Reflection for Wheel, Walk or Jog event

I have definitely benefited much from this event. Initially, I was also quite disappointed at the lack of interaction we, the OT, had with the handicapped, as the goal I started out with initially was to get to know the stories of the handicapped and to have a deeper understanding of their daily lives. However, upon reflection, I realized that I should not be so selfish, and that it is more important for the volunteers to get the interaction with the handicapped people. Thus so, this event has helped me become more mature, and has enlightened me on the true objective of our project. The event has also helped to shed light on the difficulty of planning events, and has helped me to develop a sense of gratitude for those who are planning events in the future, be it school or public events

However, there were certain flaws too that I had to admit. Firstly, for personal shortcomings, I had to admit I wasn't especially enthusiastic during the event. I kept playing phones and engaging in mini conversations during the event, without putting in too much effort in manning the stalls or aiding in advertising our stalls. For a period of time, I even to tally abandoned the stalls, and camped in the library with my friend, of which I feel immensely guilty and sorry of. One of the contributing factors might be the lack of business for our stall, but it is immature for me to blame it all on circumstantial factors. I myself had a part to play in my general attitude, as I did not take the initiative to find stuff to do, and ultimately did not contribute to the project as much as I wanted to. Upon reflection, I've decided to put in more effort next time, and try to distance myself from distractions next time. Another personal mistake I made was the fact that I relied on last minute work too much. I only managed to get my hands on a popcorn machine one day before the event, which made no room for error. Coincidentally, the popcorn machine was filthy and not fit for preparing food, and thus we had to scrap that popcorn machine last minute and had to rely on a single popcorn machine we managed to get, luckily, from a fellow HCI teacher. If I had managed to settle the popcorn machine earlier, we might have had time to get another popcorn machine. I personally feel this is due to my laziness and lack of enthusiasm as stated above, and have decided to dedicate more time and effort to the project that ironically, I started. 

I believe that this event was so successful, due to two important factors. Firstly, the volunteers were much more enthusiastic than I initially thought they would be, and took a genuine interest in conversing and interacting with the handicapped. They also helped a great deal in selling our calligraphy, and was provided help with manning the stalls. Secondly, Ryan Chee, our vice-leader?, put in a great deal of effort, and was basically single-handedly over-seeing all sorts of stuff on the day, from the performance to the volunteers. Thus so, without them , I believe that the event would never be as successful if it wasn't for them.

Ultimately, the event was a success, as we managed to get a rather huge group of volunteers to interact with the handicapped, and raised awareness for these handicapped people. However, I believe that there are many areas I can improve on, and I hope that I can do better next time in future events.