An Interview with Ryan SJ Hong, a Senior in Taipei European School who introduces the significance of his organization Guardians of the Stars, sharing his experience in founding a service project.
Interviewee: Ryan SJ Hong
Interviewed By: Dora Wang
Why did you start Guardian of the Stars?
My love for basketball. From practicing hooping by myself when I was in first grade to joining classes and camps, participating in teams in and outside of school, to competing in 3X3 games, I learned many valuable lessons throughout the years. I wanted others to enjoy playing basketball and grow from playing basketball just like me, and therefore it prompted me to help out in basketball camps for children. When I learned that there is an organization called the Association for the Promotion of Autism Adaptation to Sports and Leisure, dedicated to assisting young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in participating in various sports and leisure activities that needed volunteers in their Saturday basketball classes, I immediately signed up to help on a weekly basis.
The most ideal companion is 1:1 in the classes as volunteers assist in exercise routines that work on motor and body coordination skills, but the volunteers usually come sporadically. There may be 30 volunteers on one weekday but 5 on another. The weekly new volunteers are unfamiliar with the routines and there are times when there is simply not enough manpower to assist the ASD kids. So I started the idea of gathering a group of TES students that were interested to come regularly. I believe the more people understand ASD, the less discrimination or misunderstanding there will be.
I approached Mr. Laureti, responsible for CAS in TES and presented my proposal. There will be volunteering activities for the basketball classes which provide a good opportunity for TES students to understand how to work side-by-side with ASD children. As well as a bi-weekly meetings for experience sharing and activities such as movies or trivial pursuit or seminar talks to further understand ASD. I invited Mr. Laureti to come one Saturday to observe in person how volunteers work with the children and discuss how TES students can help out.
Children with ASD are sometimes referred to as STARS, they are like the stars in the sky, alone in their own world, but shining brightly and beautifully. I decided to name the organization Guardian of the STARS. We are not only guarding these ASD children during the Saturday basketball classes, in spirit we hope to be guarding all people with ASD and further to extend to guarding the principle of equity in the society.
can you share some memorable experiences you had with the kids?
Before I physically interacted with the ASD kids, I did not know what to expect. However, I learned not to expect and not to assume anything because ASD children may act in many different ways. I have gained many touching moments. For example, there was a boy who was very friendly; he hi-fives everyone he passes by and is very passionate. There was another boy who is usually very quiet and timid, but when it came to running around the gym as a warm up, he sprinted, showing a different side of himself. Another memorable moment I remember was the day Mr. Laureti came with his glasses in his left shirt pocket, a boy came past him, noticed and signaled for Mr. Laureti to wear it on his face properly. It took us a while to understand what he meant as we don’t normally notice the small things.There are many interesting incidents from these children with distinctive personalities.
Were there any difficulties you faced? If so, how did you overcome them?
Things got complicated after Guardian of the STARS got established since instead of being an individual volunteer, I now had to manage a team of volunteers who have conflicting and ever changing schedules due to school schedules. The list of volunteer names had to be provided to the organization before the Saturday sessions as they will print and hand out volunteer certificates. The organization will also update the volunteer list on the organization’s website. As I am the point of contact, I am responsible for briefing new members who join on the routines and assist the coach on side with any translations needed.
I decided to ask Matthew, a friend of mine in school to assist as co-chair, he takes care of internal communication with the school whilst I take care of external communication with the organization. For activities, we work together, for example, I propose an idea and Matthew will fine tune with details. We complement each other and work as a perfect duo.
Throughout the service, there will be problems along the way, however we learn by trial and error. The organization has never had foreign volunteers, so I helped them draft the English versions of the certificate. At first, members will sign up to be volunteers but never show up. This was a huge problem as the organization already printed out the certificates.It was a waste of time and money for the organization and it damaged the credibility of our club.
For our bi-weekly meeting, it was difficult to attract people to attend at first since it’s during lunch time. To solve this issue, we had to redesign our activities, in a way to promote the understanding of ASD in an interesting way.
What advice would you give to students who want to start their own service projects?
You really need to be passionate about what you want to do, setting your goal and trying to stick with it. The path may deviate once in a while, but always remember why you started the service project in the first place, correct the path and re-focus.
When you have an idea, do some research on the feasibility. Discuss with your parents, teachers and peers and ask around for available resources and support. Do not be shy to ask for help. Guidance from an experienced predecessor will save you a lot of unnecessary work and time. There is no need to do everything by yourself. No one is an expert in all fields. Recognize what you do not know and find partners to help you. Getting a team of people with various strengths and delegate the tasks per their strength, will increase the probability of success.
What Have You Learned from Your experience?
I learnt that there is a difference between being a good leader and being a good manager. If you believe in what you do, you will be able to persuade others to join in and work toward your causes. I admit I wasn’t good at managing details, I was not good at making public presentations or hosting meetings, but I have learned and improved much from working together with my good partner Matthew during the past year.
The experience working with the ASD children has also taught me to be more compassionate, to be more open-minded and to be more accepting of people who may seem different from us.
I have shared my experience with my ex-classmate from Fu Hsin Bilingual School, a few of them have also joined us in the Saturday volunteer work. Hopefully more and more people will join us and even after graduating from high school, will dedicate themselves to be the guardian of the stars for life.
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