August 23, 2026
As I write my final journal entry, I can confidently say that this experience has changed me. Having the opportunity to travel to India, teach the Consent Café workshops, interact with different communities, and build relationships with the people we met truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am incredibly grateful for the connections I have made with Sabreet and her family, the students and faculty at the different schools we visited, my classmates and peers, and Tanya and Chelsea. Looking back at the entire experience, I think the relationships and connections I made are one of the things I will value most.
One of the biggest things I learned about myself personally is that I am capable of travelling more than I thought I was. Before leaving, I expected the travel itself to be much harder for me, especially with the time difference, being so far away from home, and travelling with people I was not very familiar with beforehand. I surprised myself with how well I adjusted. At the same time, I am also not completely surprised because I know that I sometimes build things up in my head to seem much bigger or more difficult than they actually end up being. This experience showed me that I can push myself outside of my comfort zone and adapt to unfamiliar situations. It has definitely made me more open to travelling and participating in other international experiences in the future.
Professionally, I think this experience has given me something that I will carry throughout my social work education and future practice. Being able to say that I participated in an international field school and helped facilitate consent education in another country is something I am extremely grateful for. I am also looking forward to being able to share what I learned through my scholarship article and other professional opportunities. Sharing this experience allows me to reflect on what I learned while hopefully encouraging others to consider opportunities that challenge them to learn outside of their usual environments.
Another major lesson I am taking away from this experience is the importance of relationships, teamwork, and connection within social work. Social work is not something that is done individually. Throughout this trip, we constantly relied on one another, learned from each other, problem-solved together, and used the strengths that each person brought to the group. The relationships I developed with my classmates, faculty, Sabreet, and others in the community have also reminded me of the importance of building and maintaining professional connections. Knowing when to reach out, ask for support, and use the resources and relationships available to me will continue to be important as I move forward in my education and practice.
When I think about what I am bringing back to my social work learning and practice, a lot of it connects to themes I have discussed throughout my previous journal entries. I want to continue being open, listening before assuming, practising cultural humility, and recognizing that I will never know everything about another person’s experiences or culture. This trip reinforced how important it is to enter communities with a willingness to learn rather than believing that I am there only to teach. Even though we travelled to India to facilitate the Consent Café workshops, I feel like I learned just as much, if not more, from the people and communities we interacted with.
When reflecting on what I contributed to the course and the communities we worked with, I think one of the most important things I brought was simply my own perspective and experiences. Every person in our group came with different backgrounds, strengths, knowledge, and ways of approaching situations, and I think that diversity made our group stronger. Personally, I found myself taking on the role of a problem solver at different points throughout the trip. When something was not working or we needed to adjust an activity, I often found myself thinking outside the box and suggesting alternative ways of doing things. Sometimes that meant finding a way to make an activity less time-consuming while still communicating the important message or learning objective behind it.
I also think one of my strengths was being willing to listen to the people around me. When there was a conflict, challenge, or problem that needed a solution, I found that I was often able to listen to the different perspectives involved and come up with possible ideas fairly quickly. I cannot necessarily say whether everyone else viewed my contribution in the same way, but when I reflect on the role I played within our group, problem-solving, flexibility, and listening are the strengths that stand out to me.
More than anything, I am finishing this experience feeling incredibly grateful. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to travel to India, grateful for everyone who welcomed us into their communities, grateful for the relationships I built, and grateful for everything I learned along the way. I am looking forward to returning to the classroom in the fall with these experiences behind me and with stronger connections to many of my peers. As most of us move into the final year of our bachelor’s degrees, it feels special knowing that we now share an experience that very few people will ever fully understand in the same way we do.
This experience was about much more than travelling to India or teaching Consent Café workshops. It challenged me personally and professionally, strengthened my understanding of social work practice, and reminded me of the importance of relationships, cultural humility, flexibility, teamwork, and being willing to learn. I know that these are lessons and connections I will carry with me long after this course is finished, and I am incredibly grateful that I was able to be part of it.