam, I thought I would be unable to make connection with others or that I would not be quite skilled at bargaining. I am not shy, but I don’t like to make small talk because I find it somewhat awkward. When I finally was in the middle of a situation, I ended up making many Vietnamese friends. In the market, the owner of the shop said I was the best bargainer she has ever had to deal with. The following day I came back to the market and she saw me. She approached me and remembered my name. I introduced me two her to my friends, and she gave mangosteens and free coffee shake. Another time I lady gave me two free bracelets, even if she knew I was not going to buy anything from her. I made multiple friends, and some of those friends came of my bargaining skills. I learned that I should never underestimate myself.”

“My goals for the Vietnam trip was to experience everything I could about Vietnam, and not allow anything to get in my way. I thought that there would be issues that I could control, and therefore make it so I could change those problems. What I have experienced with the problems during the trip is very different. Many of the things we are doing in Vietnam are extremely touristy and not actually experiencing the country. I am trying to get real experiences from these tourist activities, but it is extremely hard trying to understand a culture while looking at it from the outside. I have been trying to complete my goals, however. When we do these activities, I try to see the value in them, and try to learn as much as I can from just observing.”

“Before we left for Vietnam, I had a pretty good set of goals and fears in my head. Many of them were about staying packed and organized, remembering to write in my journal, and reminding myself to take pills. Now I realize that these goals are pertaining to the little things that I have to remember to do, instead of what I will notice, what I will think about, and how this trip will change me. Another goal that I had was to keep an open mind and embrace the new culture. That goal is difficult to measure, and I will try to keep that in my head not only during this trip, but for every experience that I have. Today is the halfway mark of the trip, and I realize that I have a very important new goal. It is to never take anything for granted. At home, there is so much that I never really thought about as being very helpful. When I get back to America, I want to remember to think about what I have and how lucky I am. I want to learn about how I can help others and how I can teach other people about all that I have learned in Vietnam.”

“One of my main goals for Vietnam was to use my Vietnamese to communicate with the Vietnamese people. I wanted to improve my speaking and pronunciation of Vietnamese and through verbal communication learn more about the Vietnamese people and their culture. However, I’ve come to realize that it’s not the quality of my Vietnamese that has helped me make connections with the people- it is the universal communications that I use, such as body language and facial expressions. I now know that when the language barrier seems to be creating an impenetrable wall between you and a person, a grin or even a gesture can crack it.”

“Setting goals limits the mind to striving only to what it previously desired. Goals prevent the mind from wandering to what it yearns and strains to learn.”

“I realized that all my goals were “don’ts” – don’t get malaria, don’t get sick, don’t get sunburned. I decided that a better goal would be the more positive “do” – do make connections, do use Vietnamese, do have fun.”

“I think my goals were too specific - more “do this,” than “achieve this,” type of thing. I’m realizing now that my main goal is to become braver, and I’m well on my way to achieving that. You can’t not cross the road. You can’t not eat the food. It’s just kind of happening naturally. In Vietnam, it takes more energy to avoid taking risks than it does to just go for it. In Vietnam, you don’t have a choice, and if that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.”

“My fears of Vietnam have been unfounded it seems. I had been scared of having a bad time on the plane and of losing things here but so far neither of these things have happened. I have had a chance to reflect on my goals as well and come to the opposite conclusion. I have immersed myself into the Vietnamese culture and experienced many new foods. My new goal for myself is to continue doing what Robert suggested and keep stepping out of my circles.”

“Most of the goals that I wrote didn’t really apply. I wrote them because I had to write goals. I wasn’t actually afraid that I wouldn’t like the food or that I would get sick, I was mostly afraid that I wouldn’t make a connection with the people here. After being through half of the trip I’ve realized that I’ve already made some connections. My biggest fear was overcome. My hopes and dreams are somewhat related though, because my hope is that I get a lot out of this trip. I think that I won’t really be able to see if this actually happened until I’m in Seattle again. Right now were in the middle of things, and I don’t really have that much time to stop and think about the things that I want to remember in the Vietnam trip. I didn’t really set out with many goals, because I didn’t think I needed them. Whenever I’ve gone on trips in the past things have just happened. But I’ve been looking forward to Vietnam all year, I’m afraid that once the trip is over, I won’t have gotten enough out of the experience. I think that I will have though, this is the halfway point of the trip and I’ve already had some amazing moments with the Vietnamese people. From playing with little kids, to bargaining with ancient women in the markets I think that through experiencing the Vietnamese culture I’ve been able to connect with a part of myself that I didn’t know was there.”

“Before coming here, I was kind of afraid that I wouldn’t like the food, but I was determined to try some new dishes. It has worked out well for me and I am very happy that I’ve been eating Vietnamese food at every meal here, because I have discovered new foods that I like. Examples include Hoi An pancakes, fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce, fried bread with shrimp, and rice noodle soup. Being away from my parents have helped me become much more independent than I was at the beginning of the trip. I have hand washed my clothes, tried cooking my food at the farming and cooking lessons, and gone out for lunch with small groups of other students. I’ve also been keeping my mind off of having bloody noses, but I do my best to prevent and prepare for them. I’ve been trying my best to immerse myself in the Vietnamese culture, but I still want to work on living like the locals. Some things that I’ve done to experience their lifestyle include fishing and farming. I could improve on this by having more conversations with the people on the street.”

“I had a lot of fears and goals coming into the trip. I feared I wouldn’t like the food or something bad would happen on the plane ride and a few other things, but now none of the fears are really fears. After experiencing Vietnam I realized none of those fears are actually fears. I also looked at my goals. I realized the same thing; my goals weren’t goals any more. Now since I’ve experienced Vietnam and know what it’s like I realized what I truly want to accomplish is not thinking of the future or the past, but to think of the present and live in the moment.”

“My goals seemed shallow after spending almost fifteen days in Vietnam. My fears were unreasonable and halfhearted, and it made sense that I had forgotten both my goals and fears. Honestly, I didn’t take this assignment very seriously, but that was for my benefit. If I had been fully committed to the assignment, I would have stressed about accomplishing what I had written. Since I hadn’t, I found that I had fulfilled all my goals, and forgotten my fears very early on.”

“My biggest goal for the trip was to immerse myself in the Vietnamese culture. I think that although I have done a good job throughout the trip, there is always room for improvement. I am constantly inspired of ways that I can improve. Tom R always eats street food, something that I wish I do. Robert always figures out ways of learning more about people. I wish I did that too!”

"I feel like, for the first half of the trip, I really have accomplished my goals of having fun, and going with the flow. I’ve tried new things, and made the most of every experience. However, I kind of think that the goals I set for myself, while reasonable to reach, weren’t really the ones that I now hope to accomplish. I never really like writing goals, because I change a lot over small periods of time, and the global studies trip pretty much embodies change in yourself. I feel like now that I’ve been here for a while, I actually know what to expect, and I know how I’ll be dealing and interacting with the new country around me.
My biggest fears were getting sick, and crossing the street, both of which happened pretty much right off the bat. At the time, this seemed like a horrible coincidence, and I found myself thinking “great, of course that happened to me.” But now that I’m passed it, can now easily navigate busy streets, and I’m no longer sick, I think I can say that I’m glad I had to deal with my fears in the beginning. I can now go about my trip and really get the most out of the experience because I’ve conquered my fears. Of course with everything we do come new, seemingly less significant fears; trying new foods, climbing onto some random cyclo, hopping on a boat and hoping I won’t get motion sickness. I find myself thinking that it’s actually really good for me to have to face these fears because even though I might get a stomach ache from the food, I might get lost, or I might get motion sickness, I will have to deal with them and move on, making me a stronger and more confident person. I feel like the trip has given me some great experiences so far, but has also helped me overcome the not so great ones as well.”