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#I gained the courage to pursue a new career path #A valuable experience overcoming stage fright #The pride of gaining the courage to face things instead of worrying
While taking a gap year in Cambodia, I was able to take time to think about my future, and now I am nurturing a new dream. Also, by volunteering with the children,something I had I was able to overcome my stage fright, and after volunteering I went on another journey to find myself which gave me a lot of strength!
Childcare teacher volunteer work in Cambodia Seong Eun-young, gap year participant (39)
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Through the gap year I had time to reflect on my future and a new dream emerged!
Hello. I''m 39-year-old woman Seong Eun-young. I worked as a private academy instructor teaching mathematics.HoweverCurrently, while taking a gap year doing overseas volunteer work in Cambodia, I began to reconsider my future and started to cultivate a new dream of becoming a public servant.
*For Seong Eun-young, who wanted to take time to experience new challenges and future career paths,activities offering unique challenges, a tailored one-on-one personal mission every day to reflect on life''s direction were provided, and a gap year note to look back on herself and make plans was also given.
Through the gap year I had time to reflect on my future and a new dream emerged!
I worked as a private academy instructor for about ten years. Then at some point I began to worry about the direction of my life. While worrying, I also thought that until now I had only worked for myself and had never volunteered for others. So I decided I should find a way to volunteer using the skills I have, and joined Gap Year''s overseas volunteer program in Cambodia.
I hadn''t traveled abroad much, so at first I was afraid, butsoon that desire to overcome the fear on my own grew and I gained the courage to depart.
Through this experience I wanted to find the direction of my life.
During this gap year through the Cambodia volunteer activity, I wanted to find the direction of my life.At 39... I wasn''t sure whether I could continue like this.
So I thought I needed a variety of experiences, thoughts, and feelings. I wanted to experience what it feels like to stand in a place other than the ground I always stand on, and I wanted to know what people from different cultures think and how they live. Ultimately, I was curious about what kind of happiness they pursue there and how they set and move forward with the direction of their lives.
As a result, now that I''ve been to Cambodia, I have firmly decided on the new direction for my life.Right after the gap year project ended, although I''m older, I challenged myself to a different career path.
I think it helped that I developed the mindset of not just worrying but confronting things head-on.I was able to think, ''Let''s just try it, let''s go; if it doesn''t work out we can go in another direction.''
I also wanted to show love to the children in Cambodia like my father did..
In fact, at first many people didn''t understand that I suddenly quit my job and left.Nevertheless, I wondered: why should I go? Why go all the way to Cambodia?The answer was "Let''s go!" Then I placed a copy of my passport, a letter, an itinerary, and so on on my dining table and boarded a plane to Cambodia.
My father believes that giving to others is a virtue. He says that when you give to others, the merit comes back to us, so he gives not just moderately but gives everything until people tell him it''s the best. He does this even when people take advantage of him. Maybe the power of genetics is very strong? Like my father, I wanted to give love to the children in Cambodia.
The first thing I experienced upon arriving in Cambodia was riding a tuk‑tuk. Since it was my first time and I didn''t know the prices, I paid whatever they asked. Once, while riding a tuk‑tuk with my roommate, my roommate negotiated with the driver. At first I thought, "Why not call out a low price from the start instead of exhausting each other?" and then I realized it overlapped with how I used to buy clothes in Dongdaemun during college.In Korea I had forgotten that it is the processes, not the conclusions, that make life rich.
# I used to have stage fright, but while teaching classes with the children I gradually gained confidence!
Actually, I have stage fright and fear of presentations.I even get very nervous when speaking with close friends.Ironically, I was a math academy instructor in Korea. I had to overcome that fear to earn a living.
And I worked as an English teacher in Cambodia for a month. If I had volunteered in Korea, I wouldn''t have had such a special experience. With the children staring only at me, I couldn''t run out saying I couldn''t do it. We started with the alphabet, then fruits, animals, and name-guessing games.Strangely, the children followed along well as if it didn''t matter whether I majored in English. So I gradually gained confidence and the classes flowed naturally like water.
# About volunteering in Cambodia!
The volunteer work I did in Cambodia involved playing with and taking care of Cambodian children.We mainly divided classes by age groups, and the teachers organized programs to play with the children.
Among the Cambodian children I met, a boy who took such good care of his younger sibling left a strong impression on me. His little sister was noticeably small in stature and almost daily suffered from stomach aches. Each time, that boy acted silly in front of his sister.He seemed to think that if his sister laughed, she would hurt less.Seeing that made me reflect on myself, and it became an occasion for many thoughts.
# After the Cambodia volunteer work, I went on more journeys to find myself.
After finishing the volunteer schedule, I traveled around Cambodia for about a week. I visited Angkor Wat and Sihanoukville. At Angkor Wat, I was overwhelmed by its grandeur and felt like I was traveling through the past.
There I met many people from various countries. In places where a curious photo is created when many people gather in a circle, I hesitated because I was alone, and nearby foreigners came together and took the photo with me. And because Angkor Wat is so vast and I got lost, a French couple walked with me, and a Czech couple gave me a tuk‑tuk ride. It felt warm.
This feeling is something you can only experience when traveling alone.Feeling that warmth made me somewhat overcome my fear of traveling alone.
Sihanoukville is a quiet, clean, and peaceful place, good for resting.So I was able to take time to reflect on myself.
As it was my first trip abroad, I was rather ambitious because I thought this opportunity might be my last. So I didn''t want to take the same photos as everyone else. I wanted to feel things based on experience and have various thoughts. I was curious how I could view and accept the different perspectives of people living in different environments. Ultimately, I wondered how to apply that to my life and find the direction of my life. After that, I challenged myself to become a civil servant, which wasn''t my original career, and took time to look back on the process of getting here.
# My personal tips for preparing for volunteering in Cambodia!
- Meals and supplies
: The meals provided by the local volunteer organization were tasty. Occasionally I bought food outside. Also, I strongly recommend bringing kimchi and instant noodles! :) And I recommend that you definitely get travel insurance!
My gap year is!
Experience ★★★★★
Learning ★★★★★
Leisure ★★★
Seong Eun-youngvisitedCambodia Overseas Volunteer ProjectWant more information?!
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