Muhammad Muiz Bin Ahmad Jefry (MIC190028)

GIG 1005 SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

Reflective Writing

The Secret of Life and DNA Fingerprinting workshop at SMK Lembah Subang

Muhammad Muiz Bin Ahmad Jefry Date : 6 March 2020 & 13 March 2020

Throughout my whole life, I always imagined myself doing volunteer work and even considered myself as a helpful and concern party in society. To be honest, it was just a picture that projected in my mind. I never had a chance to do any charity or volunteer work. I always afraid meeting with strangers and even start a conversation with them. It just wrong and awkward for me. I feel insecure whenever I saw my friend going back from volunteer work that I feel I also can join it too. When I entered bachelor degree phase, I made a vow to at least join one volunteer work every year or make a new friend with stranger or an acquaintance in order to increase my self-esteem for the sake of my future. Thankfully, for this semester I had a chance to make my dream come true. I registered for social engagement subject with an understanding about it as it demands for me to have a social connection with society. So hopefully I can prevent my social anxiety from fully control me. 

At the first meeting, we were briefly being told that we need to do a workshop at chosen secondary school around UM or near Kuala Lumpur. I was like oh, interesting. I wanted to suggest my alma mater which was a boarding school at Gombak. But unfortunately, Dr. Puah already assigned the school which was SMK Lembah Subang. My heart broke and my enthusiasms fade away. I automatically became blank and empty. Suddenly, I don’t want to participate anymore. Then my friend told me that it is okay. Take this opportunity to learn a new thing and make it a journey of wonderful adventure that you will always cherish. Then I remembered that my goal was to make a new version of myself by meeting a new change in my life. So, I accept the challenge and become exaggerated again although I still have a doubt deep down in my heart. Then we were told to become a facilitator and assist students about acknowledging DNA and its uniqueness. So my mental fully prepared for whatever obstacles in front. After attending the workshop before going to SMK Lembah Subang, I feel confident enough to teach the youngsters about DNA and having experiment with them. I feel that it is will be fantastic and eccentric.

The day arrived. I feel nervous and anxious at the same time excited. Before that, I learnt something on internet that whenever you want to make a stranger like you, you must have a great personality before engage with them. So I tried to make a best version of myself, becoming totally new Muiz, a person that always pleased to their eyes that have no flaws at all. Literally a perfect human being. Then, the obstacle came to us as we were informed to assist not science stream students but geography and business stream students that should have a basic understanding about DNA but apparently not because their teacher not teach the topic yet. I flabbergasted. How on earth can I teach them about DNA easily and smoothly. As a new person, I accept the challenge gracefully with dignity and not being too judgment and sceptical toward them. I thought them as kind as I could without being annoyed or weird to them. I try approach them with scientific scheme of teaching by being specific about the topic.  Apparently, that tactics not working. They not even focus from my lecture. I know that this thing is too heavy for them to process. Therefore, I need a new strategy to tackle their attention to me. I become the old me, a person that not perfect and I tried to judge them but I tried to be on their shoes. Then I start humbly use a simple understanding to teach them after spending a minute of time standing in their place. Out of nowhere, they focus on me and we back on the track. Everything went smoothly. They being kind to me. They accept me for being me, a person who have flaws and beautifully show it confidently, ignoring what people said about me.

As the workshop ended, I realised that it is quite fun to be engage with people that we don’t know and make a new friend meanwhile, strengthen the bond that I already have with my friends. I learnt that in this world, everyone has flaws but that doesn’t mean we need to hide it, we just need to embrace it. Being who you truly are is important because at the end you the want that decide what you want, not people or person that you barely know. Other than that, I realised that is not easy being a teacher or lecturer. The difficulty they faced every day, make me more respect them. At the end, the social engagement subject really make me a better person.