Thida's Blog, Mic's Blog: Me and the Mental Switch

I was online Skype and chatting to a friend of mine, Pichnimol Or. He told me there was a kind of essay competition and asked me if I was interested in. I asked him for more information and he sent me this photo.

It was indeed interesting. At first, I had no idea what I was going to write, I thought it was challenging to condense the activity to only 250 words (but I did at last).

Because it was summer break and I didn’t have assignments to invest my time on, I gave it a try. Besides, the prizes were big; a 250-word paragraph of yours could win a 7-day trip to Singapore; this is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, isn’t it?

I watched a Korean drama days after being aware of the program. I laughed madly and loudly at the comical actress. I thought it was unconventional, so I jotted it down and sent it to the organizers.

Days after that, was told that I was one of the winner and I was called for an interview. I was excited. I went for an interview; I was my first interview and I didn’t do well, I knew it.

Later that day, while I was studying, I received a call. The person calling me was my mentor, her name is Sovann Srun. She told me she would mentor me doing anther experiment (or continuing the same experiment if I wished to).

I did another experiment; I wear glasses. It may sound simple to all of you, but it didn’t to me. My family, except my father, didn’t like seeing me putting my glasses on. They are afraid that others will know that I am myopic; they said nobody will marry me if I am short-sighted. Others would think that if, at this age, you see the world blurry, what about twenty or thirty years from now, you will be blind, and nobody wants to marry a blind woman. I was mad at them; I walked away and couldn’t stand their dislike. To me, it is not my intention to wear glasses, they are annoying already and others around you tried to tell how ugly you look with those on; my self esteem plunged. And because of those remarks, I didn’t wear glasses outside my house though I couldn’t tell if the person was smiling or frowning at me.

I did an experiment on that; I wore my glasses for two weeks straight despite the negative feedbacks I would received from others. That was a real challenge! And that was what I wrote about. I described how I felt towards myself, the feedbacks I had from others, how I dealt with it…

I got a second interview; and I got the fourth place.

If you asked me what I had got from this program, I would say ‘a lot‘. Despite the prize itself (electronic dictionary), what I have received may not be seen by others, but it can be felt by me and that’s more than enough.

Below are what I got from the Mental Switch Program:

A chance to meet Fulbright and other undergraduate program alumni. They had stories to tell; they are fun making people. They listened to you attentively and gave constructive feedbacks at the end.

A chance to meet Small World organization founder and a chance to visit the place. He’s an inspiring man. He taught me and other winners how to meditate (I long for this session). I love it!

Dinner cruise. This is beyond my imagination! Through this program, I have realized one of my dreams—to be on a dinner cruise along Mekong river! That was a terrific moment. I had the opportunity to discuss with my mentor, to get to know other winners and to gain enriching experience.