HAPPENINGS

The rewards of cultural exchange

“Education is an admirable thing,   but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” - Oscar Wilde

From playful activities during childhood to competitions (whether intellectual or physical) while growing up, we have this tendency to compare ourselves to others, an urge or desire to be better than the rest. We term that development and learning. Another way of looking at this is that in being educated thus, we are also internalizing the culture around us. Besides inculcating values such as sportsmanship and teamwork, competitions foster both community integration and personal fulfillment.

New environments, new friends

It’s not just about grasping the new culture you are introduced to; it’s about sharing your own customs and traditions with the host teams, too! The best thing about this sort of interaction is there is no time for cultural shock. New schedule, new lifestyle, homesickness become the least of your worries; the more involved your team is the quicker you adjust to the new environment.

The support which the visitors receive strengthens personal relationships and helps teams to expand their horizons and look at things from a new perspective. The people you meet belong to different geographic areas and possibly diverse disciplines as well; you are well out of your comfort zone. The experience boosts self-confidence, leadership skills and develops a greater understanding of how people live around the world. As a result, you begin to respect their beliefs and accept the differences between you.

You are your own rival

One of the most important realizations is that this is just one stage and not the endpoint. As long as you are challenging yourself, you are still winning the game. You are getting to know yourself better. Overcoming obstacles, developing independent opinions, adopting innovative techniques - the practical form of learning in other words - has this great sense of accomplishment.

You know that you are in the spotlight all the time, even while you are adapting to the new place or while you demonstrate skills (that you usually find difficult to express back home); now is the time to impress the senior management and achieve educational - and professional - goals. Use their feedback to sharpen the saw.

So, what happens when educational institutions try to motivate their students by providing them a platform where they can uncover their aptitude and excel? Where the objective is not to exploit any participant, where there is no stress to win. The 2nd Beaconhouse International Students Convention (BISC) 2017, held last month at Malaysia, gave us a chance to explore this trail of thought further.

 “I love sports and I usually play soccer. My experience at the second BISC was great. I learned a lot of things from this experience. I took part in Futsal (girls) and we achieved a Gold medal. We were ranked first since we won against all the other BSS teams,” told a beaming Bismah Sawal, one of the participants.

The teams included students from different branches of the Beaconhouse School System in eight different countries, including Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Oman and Philippine, facing each other in athletics, swimming, basketball, futsal, badminton (girls and boys), science projects, B-talk, and quiz competitions.