This time my superior let me plan it differently. He trusted me to try something else instead of just talk and speech from us.
Still new in this department. So that trust meant a lot more to me than I expected it to. Not even a month or two in and already being handed a room full of international students and told go ahead, do it your way.
None of it would have come together without the team either. The ones setting up the room, printing the flip charts, making sure everything was in place before the students even walked in. I get to write about the part where I stood at the back and watched, but that only happened because other people were doing the parts that never make it into the story.
So instead of another round of formal Q&A we did a mini workshop. Small groups, one question each to sit with. Questions like what makes a country a good partner in international education, or what one Asia Europe student programme they would design if they could.
I did not expect much honestly. Maybe polite answers, a few sentences, done. But they came out with drawings. Discussions that ran longer than the time we gave them. Points they genuinely wanted to highlight.
Then came the gallery walk. Papers went up on the wall, everyone walked around reading, groups took turns presenting. Even the quieter ones were leaning in, asking questions, adding their own thoughts on the spot.
I stood at the back for most of it and just watched. There is a certain kind of happiness in seeing something you planned actually work.
After that we walked them over to the KPT library, did the usual photo session. But the part that stayed with me was earlier, the students hunched over flip chart paper, figuring out what to draw.
Small session. But I think I will remember this one for a while.
P.S. still finding my feet in this new office. Days like this help. Haha.
