Service Learning in the form of this course was a blessing in disguise for me. This semester I took "Youth Development" course under supervision of our Lecturer Dr. Mohd Rashid Bin Abd Rahup. I started off being the assistant captain of the class, who had the responsibility of maintaining decorum and taking notes of the progress in the class. I worked under my fellow classmate Aqilah throughout the whole semester. Then after week 5, we started planning for the service learning event. Starting with the leader, we chose our departments and team volunteers. I became a part of a 3-member Multimedia team who was in charge of digital printing and photography during the event. We started working on the poster during week 7. I was in charge of the certificate for both the participants and the organizers. After finalizing the design, we printed out the papers for the event day on 14th of January in Benut.
Finally on the event day, I was in charge of photography and videography for the montage and the report. The event was supervised by our Lecturer and assisted by a guest speaker from UTM FABU named Robiah Bt Suratman. The workshop had introductory lectures and slide presentations. Then the participants were divided into 3 groups for discussing about 7 wonders of Benut and drawing a poster of mind map in it. A facility of food for 3 times a day was provided. In the closing ceremony, all the participants and the organizers were handed down certificates as a token of appreciation. Finally after a tiresome day in Benut, the workshop came to an end when we had to return back to our home.
As I am an international student, It was kind of difficult for me to communicate with people who spoke and conversed in native Malay as they are comfortable in it. But with great help from my classmates and especially my lecturer, I was able to overcome this hurdle. Throughout the semester, it was such a great learning experience for me. It taught great deal of practical skills of time management, leadership, teamwork and communication skills. These are some primary graduate attributes I developed within myself throughout the course. Every class and activity is worth remembering!