Students and Mentors Pose for One More SLP Memory!
My trip to Shenzhen, China this summer as part of the CDI-LTI’s Service Leadership Program was a phenomenal experience. LTI’s mission has always been to promote service by supplying young students with the resources and confidence to implement their own service or development project. In this program, we taught a range of students, from beginning middle school to high school graduates, the essential lessons of leadership, teamwork, and communication. In the scope of the overall project, the students gained the perspective they needed to initiate and develop their own leadership/ service initiative with a local elementary school.
Initially, I thought I was helping the students. In the end, I realized how much I had learned from this experience as well. Because there was a language barrier, I had to be extremely conscious of my communication methods and body language. Beyond more technical lessons, I learned what leadership meant. Sure, I had ideas about leadership before, and even when I was mentoring for LTI, I was certain I got the concept down. However, I was missing an essential ingredient to this mysterious leadership recipe. I failed to believe. My high school education and especially my few years at MIT have taught me to be skeptical. Okay, so I taught the students about leadership, but did I ever truly believe they understood me or would take it to heart and pass this lesson on? Honestly, as much as I would like to believe I did, I did not. I knew as soon as the lesson ended, life would move on to more realistic, concrete things, such as college applications, homework, and family life- certainly not initiating a new service. Not as often as I would like to admit, I was wrong. There were passionate students who truly cared about their community and took the lessons I taught to heart. Unfortunately, I saw those students as rare exceptions to the rule.
I saw something different on my trip to Shenzhen. Every single one of these kids participated in every lesson. The voices and the hands never stopped rising to answer questions and lead discussions. These young adults took the glass and drank every last drop. They excelled at the activities, questioned every statement, and tightly grasped each concept. When we left, I had hopes, but realistically, I knew Chinese education would soon take over their lives, and the lessons and plans for the final service project might fade. BUT, it has not. They still take initiative and contact the SLP coordinators for help. During this trip, I found inspiring, intellectual, amazing students, but most of all, I found my own belief.
Jia
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