South Africa was a blast.
The opportunity I was given was great. To participate in the 8th IJSO is a true blessing and I thank Him for giving me that chance. This year’s IJSO was held in Durban, South Africa. It was a rather interesting place, and the trip no doubt was not only a fun and memorable experience but also a learning experience.
To be away from home for 13 days in a country miles away without family was a first for me. But it was really fun. The exams were no doubt stressful, but the overall trip with the numerous excursions were cool. We did have some bitter moments (and some is definitely an understatement), but we ended up getting over it anyway.
The trip of course enhanced our science learning experience first of all. We made a lot of mistakes, that’s a fact. But what’s important in the end is that we learn from them. The IJSO was a challenge. It made us think. Now, after seeing our mistakes (and being bitter over them for quite a long time), we look back and make corresponding “notes to selfs”– reminders not to commit these mistakes again. I guess the IJSO was also useful in the sense that it gave us an idea on how we were doing in our learning of the sciences– not only us contestants, but also the school in general. It showed us our strengths; it showed us our weaknesses. Now we know where to improve and how to improve.
Aside from the science learning, the experience of meeting new people from all over the world was pretty cool. I won’t deny that the Philippines, during the 12-day program was one of the antisocial countries, but in the end (thanks to the frisbee), we ended up meeting teens from all over the world, and actually talking to them. I guess one fact I observed is that even with the varying languages we spoke, all of us are the same. There is this spirit within us that is somehow present in all of us, and this spirit allows us to relate to one another quite quickly and comfortably, despite only talking to each other for a few minutes.
The learning doesn’t stop here however. We learned practical life lessons during the trip. Let’s just say these are the lessons only experiences can teach you. You can’t learn them if you don’t experience them. And these are one of the most valuable lessons in life, which at times, are the most essential.
I want to write more about the trip, but for some reason most of the experiences are too wonderful to even put into words. I guess that’s just how it all works out. Reading this post will not even describe half of the whole experience.
So it was a pretty interesting 13 days, don’t you think?










