One CAS experience that was rewarding for me was the club trip to Chiang Rai. This trip was part of my club, EducatoryX, of which I am a vice president. The trip was to teach underprivileged children and visit a girls' shelter for girls who were at high risk of being exploited. During this trip, I had the chance to meet new people with experiences different from mine and faced problems. 

Some of the children I taught had to walk up mountains to get to school but still couldn’t access proper education. Many of their parents would take them out of school to do manual labor instead of studying, which was detrimental to their prospects. This made me think about the lack of education present in the world. I wanted to try and create solutions for them that weren’t just one time, like teaching them English once, but more permanent. Despite the language barrier and cultural differences, I could feel they had inquisitive minds that would thrive in a more educational environment. Meeting girls at a shelter for exploitation made me think the same. They were lucky and got a chance to learn and go to university, eventually supported by the shelter organization; how many others were not lucky enough to get selected? How could I think of a more permanent situation to help them? This puzzled me, and I’ll try to reflect on it and find a solution as the year progresses. 

This experience made me question my values and competency. At first, I felt that my efforts were insignificant to their problem, but after reflecting, I saw how I impacted the children. I had visited the girl's shelter before, and on this trip, I could see them getting out of their shells and being more comfortable with our group despite the traumatic experiences they had gone through. Through all of this, I realized that while I couldn’t change the whole world, I could make a difference in the lives of the people whom I was visiting, and even if that seems unrealistic, that is what I’ll at least try to do again for everyone this club impacts.