Reflection By Wei Tung

Firstly, I would like to express a big thank you to Alison Sharp, Bob Lee, and all those involved in organising the ‘Up Our Street’ Sparkhill Project. This project has provided me and other undergraduate students likewise the opportunity to gain experience by engaging in local community work that benefits individual lives. I chose to collaborate with ODARA, a Women’s Support Network because I personally would like to be involved in a community organisation which offers women the opportunity to grow personally, professionally and socially. I was part of the Fundraising & Promotion team, alongside my colleagues Taibah Khan, Moneeba Shebra, and Maryam Ahmed under the guidance of our mentor, Rameesha Premkumar. 

My journey throughout this project has been challenging in many aspects and if I were to reflect on all of them I could write a whole book! So, for the purpose of this reflection blog I am going to focus on one particular situation which comes to mind when I think of ‘The Standout Experience’. In particular, it was the process when we were organising a ‘Pizza & Pamper’ fundraising event for Aysha Iqbal, the CEO of ODARA. As I am unable to comment on what my other colleagues were thinking during that stage, it would be worthwhile for me to reflect on the manner of my personal conduct at the time. 

Honestly, I was slightly hesitant with the 'Pizza & Pamper Party' that was decided upon and did not fully engage with planning the event as I would like to. Part of the reason was probably because I felt slightly excluded from the group, considering my other 3 colleagues have known each other beforehand. Whenever we had meetings or discussions, I felt like we were all watching different channels and I could not work out what the individual motivation levels of my colleagues were.

We had compiled all the information and all that was left was for Aysha to conduct the outreaching and promotion. I suppose that was my natural reaction at the time considering I was unable to see any progress with the event after our group had set up a concrete plan. Thinking back, I don’t feel the same now that time has passed as I have had a look at the bigger picture and realised that Aysha has a lot going on and that she is handling many things at once. In terms of my personal values influencing me, I have become more understanding after that through patience and resilience. Our mentor, Rameesha has also been very encouraging to us in terms of our persistence in messaging Aysha and keeping up to date with her. 

As the weeks progressed, I took a step back and listened carefully to what my team had to say. This was a crucial step and I realised that we were all actually heading towards a common direction. Slowly, I could see our gaps being bridged and our solution for Aysha beginning to take shape. Upon reflection, I have learned to take a better control over my emotions even when things do not go as planned. I have developed to become a more understanding individual, and that if I encounter a similar situation in the future I would just take a step back and assess the situation by looking at the bigger picture. 

Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to Rameesha, our mentor, for her constant motivation and guidance throughout the project and of course my team members Taibah, Moneeba, and Maryam for all their hard work and resilience in embarking on this challenging project with me.