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| The Terengganu ETAs, 2012. |
The speech was to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the
first Peace Corps volunteers arriving in Terengganu, Malaysia. At the same
time, it was also to mark the conclusion of our journey as ETAs in Terengganu.
Jordan and I were honored to be selected to represent our cohort. However, we understood the difficulty of encompassing seventeen different Fulbrighters’ year-long
experiences into one commemoration speech. Fortunately, together, we created and
presented a speech that represented our cohort and a speech that truly came
from the heart.
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| Terengganu ETAs during our first along the coast. January 2012, when our journey was just beginning. |
“Nine months ago, as we drove north up Route 3 along the beautiful coast of Terengganu, we looked ahead and tried to imagine our future experiences in our new Malaysian villages and homes, and especially our time ahead in our assigned schools… That is where our journey as Terengganu ETAs began…”
Jordan and I went on to explain our journey
as ETAs in Terengganu, a place very different than our hometowns in America. We
broke our journey into five stages. We explained the stages and told
little, personal anecdotes that corresponded to each stage. The five stages we identified
were – shock, confusion, learning, exploring and finally, understanding. The
personal anecdotes and emotion really captured the attention of the crowd, as
well as the fellow Fulbrighters. Although
some stages were more difficult than others, each stage was crucial to our experience. All in all, our experiences, living and teaching abroad in Malaysia, challenged us, moved us,
and allowed us to embrace the highs, as well as the lows.
Jordan and I ended our speech by saying, “
Senyum sokmo.”
Smile always.
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