Alicia Anne anak Mendarrick (MIC180002)

GIG1005 Social Engagement 

Reflective essay Workshop in SMK (P) Sri Aman

Alicia Anne anak Mendarrick (MIC180002) 7th April 2020 

At first, I always knew that during semester 2 of my year 2, I would have to take social engagement course which is a part of the compulsory university course. During my previous semester which is semester 2 of year 1 and semester 1 of year 2, I thought that I could bring forward this course so that I can have more free time during my second semester of year 2 since there are much more core course to be concentrate on. But to my avail, our social engagement course was a bit different from other bachelor’s degree students which they would combine with other courses and complete their working hour. Social engagement through Biomed Science was conducted by our own lecturer, Dr Puah Suat Moi and only participated by biomedical students (Year 1 and Year 2). 

After hearing and watching from other friends of different course that took social engagement beforehand, I was kind of scared because they said that they could not complete their volunteering hour if they do not sacrifice their weekend. So when Dr Puah made a briefing during our semester 1 of year 2, I was quite surprised because this social engagement will be conducted in a different way which still apply our knowledge in Biomedical Science and be simplified to match secondary student’s level. I was already thrilled and excited to participate in internal and external workshop which will be conducted in SMK (P) Sri Aman. 

The preparation for the workshop already started during our mid semester break which we need to prepare a ppt of DNA Extraction and quizzes. We also have several meetings among our self to decide who will be the presenter for presentation time and the demonstration. Two days before D-Day, an internal workshop was conducted so that we have a better insight of hands on demonstration for our first module : DNA extraction. Dr Puah was very dedicated to teach us with the help of few masters students and explained us one by one the function of each steps. We also able to grasp the insight of the module and shared our opinion on ways to conduct the workshop. 

28th February 2020 was D-Day of our first workshop in SMK (P) Sri Aman. It was definitely started like a normal student schedule which we still need to go to lab and lectures until 12 in the afternoon. After finished with lectures and lab, we gathered together in Centre Point, Faculty of Medicine and made a final check; laptop, necessary wire and quiz gifts. I was among the first six students to reach the school first, after greeted the security guard and introduced our self, he kindly showed us the way to teacher’s office and I was directed straight to the hall where we will be conducting our presentation. It was definitely quite a challenge since we were supposed to set up all the PA system, slides and speakers so that we can start on time according to the tentative but we were so clueless with the school’s PA system. But with the help of some students, I believe the school prefects, we managed to set up things and started the workshop on time. I was actually very nervous about the whole process but I know with the support from other course mates we will be doing fine. I actually have an experience being a facilitator for secondary school student in a volunteering project I had before. So I thought of using something that I learnt and greeted the students so that they can feel the warm of each facilitator. I was so surprised with how energetic the students were and being very productive by taking notes of the presentation. 

During the hands on activity, I had to replaced one of the group member and took over the first session since we need to start the activity on time. It was completely spontaneous, and although we had problems with the microphone and speaker, we manage to handle it quite well and the students were just so supportive. The next part of the workshop was the quiz session, it went a bit unstable since there were confusion on quiz answers. I acknowledge it that it was the entire team’s fault since we forgot to double check the slide and quiz prepared. Despite the flaws, I am very impressed with the students since they managed to caught on some of mistakes that we made and eager to know the right answers for each questions. I was supposed to be one of the group facilitator but since I had to lead the demonstration, I feel bad neglecting my assigned group. But everything went well when members of group 1 Year 2 volunteered to be with the students, I am very grateful for that. 

After finishing every session, I was completely drained out. Although some confusion and misunderstanding happened, I am very grateful that we work as a team and still manage to finish everything together. I definitely learnt a lot from this experience. I gained confidence and sense of responsibility during the preparation and demonstration part. I also learnt to accept every flaw and be flexible to overcome some problems during the workshop. We also received a good feedback from the students through the survey and some even wanted to have more session with us! 

This workshop definitely prepared us to be a whole rounded students as we communicate with different level of community, managing our time and team work matter in grouping work. I am very grateful for every guidance from Dr Puah and other group members and I hope this kind of activity are carried forward for the next batch. It was definitely a great and whole new experience. (958 words)