Volunteering with Rachael

3:22 PM

After a really amazing weekend in KL (post about this later), my friend and fellow YES Abroad'er Rachael followed me back to Ipoh for some volunteering, and of course some fun. This is the report we submitted to AFS MAlaysia, I tried to make it less formal, but apologies if this reads as formal or too wordy.

Tuesday, Rachael and I went to my school to teach English and share about American culture with Form 2 English classes. After a tour of the school by 2 Form 2 Prefects, and a lunch in the canteen, we taught our lessons to the class 2 Lilly and 2 Orkid.

We started off by introducing ourselves, names, ages and where we were from. After that, we drew an outline of the US on a whiteboard and outlined our respective states (Michigan and New York.) We talked a bit about our states and cities; activities that are popular there, teenage life, and history. We then discussed other landmark cities in the US.
Next, we shared about American school. We started off by passing around my yearbook to the class and they were really interested in seeing firsthand through pictures what my school is like. We explained the schooling system (grades, ages, and courses.) The students were surprised about the freedom in class selection given to high school students. They were shocked at the lack of uniforms, prefects, and electronic restrictions. After elaborating on the academic portion of school, we discussed sports and co-curriculars. We explained the idea of school spirit and the significant role sports events play in a high schooler’s life.

Then, the floor was opened for questions. Inquiries ranged from our favorite Malaysian food to which One Direction member we found the cutest. It was interesting to see what they were curious about and to note the similarities and differences between our two cultures. In typical Malaysian style, they loved when we talked about how much we enjoy the food and how much weight we've gained because of it!

We continued to explain the Kennedy-Lugar YES Program. We talked about why the scholarship was created and what we hope to gain from our experience in Malaysia. We encouraged students to consider applying for the YES Scholarship in the future and many of them showed interest. Our lesson concluded with a song, “Smile, Sing a Song.” The lyrics were simple, but still managed to highlight the American mindset of always smiling in the face of conflict. The students seemed to enjoy singing it and we told them to keep the lyrics in mind as they plow through their end of the year exams.

Pictures were taken, autographs were signed, twitters exchanged and everyone left the lesson with a smile and a new sense of cultural exchange.