This reflection on the recently concluded IGNATIAN STUDENT LEADERSHIP FORUM in Yogyakarta is from Chia Yu Lin, a student from St. Aloysius Technical School, Hsinchu Hsien, Taiwan.
Chia Yu Lin
The Ignatian Student Leadership Forum (ISLF) was held from August 15 to 21 in 2016 in Jogjakarta of Indonesia. The forum aims at making young students from Jesuit high schools in the Asian region learn how to be a good leader and know the importance of self-reflection. As I heard about the news that I was chosen to attend this forum, I became a little nervous. For one thing, I was one of only two participants from Taiwan; for another, we needed to take the flight to Indonesia without any teacher to accompany us. I began to think that it might be a dangerous journey. But after thinking for a while, I thought I would just need to be very careful during the trip. I couldn’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The flight from Taiwan to Jogjakarta is a connecting flight, so we needed to board another plane heading to Jakarta. When we arrived at the Jakarta airport, there were many foreigners around us. All that we heard were foreign languages. We thought English could save us for a good communication. However, we were wrong. People at the airport spoke Indonesian more than English. The situation even got worse when both of us tried to understand what others were saying in such a large airport. Luckily, we asked the airport ground staff to guide us to take a bus to reach another terminal. This experience taught us never to be afraid of talking to foreigners. Even if we were very likely to make mistakes with our limited English, people would try to understand what we were saying by observing our body language and facial expression.
The ISLF began with self-introduction and different kinds of group activity. I was really excited because I saw many students from different countries gathering here, sharing their own stories. One of the opening activities was that each group was given one hundred pieces of paper. We had fifteen minutes to fold all the papers into a creative building. To accomplish this goal, every group member needed to exchange and offer their ideas and suggestions to the group, and of course English was the only language that we used.
I found the participants and the staff very kind. We eventually became friends despite the fact that we had just known each other for one day. People even paid very much attention when I was introducing and reading my Chinese name. Eventually they could repeat my name correctly in Chinese. Other than this activity, there were still many others that actually offered us participants the chance to learn what good leaders should bear in mind. Such good values are “Don’t give what we don’t have, be creative, think outside the box, and always challenge yourself.”
What impressed me most was that we were given adequate time and space for reflection after every activity. During the reflection, we kept many questions in mind, asking ourselves about what the activity meant, what I learnt from the program, and so on. The reflection is not for blaming ourselves, but for reminding us not to make mistakes again. The reflections were so powerful that I got in touch with my deeper self, and I felt encouraged to become a better person.
There was an immersion on the third and fourth days. We went to the village and experienced the local Indonesian life. The villagers there showed their warmth and hospitality during our visit. Although some uncomfortable circumstances happened, such as I could only take really cold shower in the evenings and there were many insects in my room, my host family was always trying their best to treat us nicely. Observing their generosity for treating guests like us, I adjusted my mood too. I gave them my smiling face instead of a “cool” facial expression, as my appreciation.
On the sixth day, we were brought to some famous tourist destinations such as Borobudur Temple, Sultan Palace, Malioboro Street, and Prambanan Temples. Throughout the beautiful scenic spots, wonderful selfies with the most breathtaking views of the country as the background were taken. Thanks to this wonderful leisure time, I made many friends from different countries during this city tour, we talked about our own culture and interests, we even gave our contact information to each other. It was really meaningful to me, and I really had a lot of fun with these special friends from the other parts of the world.
After the city tour, everyone felt sorrowful because we all knew that it was the last moment for us to be together. So we gave each other a big goodbye hug and busily created the chat groups on our Line and Facebook apps in order to keep in contact with each other when we return to our own world.
I will forever be grateful for having this opportunity to attend the Ignatian Student Leadership Forum at the age of 16. I’ve earned the valuable chance to intensively improve my English speaking skills during the week. I guess this is how a global citizen is cultivated. Furthermore, the interaction with others in a whole new environment allowed me to examine the unknown side of me. I wish I will always remember this meaningful journey and try to push myself to reflect more in the days and years to come.
Very special thanks go to the school principal, Jerry Tang, for giving me the chance to see more, think big, and learn humbly. Moreover, I would like to appreciate the Chen-Hsian Educational Foundation that supported the flight ticket and the forum fee for me to gain this wonderful experience.This journey, however, will never be complete and wonderful without the support from my dearest parents. Thank you all!
