I have always absolutely hated writing compositions and keeping diaries, so when the teacher said we were to enter the Taiwan Schools Cyberfair, I was already saying "no" to myself deep down.
But when I went home and told my mom all about it, she thought it would benefit me greatly in the long run, and only then did I join. After becoming part of the team, it was like falling from heaven to hell—before I had only minimal amounts of schoolwork, but after joining I had loads. But, I didn't think I should quite too easily, and that I should learn to face my challenges. Many thanks to the teachers' guidance and my parents' help and support.
When I first joined Sock Doll Expedition, I was one lost individual who had no idea what this team was about at all—for all I cared, joining the expedition meant I could not only be exempt from all nap times (mandatory in Taiwan schools), but have access to the computers in the computer lab, and there was no way I was going to let that chance slip away. But, after each group gathering, there are always tasks to complete, and all of it started to feel much more taxing than I had originally thought. I was juggling schoolwork, Expedition matters, and cram school exams, and constantly felt like a top spinning non-stop.
My most unforgettable experience was that one time at morning assembly when I had to promote our charity event in front of all the students and teachers. The thought of talking through a mic on stage alone was enough to set my legs shaking, but luckily with much rehearsal beforehand I was able to satisfactorily perform the task. As for the charity event, it was on the whole fairly lively, and the sock dolls we had prepared were sold out in not time. We were all happy and excited, and felt for ourselves the deep capacity for love of the people around us.
What occasioned my participation in the Sock Doll Expedition was my mom asking me whether I wanted to join. I originally thought that it’d be easy and simple, but, quite the contrary, it turned out to be hard work, and I was required to type out quite a few articles. Regardless, I gained much as well: I became more efficient in handling things, learned how to conduct an interview, saw the importance of sympathy, and came to appreciate the usefulness of planning in advance.
After joining, I found myself constantly dog-tired, always short on time, and never having time to catch my breath and properly rest. But then a thought happened upon me: perhaps my lethargic attitude has to do with my personality or with my lack of training, so I resolved from then on to set time limits for tasks at hand to push myself, and hopefully get rid of my lethargic character.
It all started one afternoon when I, recommended by my teacher to join the Expedition, walked into the computer lab without too much thought, oblivious at the time to the series of fantastic and intriguing journeys with sock dolls I would be embarking on. Though with the gradual increase of workload from just a little to barely manageable did at one time inspire in me a desire to quit, I regained confidence with the encouragement of my teacher and classmates, and persevered through all the challenges that came.
Our work eventually paid off. We completed our interview, and prepared to engage in the main event of the Expedition: the charity event. We made many sock dolls for sale, and a rather devious though glanced through my mind: back the doll I made myself! Yet, I thought to myself, if I did, wouldn’t our purpose of spreading love be defeated? In the end, hence, I still steeled myself to sell my own creation, and via this act I came to realize just how good it feels to spread love. To receive one must first give!
After that, we went to other locales to teach other children how to make sock dolls, and I found out just how delighting helping others can be. It is unfortunate that, as the saying goes, as all good things come to an end, our Expedition will soon be disbanded. I really want to thank my teacher for staying up during nap sessions at noon to give me guidance. This event has left an impression on me, and I hope that our work would come to something.
The Sock Doll Expedition is a team that required synchronized teamwork from all members, and effective communication and reciprocity are absolutely essential to the proper functioning of the team. Our team just so happens to be one of this caliber.
I acquired much knowledge through my experience with the Expedition that were not in textbooks: everything from studying past awarded works and Ms. Doremi’s blog, to making a site map myself, preparing questions for the interview with Ms. Doremi and Ms. Emily, the actual interview itself, coping with my stuttering during the interview, and typing everything out after the interview. In addition, learning how to make sock dolls, how to be a dutiful interviewer, how to hold a charitable sale event, and how to teach other children at Hemei Experimental School how to make sock dolls—all these are first-time experiences for me.
But through participation to the very end in these events, I feel that I have improved in many ways, and learned many things. Appreciating and incorporating what is commendable in others into myself, feeling what it's like to interview and be interviewed for the first time, partaking in the charity sale—all these and much more were new for me, things that textbooks couldn't teach me, but were imparted to me thanks to the Expedition. It also showed me how I too could help others, and how delightful it could be.
I’ve come a long way from being a complete stranger to the Expedition to seeing the events of the Expedition draw to a close. Thanks to the assistance provided by the Teachers, we were able to overcome all the difficulties we’ve encountered, and I was able to learn much as well as derive from it all a sense of accomplishment. Throughout the events I learned how to make site maps, how to utilize computer software, how to make sock dolls, how to conduct an interview, how to grasp key points, how to interact with students with disabilities, and so forth. Among all this, the most problematic part for me was composing manuscripts, which required not only a succinct understanding of what is said by the interviewee(s), but moreover a lot of time to type it all out—an especially challenging task, as my typing speed is rather low, but also the perfect opportunity to train my typing ability, which improved much through this experience.
But the most delightful part of it all is being able to make sock dolls with all the other Expedition members. As all of the dolls we made would be the fruits of our hard work, we were initially very reluctant about selling our own creations, and even thought about buying our own sock dolls ourselves, or simply not putting as much effort into making them since they’d be sold to someone else anyway. However, after interviewing Ms. Doremi and Ms. Emily, we came to realize why the two Teachers were willing to sacrifice and devote themselves to helping the underprivileged, and were able to truly feel the joy of helping others, to appreciate it is indeed “more blessed to give than to take.” So we changed our minds about selling our creations, and all of our sock dolls were not only filled with love but fabulously embellished. We are above all happy to be able to spread our love through the charity sale, to contribute to helping the underprivileged.
Among all the events, during our visits to Le-shuo Speech Therapy Center and Hemei Experimental School we came into contact with children with special conditions, and during our visit to the Pu-li Church in Nantou spent time with underprivileged families. These encounters made me realize how fortunate I am to have a healthy body, a bright mind, and a happy family, to moreover know to cherish what I have, and to make full use of my potential so that I can help more people in the future.
Time flies, and the Cyberfair seems to have ended in almost the blink of an eye. I came to know more about the world during this time, to know that there are people who put love and charity before play and fun (very unlike myself), also to know that there are many children in the world with disabilities and in need of others’ help, which compelled me to reflect how happy and fortunate I am.
We felt reluctant to hear that the Cyberfair was coming to an end, because we’ve come a long way together over the past months, having gotten to know each other and developed a sort of revolutionary solidarity. To suddenly be asked to disband still takes a lot of getting used to, and I hope that next year I’ll be able to participate again.
I would like to express my thanks to the teachers who sacrificed their own breaks to help us, to show us every step along the way, and to allow us to walk away with so much. Thank you.
When I first joined Sock Doll Expedition, I thought that it would be an easy time, that it'd mostly be the Teachers making things while we provided occasional assistance.
As it turned out, however, even setting up a website involved a lot of effort and resources, and preparations for interviews, and all sorts of experiences besides, they all required a lot of time and concentration, but I gradually acquiesced. I adjusted with time and began viewing the interviews and experiences as fun excursions, engaging myself with a more relaxed and cheerful mindset. Though our stringent teacher would constantly task us with demanding orders,
these also in turn inspired in me the willpower to efficiently complete all the work distributed. My writing skills and typing speed have improved, and I can feel that I've really changed during my time with the Expedition.
