Making a social impact with Aaron

Hindsight is 2020 (#HI2020) is a ground up initiative founded and led by a class of 2020 graduate - Jessica Lee Yi Ling from Singapore Management University (SMU). In this series, she uncovers personal stories of resilience, courage and love amidst this crazy year we call 2020. Through the reflections and learnings shared in #HI2020, she hopes to empower internship and job seekers to improve their status quos and encourage aspiring entrepreneurs and volunteers to pursue their passions in 2021.

Making a social impact with Aaron

Roller-blading at high speeds. Board games with strangers. An almost disturbing obsession in taking pleasure trying out things entirely novel to him. These constitute the smorgasbord of interests pertaining to SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business alumnus, Aaron’s life.

One of his more wholesome interests? Volunteering his skills and time to benefit others.

A journey of volunteering that had started in his final year in SMU, has since led to him in initiatives in Human Library SG and Social Impact Catalyst. Despite 2020’s disruptions, he had still managed to not only continue, but also grow this particular interest of his.

Let’s hear more about his Hindsight is 2020 story!

Here's 3 key things you will learn

1)     The first that can really help to ground one is coming to terms that ironically, the only constant in life is change. Internalizing this adage helps one to accept and also embrace the things that were happening as part of life’s adventure.

2)     Gratitude. While the times were far from ideal, it is also important to look at what we have, and not just what we don’t have.

3)     Balance. It was the key thing I needed to embed for sustainable approach. While it is not easy given the major disruptions, akin to a bicycle – we need to continuously strive and move in order to maintain our balance.

When did you start volunteering and what kind of volunteering work have you done?

Before I start sharing, a caveat for my “volunteering journey” – this is nothing fancy or noble. The impulse or interest was just birthed from a combination of having some spare time and wanting my time to meaningfully impact people in a positive way.

As much as the beneficiaries benefitted, I too learnt and benefitted through the events and interactions with them – and I’m very grateful for this win-win outcome.

My volunteering journey started in 2015, my final year in SMU.

Thus far, I have been involved in three lovely and passionate groups which have very different goals when reaching out to the community.

1)     Citi-SMU Financial Literacy Programme | 2015 till Present

I joined the Citi-SMU Financial Literacy Programme as a Trainer hoping to do skills-based volunteering. As the name suggests, this started off when Citi-Foundation and SMU came together to launch Singapore's first structured financial literacy programme focused on young adults. Having underwent the Train-the-Trainer programme in 2015, I started to engage with JC and ITE students via interactive workshops and events.

In 2016, I had the privilege to lead the club as the 3rd President. Together with my exco, we embarked on a series of initiatives to further grow the club (internally and externally).

Having met great like-minded friends, we kept in contact with the club juniors and advisor even after graduation - and I am proud to announce we are launching an official alumni arm in 2021 to further deepen these connections.

2)     Human Library Singapore | 2017 - Present

The Human Library is a movement started in Denmark in 2000 aimed to challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue. The Singapore arm was started by a very passionate team and supported by very friendly and open volunteers from all walks of life.

Joining in 2017, I had the opportunity to serve as facilitator to augment the sharing experience between our courageous books and enthusiastic readers. Since then, our team had went on to organize and inspire many more events. Undeterred by the covid situation in 2020, we also started an inaugural series of online Human Library events to ensure that learning, empathy, and growth still continued for all our stakeholders especially during this period.

3)     Social Impact Catalyst | 2020 - Present

Social Impact Catalyst is Singapore's first youth-centric organization focused on social entrepreneurship and innovation.

Having attended the Trainer Induction Programme, I subsequently joined the community to develop content and conduct workshops for students who had a heart for the community and wanted to lead social initiatives.

We had our first run with SMU students in late 2020, and the team is currently on an ongoing initiative with ITE to equip them with both skills and industry mentorships to power their social entrepreneurship journey.

How did you find out about these non-SMU led volunteering projects and what made you decide to join them?    

For myself, I found out these mainly through my friends. The decision to join these two was simple - it was because they spoke to the causes I am passionate and interested in, I liked the community, and I believed my skills and experience would be of support to them.

Honestly, volunteering opportunities are readily available everywhere online.

I understand that it might not be the role you may want at the start, but take that chance - put one foot in, meet the community, and see whether it resonates with you.

After that, you will be able to think of many other ways to help support the cause - craft the role you want!

Based on your experiences this year, how did Covid-19 impact the volunteering scene/organisations you were volunteering with?

This would be probably the same everywhere - the unfamiliarity of non-face-to-face interactions affecting how well we can engage with our audience. This led to many initiatives being cancelled or delayed indefinitely. There were many struggles on this front as volunteers fought to make sense of the new normal and tried to come up with new creative ways of working.

Which beneficiaries are most negatively impacted by the ongoing pandemic and what are their main struggles?

In my own biased sample size prone to priming and recency effect, I observed that a particular group that really suffered were the working adults in living in small physical flats with a mix of children and elderly.

The deadly mix of increased stress brought about by co-vid in terms of workload and job security, incessant distractions, and reduced personal space led to a large decrease in mental health. All of these exacerbated the situation as they struggled to cope with both their personal responsibilities and professional life.

What did Human Library Sg do differently this year to continue to keep their social initiative alive?

This period was actually a great opportunity for Human Library and we took this chance to learn and grow. After adjusting to the new normal of online events and meetings, our community boldly launched our first ever online Human Library event. Previously, all events were physical events as we greatly valued the rich medium of face to face interactions - especially when we engage in deep topics to challenge norms and stereotypes.

Online events were much easier to organize compared to traditional ones with physical venues and considerations. After our first successful pilot, we held about 5 events in a span of 2-3 months - compared to about 2-5 physical events in the previous years.

We also learnt that our books (people who share their stories) felt safer as they owned the space they were in. We were also better able to manage the event through in our digital space (timers, use of slides, etc).

For myself as a facilitator - it was also a plus to stare in one screen (instead of rotating my head repeatedly in a physical venue) to observe all of the group's cues and expressions, and this allowed me to better facilitate the conversations.

I believe you have met many different walks of life through your time with Human Library Singapore. What have you learnt and what would be your most memorable experience with them?  

“Listen with an open mind and heart, there is always something to learn from others."

In every Human Library event, this phrase and perspective had always reinforced itself for me and made me understand that there is so much that I still do not know about everything.

One of the most memorable experiences I had was during a party we hosted after a major event.

We invited everyone we could invite - participants, volunteers, books. It was halfway in when I looked up from the conversation I was having, and it hit me what a ragtag and seemingly random group we were!

What made it special was that there wasn't any awkwardness - everyone had smiles on and were engaged in conversations across a wide spectrum of topics.

Instead of thinking about reducing the amount of volunteering work you were doing in times of Covid-19, you actually went to join Social Impact Catalyst. Share how and why you made that decision.  

It was actually a simple decision for me. I am a strong believer that as you keep an open mind and try new things in life, you will be able to understand yourself better.

Covid-19 had provided a lot of time for me to think and reflect, and I realized that the opportunity to volunteer with Social Impact Catalyst would allow me to give back and also grow at the same time.

To some it might have seemed like more work and commitments, however you might be surprised to find out how some of the "work" you want to do for yourself is actually relaxing and enjoyable.

Do you think that Train the Trainers model is the way to go for skills-based community service activities?     

The Train-the-Trainers model to scale and empower sustainably is a very powerful and efficient model.

My only concern is the overall quality and core members.

It is imperative to set a long-term plan to build the whole pipeline. While it is very tempting for new organizations to expand their outreach aggressively with the increased manpower, I believe focusing on retention and growing the internal core community are the main keys to success especially during the early stages.

In that regard for any new trainer / volunteer looking to acquire the correct skills, I would suggest the 70-20-10 rule where 70% of the learning comes from first-hand on the job experience, 20% comes from feedback, and 10% comes from theory. Training skilled volunteers take time, and it is also my other concern that many trainings focus primarily on the content / theory portion in the sessions.

What are some misconceptions that you think people have about community service projects? What would you say are traits one must have to be a volunteer?             

Again with my biased sample size and limited perspective, I would put forth that some people tend to associate "community service projects" as menial and mundane tasks, and the occasional thing they need to do to "rack up brownie points" for their resume.

Impactful community service projects require an immense time of planning – the consequences across multiple stakeholders have to be very carefully considered. It is not a one-off event shared on Instagram.

It has to be a deliberate and sustained effort to achieve the positive sustainable impact that is beneficial to society.

Volunteers come with a plethora of skills and they are all welcome. However if I were to narrow down on one, I would submit "being responsible" as the most important trait. Anyone can always volunteer and contribute but take away ""responsible"" and the consequences could be very devastating.

What was your most meaningful experience during volunteer work?    

To name the most recent one, it was facilitating a conversation in which a sexual violence survivor courageously shared about her experience and journey. Her story also inspired the people in the group to share their own stories as well - they not only grew in empathy, but also drew strength, support, and courage from each other.

What are the volunteering causes that you feel most strongly for and why?    

If anything, I feel the most strongly for movements / causes which largely comprise of young adults / adults who want to make the world a better place via mutual understanding and support.

Recently, mental health has started to become a more openly and widely discussed issue too. More than ever, I believe it is extremely important to recognize and give weight to mental health issues.

Culture and tradition in Singapore had primed us to downplay mental health issues as being unimportant - however in this trying and volatile times, mental health and resilience is required more than ever to manage the vicissitudes of life.

Could you share with us more on the concept of physical space in the context of staying home during the circuit breaker?      

Physical environments directly impact our mental health. Crowds, loud noises, clutter, and having limited confined spaces generally have negative influences on our mental health. Imagine you are seated beside a person you really do not like. Rhetorical question yes - would you feel perfectly at ease?

We inevitably have clashes and arguments with not just the people we don't like, but also the people we love.

During those times, we need downtime and our personal space to process our emotions.

In a normal scenario, one can leave the area, go to a bar for a drink, fly overseas on holiday, etc. However - due to the lockdown situation in the past, all of these options are not available, and the person who is experiencing heightened emotions is unable to escape that tension to cool down. A record-breaking number of friends had strong impulses to buy their own housing or rent flats post arguments with their family members.

In summary - he is unable to properly process these emotions due to the physical space constraints. When these emotions are left to simmer, the potential backlash might be negative for everyone.

What are things you did with your friends to maintain your social ties and prevent an onset of cabin fever?            

As standard, we had many a pint or glass over House Party, Zoom, and the occasionally online Board Games Website. In the spirit of adjusting to the new normal - we also did up a Secret Santa lunch leveraging Grab so we could eat something other than home-cooked food. We also started a fitness group where we reported at 6pm daily with our cameras on and someone screen sharing the fitness video from YouTube.

These helped remind you that you are not alone.

Comparing the 2019 Aaron and the 2020 Aaron, how you do you think you've changed/grown?

 The 2019 Aaron was unrestrained and lived mostly in the present. He was somehow convinced that 2020 held special significance (because it ended with 0), and he viewed 2020 as the year that he would have his best sprint. He had all the grandiose plans, the drive and passion to make this year like no other.

The 2020 Aaron was a different animal. It was a period where he was forced to slow down his pace. Taking that opportunity, he begun looking more at his surroundings, and where he was after running that race of life thus far. He started being more appreciative with what he had – and also shifted his focus to more of family, friends, and also personal health and fitness.

He had further grown to understand what are the things that truly matter - and this focus and re-allocation of time to these areas made him happier than he expected he could be in 2020.

What's next for you in terms of volunteering and what are your hopes for the community in 2021?

Mentoring! I had received so much from my mentors, now is the time to learn and also give back as a mentor myself.

My hopes are for the community are to reflect on the learnings once again for the past year, decide where their own priorities are, and re-calibrate their balance for their optimum happiness in 2021.