This interview with Nurin Syahmina (YES ’18, Malaysia, placed by AFS-USA in Cortland, OH ) originally appeared in the YES alumni Malaysia blog.

I’m part of the Community Outreach Program (COP), an initiative under the Universiti Malaya, Faculty of Law’s Clinical Legal Education pedagogy where members engage with society and implement the teachings of street law using interactive methodologies.

E-learning with PAKK is an event where we did a teaching on law with a twist of interactive methods. For the E-Learning event, we utilized non-traditional teaching methods such as role playing, online platform games, animation etc. to teach law-related topics. We conducted an online session on bullying as a legal offence for students ages 9-13. It was a successful event, and we were all happy with how the event turned out. It was a very fun and meaningful session indeed.

What is your role in the E-learning program?

For the recent event with PAKK, my role was to oversee the whole event, especially preparation. The most important thing about the preparation stage is to have a good lesson plan. The lesson plan is a document that we would construct based on the characteristics and nature of the students with whom we’re working to ensure the suitability of the lesson plan correlates with objectives and impact of the program with the students.

How did being a participant of the YES program inspire you to join the E-learning program?

I started to be active in volunteering and community work during my exchange year. Ever since then, I have always tried to find opportunities to give back to the community.

The values and skills I learned during my exchange and as YES alumna really come in handy when it comes to implementing activities for the Community Outreach Program. Working with marginalized children keeps me feeling humble and open-minded. The YES program inspired me to be selfless and always help others even in the smallest ways possible. Start small and let the ripple effect take over.

Can you share the impact of the E-learning program initiative to its stakeholders?

Firstly, through this project, we have managed to help children understand bullying from a legal perspective. This was proven by their ability to answer the quiz that we have prepared at the end of the project. The second impact is the learners were able to construe what constitutes an act of bullying and why such an act should not be carried out.  

The last impact, the children learned the most fundamental principle of all which is to respect others despite their differences. It was a beautiful sight when the children acknowledged that there are people that are bound to have differences of opinion. Nonetheless, what matters most is the respect they have for one another.