Blog Post 2: What Experience Tells Me

John Stuart Mill once said that "There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home," which is why I really was looking forward to that afternoon when Angelo Pitillo, the Director of the English Language Institute (ELI), and Carson Maynard, the ELI Student Services Coordinator, had been invited to talk about their experiences in hosting conversation circles and of course, give us tips in order to be successful as conversation facilitators ourselves. 

Again I told them about what's holding me back on this endeavor, and it was again consoling for them to tell me not to fret and that they believe I can be good at this. They provided us very helpful handouts. 

The handouts have literally became a fountain of ideas from like ideal conversation topics, games or activities that we can integrate while chatting, things to prepare before every session, and some dos and don'ts, including some of the problems that were encountered by previous facilitators and participants.  

I read it the entire evening on Thursday and prepared an outline of the things which I think should be relayed to my conversation circle right at the beginning, to wit:

a. my objectives (since I guess there is a need for the conversation circle to have a common goal, which includes improving oneself, overcoming anxieties in talking with other people, and just having fun while learning from others);

b. "rules" (well, I don't even consider these as STRICT as the rules in school; but my rules simply include their presence and participation, and to just have fun); and

c. I gave them a little snapshot of the possible things that we can do for the whole term (which I think is effective to ignite their interest and motivation).

Then Friday came. I got to the meeting place an hour early, obviously, because I am still not too confident about myself. And then I met Heejae Lee and Xi Chen at around 12:25. We started like the way normal conversations go - introduced names, majors, reasons for joining the Chat Cafe, interests, and the conversation just went on and on that we forgot about time. 

I gave them a fun game I call 'Name Acrostics' to at least give us ideas on what sorts of people we are while sharing many of their experiences, and honestly, I learned so many things about these intelligent ladies. I never realized it could be as fun as that! And needless to say, seeing their eyes beam with joy as they share their thoughts and excitement for this conversation circle, is by far very satisfying.

What about the outline I prepared? Well, I still followed it but not entirely. It sort of helped me go back to what I was supposed to tell them whenever I find that we are already off-tangent, though. But what I was sure of was that I really took seriously what Angelo told us: that to be successful at this, we only need to remember two things - to be real, and to have fun! 

Indeed, one can only have a full understanding of and realize the beauty there is in every situation when you actually experience it. I have learned now not to overthink; or else it will ruin every little fun that's supposedly awaiting us in every experience. And now, I find myself ever ready to converse and, more importantly, LEARN! :-D

          ~ Some people succeed in finding and knowing themselves thru experience.

Image: http://micahhorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/the-human-experience.jpg