Connect Program Reflection Paper

The idea of meeting new people, from different backgrounds, through a cross-cultural virtual exchange
program, was exciting, especially because I get to speak in English, a language that I love but I don’t get
enough time to practice.

Participating in this Program and collaborating with people from different countries around the world
was a first for me. Usually I communicate with colleagues, or partners, face to face or through text,
never with a video conversation.

Turns out, the Connect Program way of communicating taught me the true essence and importance of
active listening. Since I didn’t have the possibility to interrupt, I actually listened better than usual and I
took notes of what was being said.

Usually, if I were to work with a group towards a shared goal finding time wouldn’t be an issue but after
this experience, I found out that it’s not always that easy when the members of the group don’t live in
the same time zone and the tasks are not well divided. In that case, managing time can be very tricky.

And that is, in my opinion, the only difficulty that we came across: time management.

However, the different backgrounds weren’t a problem. if anything, they were an advantage and a
motivation for learning, since we had different point of views, resulting from different realities.

Throughout this experience I met different types of people and different types of communicators. Some
took a more leading role and some others took a more following role. But all of us came up with
initiatives at different times. I also learned I can be a fluent and confident communicator even though I
don’t prefer a leading role that much.

This program made me realize that we need to speak up about issues that are ruining our environment
in particular and our life in general. The fact that the subject we chose (Overfishing) didn’t seem like a
serious issue at first but after doing my research turns out man is actually draining the ocean!

Point is: awareness has to be spread. More programs like this should exist, more debates have to be
organized.

The more you talk about a subject the more the others become aware.

All in All, this was an amazing experience. And I really regret not mastering up the courage to sign up for
it last year.

https://www.watchepisodes4.com/the-good-place-season-1-episode-6-s01e06_344490

Imen NAIJA