The IAVE Youth Volunteer Conference became much of a sensation (to me at least). It was a simple event to bring people together from all over the world to share ideas and celebrate one another for having contributed something positive to their community in a bid to change the world. In a certain sense, it felt ironic to have met like-minded youths from all over who seemed to be searching for the core meaning for attending the event in the first place.
The adults were consistently pushing the delegates towards this vague vision. Speakers perpetually insisted that we held some power within each of us to do something great. The drastic bid to empower us to go out of our way to achieve the results of what some has already achieved felt pressurizing as the hours ticked away.
Yet, still, it was a great pleasure to be in the company of various people I'd now call my friends. They emerged spontaneously from various cultural backgrounds, countries, age groups and communities that they served. Most spoke articulately in English (and damn, I was really impressed, really). Almost everyone else came prepared with name cards to facilitate the entire networking process somehow. Felt utterly ashamed to be present without any form of identification (except my name tag which only had my name and country of which I represented).
So I met some Hong Kongers - Madeline, Wilson and Natalie. Madeline was an art student, and her name card, shoes, bag, and everything else had something artsy fartsy drawing on it. Wilson was a BBA student in the top university in Hong Kong, and he was really intelligent. And Natalie was a psychologist undergraduate who was really into clubbing (LOL).
Then there were 2 German boys - Jerry and Johan. They were high school students in Germany who decided to spend a year in Thailand to do Overseas Voluntary Service instead of Military Service back in their country. They were often curious about the little details. Often questioning the hows and whys.
There was Dan (pronounced Dawn) the Cambodian farmer. His family owned several hectare of rice fields in Cambodia. And, though backward in terms of technology, he was greatly aware of the various climate issues that his country was facing, and was really passionate when it came to sharing the little things each of us could do when it came to saving the Earth through environmentally practices that individuals could adopt back at home. I guess that was all I could really suss out.
Along the way we befriended Max and PickPorn from Thailand. Max was a Medical student who already had a Law Degree and was really into Politics. He was really amusing though with his little tricks and wide array of knowledge. He seemed to be a jack of all trades, but I haven't had time to discover which he actually mastered. Apparently he was really diligent back in Thailand. And his sincerity in sharing his knowledge made him emerge prominently amongst his other peers.
Then there were the Volunteer Ambassadors from the National Youth Council. Jiajia and Riduan from SMU who were really fun to be with. Sylvester, the 'matured' youth from the Youth Executive Council of Anchorvale CC. And of course my best buddies through the conference Thomas, Lourence and Edna.
Come to think of it, I really enjoyed those three days. Felt weird to have woke up on Monday to realize I wasn't heading down town to meet the usual gang I've been spending time with for 3 whole days.
Now - I'm back to being a jones intern.
Dreadful long night. Too many plans to fulfill in one life, too many dreams for one night.
Bottled sorrow. Music just lifts the worst of moods, you can't figure how genuine emotions really are these days.
Forced independence. Assuming a role you're not sure if you can take on on your own. But who (really) cares.
Polished Exteriors. Exuding false confidence that masks all other flaws.
Assumed Maturity. Age that indicates an inaccurate level of maturity that has been acquired.
Undeserved Inferiority. Because sometimes people think you don't deserve the luxury to feel insecure or be assured.
Quiet Times. The times achieved through utter isolation deep within. You literally achieve a quiet moment because you're silent.
Weak soul.
Non - denials. They just mean silence. Nothing more.
Logical assumptions. Normal step to take to form complete pictures - with the possibility of assumptions turning out wrong or incorrect.
Immunity. Pain and bruises don't hurt because something else hurts more.
Revenge. A way to feel better and make things work out.
Consensus met through actions mean more than those met through words.
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