1. Why are you here?
2. Do you have a personal goal? What is it?
3. How can the group be supportive?
4. What is a challenge you anticipate?
As a returning student on the trip, this being my third year, these prompts were really interesting because they also let me reflect on previous trips and think about how this trip would be different from past ones. It took me a while to think of an answer to the first prompt because I kept thinking to myself "How is it different this time around?" I finally came to a conclusion. Over the past two years of coming to Jamaica for J-Term, I have created a real connection to the work we do here. I think I keep coming back because I have a genuine desire and interest in the people we meet, experiences we have, and the extensive learning about such a culturally and historically rich country. I am here to keep furthering this experience year after year and continue developing connections I have already formed. Participating in this trip has done many things for me. It has sparked a real interest in aspects of sociology and people that I don't think I would have found otherwise. The trip has also created something constant throughout my high school career which has turned out to be a really valuable thing for me to experience.
When I first started thinking about my personal goal for the trip, I thought of spending a lot of time with the people of Falmouth to evolve connections we already have with locals in different positions in the community. As I thought about this I realized that maybe that wasn't what my goal was or what it should be. I realized that my goal is actually to expand the level of diversity in the people we talk to and create a bigger network of connections for us for the future. Then later this year when fellow students and I come back for A-Term, we can use this network of people to help develop the city study we will be establishing and use it to create an in-depth look at what we decide to study.
The simple answer I thought of at first to how the group can be supportive is to be collaborative; for all of us to work together to do the work we intend to do and support each other along the way. As I kept thinking about it, I though of a more complex answer which I brought up during seminar after we all journaled on these prompts. I thought that a better answer to this question is to listen to each other. After talking to so many people who have been on this trip in the past, everyone seems to get different things out of the experiences we have. If we all listen to each other and discuss what we got out of the experiences we share, then we all will have a much deeper understanding of what we are learning. This will lead us to support each other's ideas and understanding, creating a richer experience for us all.
Lastly, this prompt was the one that drew my attention most. "What is a challenge you anticipate?" I think my having previous experience on the trip was very beneficial when thinking about this question. While we're here, there are a lot of different ways as to how we are perceived by locals in Falmouth. Some people see us as tourists, others understand the work we are trying to do, and a lot just don't get it. I decided the challenge I anticipate is for that line to be blurry. A challenge we come across is talking to these people to help them understand what we are doing so that they treat us like more than tourists, to try to get to a place in our conversation where they feel they can talk to us without holding back because we look like American tourists who came through the port. When we get to this place during an interview, it can bring so many amazing things. It not only gives us much more raw information, but also helps us develop a more authentic relationship with the person.
These prompts forced me to think about how I want to approach this trip and led me to develop ideas on what to do to make it as beneficial and enriching as possible.
Listen for makes a difference in what people are dealing with and are about. Love what you’re up to! Xo- beth
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