CCP Blogger: Reflection and Looking Forward

As the end of the semester is fast on our heels, I'd like to take some time to reflect on my time as a Centre for Community Partnerships (CCP) blogger this semester. I feel that I've encountered and learned a lot through my role, even though it has been difficult at times.

One of my goals earlier this semester was to become more familiar with facilitation in workshop settings. This semester, I attended a workshop on facilitation methods and strategies hosted by Student Life Clubs and Leadership Development, which gave me some theory and exercises to practise on my own. I also tried to engage the community through events such as the Literary Meet and Greet, The Colour Wheel Project with Art Starts during Nuit Blanche, as well as tabling at Word on the Street. I learned a lot about event facilitation, social media promotion, sewing, fashion design, and the reality of tabling for journals. Earlier this semester, I also wanted to engage with more personal pieces of writing. Looking back and reviewing my previous blog posts, I feel that I've been honest and authentic to myself.

Next year, I want to look into the Work Study booklet more thoroughly as well as some of the training provided online. As well, I'm now more than aware of how short-term 'solutions' to problems can have lasting ramifications. For instance, whenever I added more to my plate in the past to distract myself from my negative emotions, I didn't realize (explicitly) that one day it would all backfire on me. Dealing with reality, asking for help, and attempting to address the root of my concerns is the only way I can move forward. I've also reached out to Health and Wellness and Accessibility Services this semester, which I hadn't really considered these past few years as I believed I could handle everything by myself. Most recently, I believed that I would try to overcome things alone because if I couldn't, then I wasn't strong enough. However, my friends made me realize that after a certain point, I was merely suffering by myself. So I reached out again, and I feel a lot better after having done so.

I've always believe that the core of community engagement is taking care of myself, since it would be hard to attend events if I wasn't feeling well. However, in the past, I didn't understand how to do it. Honestly, I still have trouble with it. But I hope that by asking for help, I can somehow learn to be sustainable with my energy and my efforts. I used to want to be a shooting star, something that shone brilliantly if only for a moment. The flames didn't need to last; they only needed to have impact. But now I've found many things to live for and people who are precious to me. Accordingly, I can't live the same way again.