2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

I found out about ENGin from my teacher at school. It is a program where they connect volunteers from around the world with Ukrainians to give Ukrainians opportunities to have a tutoring session to learn English in times of their struggle during the Russo-Ukrainian War. Although I usually don't participate in volunteering activities as it requires time and effort, I felt that this is something I would be willing to do, because I thought that having a conversation with a Ukrainian and getting to know their situation and culture while teaching English would be a fun experience, and time and effort would be a lot worth it. 

After going to many inter-school events as CAS experiences, such as MUN conferences, I realized how fun it is to have conversations with new people and to get to know them. Ukrainians are people I don't usually interact with, and I don't have any acquaintance in Ukraine experiencing the war situation, so I was interested to know about their lives. 

Moreover, as English is also a second language for me, I know how it feels like to learn English, so that is the strength I have in order to sympathize with them easily. I am also hoping to work as an English tutor to make use of my English skill when I go back to my home country Japan after high school graduation, so I realized that taking part in ENGin would be a great opportunity for me to learn and prepare. 

Finally, I thought that it would be great if I could contribute in some way to improve the situation of the global issue, the Russo-Ukrainian War. As there are many Ukrainians migrating abroad, teaching them English can help them have easier times abroad. 

3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

When I first registered myself on ENGin website, there were some steps to go through before actually matching with a Ukrainian to have a session. 

1. When registering in the beginning, I needed to answer a questionnaire, such as my nationality, English level, reason of applying to this volunteering opportunity, hobbies, etc. There were also questions of my preference towards a Ukrainian student I would get matched with, such as their English level. These questions were in order to help the staffs choose which student would be the best to get matched with me. 

2. I scheduled a 15 minutes interviewing session with one of the staff members of the ENGin. In the interview, the interviewer asked me the reason for my application, some casual questions such as if I have been to Ukraine or countries nearby in Europe, and time frame in which I can have the sessions in. The interviewer seemed friendly and eased my nervousness. 

3. I needed to attend 2 training sessions (each with 45 minutes) to learn how to connect with a student, what to do during sessions, and how to interact with Ukrainians. Here, I was able to learn the general personalities and commonalities of Ukrainians and what to expect from them, as well as a way to handle different situations, such as when they made a mistake in English or when they are struggling from the war situations. Each session had around 15 volunteers like me from around the world, and I was amazed by how people from different regions of the world gathered in the same organization as me online to help the Ukrainians, and I was honored to be a part of this. 

4. I joined the Facebook Group for volunteers to share their experiences and ideas for the sessions. Reading some posts, I was inspired by some of the stories experienced by other volunteers and became more excited in joining this program. 

5. I took a short quiz about what I learned in the training sessions. Questions were multiple-choice-questions, and they were easy. I passed, so I was able to move onto waiting to be matched with a student.

6. I got an email about my student (or an "ENGin buddy"): her name, place she lives, her hobbies, and her contact. I then sent an email to this student asking what time would be the best for our session, as well as giving my social media information such as my Instagram account, so we can contact more easily. 

7. We connected ourselves on Instagram, discussed the suitable time for our session every week, and decided the platform that we will use (we chose Google Meet as we were both familiar with it). We were then prepared to have our first session!

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

On 16th/Dec./2022, I had my first ENGin session. Fortunately, my buddy was the same age as me, so we could talk comfortably. I first introduced myself, and asked my buddy to introduce herself as well. In the first session, we talked about how our sessions should be, and because she could communicate in English already, she requested to have casual conversations to talk about anything to improve her English speaking skills more.  We also talked about the basic information regarding the war situation, such as the electricity outage, so I was able to get to understand in what environment my buddy is having a session in. 

Since then, I have been having one session of 45 minutes every week. Sometimes we needed to change our session time due to schedule conflict, but we mainly had our session every Saturday at 10:00-11:00 pm (during winter time season) or at 9:00-10:00 pm (during summer time season). Every week, we decide a topic to talk about. For example, during the New Year season, I suggested to discuss about the New Year culture in Ukraine, Japan (my home country), and Thailand (country I live in). On other occasions, we come up with a random topic to talk about, such as movies we like, fashion, climate of our countries, and so on. Other than that, we usually talk about our daily lives and any special events that happened in the week. When she explains her story, she often needs to use Google Translate, but sometimes, I also help her to come up with the right English word. I also help her to use the correct grammar. Overall, I focus on making the conversation as fun as possible like a casual conversation rather than keeping it a "class," as that was what my buddy requested for. After every session, I note down things on a Google Doc about what we talked about during the session, such as the new Ukrainian culture I learned, the war situation, about my buddy, and so on. This way, I can get to know her better without forgetting, which can help me elaborate the conversation more in later sessions, as well as learn more about Ukraine. 

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

After a few months, I saw her getting better and better at speaking in English smoothly, but I also got better at teach her the right phrases in English, as I got to know her more, and I became better at guessing what she wants to say. As I also took notes after every session, I learned that getting to know the person well helps me to teach that person better. This is not only about English, but can also apply to anything else, so I should make use of this in the future.

 Sometimes, my buddy brings up English terminologies which I also haven't heard of before, or asks questions regarding why we use certain English phrases or rules in the way we use, which makes me ponder deeper about English rules and meanings, even though it is the language I use everyday. By considering together with the buddy, we could make new discoveries, which is also a learning lession for me to teach better in the future. 

Most significantly, I learned a lot about Ukraine. Although many Ukrainians seem to be busy evacuating when we see on news, because my buddy lives in a rural area, her area is safe, so I got to know the life of another Ukrainian which I don't usually see on TV news. She goes to school everyday and enjoys going out with friends as well as going to the gym during her free time. However, she also has to deal with the war situation. She told me that there are air alerts almost everyday, and she also hears loud sounds of military aircrafts everyday, which scares her. However, when she checks her phone to see that there is no air alert, she gets relieved that those airplanes were just Ukrainian ones patrolling.  She has a bright personality, but she sometimes complains about the war situation and how she hates the war. Although I am not good at comforting people, I realized that just listening to them and agreeing with them can support them, so I learned to do so whenever people around me are feeling down. When she gets air alert at school, all students have to evacuate to the basement area where they have to wait for a few hours, sometimes. When that happens, she and some other people head home, although it is supposed to be "dangerous" outside. She has online school alternate weeks, because her school's basement cannot fit all students at once, so different grade levels take turns having on-site and online schools. She likes this system, because she can hangout with her friends at school but also relax at home in alternate weeks. These are the real stories I heard from the voice of a Ukrainian living in Ukraine during the war times, which I wouldn't have gotten to know without taking part in this program. 

I not only learned about the war situation but also about Ukrainian culture. For example, I learned about what Ukrainian people do for Easter Day. With a bit of struggle, she explained to me step by step of how to decorate an egg for Easter Day in English. Other than that, I also learned about the school system in Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian food, Ukrainian climate, and so on. In return, I also explained about some of Thai culture and Japanese culture, and she was very amazed to know new things that I think is common. I was astonished to experience that in today's society, people from different parts of the world can connect ourselves online and have a similar experience as the exchange program.