Alumni

Applying Knowledge and Experience from
IATSS Forum & Paying Forward to Community

Participant's Voices

Achika

  • Country : Malaysia
  • Forum : 49th batch (2012 Autumn Forum)
I am one of the luckiest people on earth to be selected and given the opportunity to join the 49th IATSS Forum in 2012. It’s a dream come true! We have just received our 2nd information kit, and I know that we are going to learn so much and at the same time have lots of fun. Despite having so much to prepare and research for the seminar topics prior to our trip, I really can’t wait for the travelling dates to come – to learn, experience, discover myself, discover the world! I look forward to spending useful and enjoyable time with people across Asia and broaden myself with knowledge and understanding of the social, cultural, environmental, economic and political perspectives of the ASEAN countries and in particular, Japan. The cross culture teamwork and working with people from different professions and backgrounds will definitely be exciting and an eye-opener. And also, the staff and members of IATSS forum have been very warm, welcoming and hospitable even prior to our arrival – domo arigatou gozaimas! I’m sure we will all have a great time there!
Hello from Malaysia! The IATSS forum was over last November 2012, but I really miss it so much. I first prepared for the trip with this in mind: To Learn, To Experience, Discover Myself, Discover the World. The IATSS forum was that, and even much more to me. It exceeded my expectations in so many ways, especially the hospitality of the people I met during my stay. The fuse of formal and informal learning during the program brought about a very unique experience. It is one of the golden opportunities I had in my life to develop my non-cognitive skills - skills that are very important for us to survive and succeed in this world today. We came a long way from the comfort of our daily lives to gather with people from different countries, shared ideas, laugh, cry, sing, dance, crack our brains for ideas, write reports, meet deadlines, did endless presentations and did things we never thought we could and would. The best things in this world like love, friendship and experience cannot be materially measured and calculated. What we learned during the forum cannot be marked and quantified in any way, but the soft skills we have acquired during our 55 days here can never be replaced or taken away.

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