Hello! My name is Sean Yeat. I was born in Chikreang district to the east of Siem Reap city and I moved to live in Siem Reap city in 2007 to pursue my education. I graduated from my high school diploma in 2012, I had applied for a JWOC scholarship but I was not accepted at that time. I had no regrets about my failed application; the main reason was my poor English for my personal essay. By the beginning of the year 2013, I was still unable to continue my higher education at a local university in Siem Reap. However, I did not let the time pass by, I tried to study English from 2 hours to 5 hours per day at a pagoda and a private school. In the same year, I applied for a JWOC scholarship again, and I was very confident about my English ability. I was chosen to be a JWOC scholarship student under the support of Jay Timmoms and family from America.
I am now a third year JWOC scholarship student at the University of Southeast Asia (USEA), my major a bachelor of Education in Teaching English. As a scholarship student, I had great opportunities to volunteer as an English teacher in 2012, I taught students from beginner to elementary levels. I participated in monthly teacher development workshops and learnt new things to develop my skills.
In 2013, I wished to learn new things, so I changed from Free Classes Program to the Community Liaison and Assistance Program (CLA). Being a community facilitator officer, it was a great year of my volunteering period. Being this role, I went with my team every weekend to underserved rural communities to conduct home-garden surveys, meeting different people that I would never have done before (such as government officers, local authorities, villagers and other NGOs staff). In the CLA team we were a family, we gave up our time, and while other youths were enjoying their weekends we were at the village – sometimes I would volunteer from the morning through to the evening. I love JWOC and my team. I have learnt a lot of things via the projects such as the home-gardens, nutrition, community assistances training. I used to lead a field tour to the village with our guests, including JWOC’s executive director, Jane Price. I trained villagers the procedures of home-gardens, it was one of my scarce public speeches. If confident, I could do it and improve a lot.
In 2013, I wished to learn new things, so I changed from Free Classes Program to the Community Liaison and Assistance Program (CLA). Being a community facilitator officer, it was a great year of my volunteering period. Being this role, I went with my team every weekend to underserved rural communities to conduct home-garden surveys, meeting different people that I would never have done before (such as government officers, local authorities, villagers and other NGOs staff). In the CLA team we were a family, we gave up our time, and while other youths were enjoying their weekends we were at the village – sometimes I would volunteer from the morning through to the evening. I love JWOC and my team. I have learnt a lot of things via the projects such as the home-gardens, nutrition, community assistances training. I used to lead a field tour to the village with our guests, including JWOC’s executive director, Jane Price. I trained villagers the procedures of home-gardens, it was one of my scarce public speeches. If confident, I could do it and improve a lot.
By the year 2016, I decided to engage with communication team, it was hard to say good bye to my previous team that used to volunteer together (however I still volunteer with them sometimes). In the communication team, I have Josh as my communication manager; he is so kind and friendly. Together, we play very vital roles to make JWOC achieve its goals for the next ten years. I am looking forwards to achieving 2016’s goals for my JWOC volunteering, university studies and job. For JWOC, I commit to use my skills to help with communication projects as much as possible. I will talk and explain to guests who visit JWOC how the organization helps scholarship students in the education system and how JWOC facilitates their learning and development. I will be escorting guests to the villages and tell them how JWOC, especially CLA program, has improved the community’s lifestyles. I am happy to learn new things and help at JWOC.
At university, even my current studies record is good amongst my classmates. However, I will study harder and harder and try change learning habits to succeed in my goal of being in the top 3 students in the class. For my job, I am very keen to work within a local conservation NGO, it is my dream job. In 2016, I will work further in wildlife conservation organization and to educate local communities to love nature, wildlife, birds and the environment. Through my job, I want my country to be green and natural resource that is being projected by all.
All in all, I would say again that without JWOC my life would not be the same, I owe reaching this point to JWOC. A huge thanks goes out to my sponsor and everyone that has been volunteering with me; especially to Ms Konthea, my previous program manager for encouragement. I am looking forward to working with my new manager Josh and all of the team. We together can achieve JWOC’s goals.
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