Like many new volunteers in the Learning Exchange’s English Conversation program, Elaine Giang wasn’t very sure what to expect. The experience turned out to be worth writing home about—or in this case writing the 1st place story for the 2011/12 Chapman Story Awards, offered by the UBC-Community Learning Initiative. Elaine begins:

Growing up, I’ve been taught that communities are divided. There’s Burnaby, Vancouver, and within these communities are even smaller communities, like North and South Burnaby, or East and West Vancouver. Communities have boundaries, set by the government and marked on a map; the moment you cross Boundary Street you are no longer in Burnaby but in Vancouver, or vice versa. They also have certain traits; a large population of Chinese people reside in Richmond, a large population of Caucasians reside in West Vancouver, and so on.

I thought about this notion of community as I made the trek from my home in Burnaby to the UBC Learning Exchange building in Chinatown. I felt a sense of unease and trepidation. “How do I lead an English conversation circle? What if I can’t think of a good topic? What if they don’t understand? Why are there so many ‘what ifs’?!” As I stepped off the skytrain and onto the platform, I could feel the dread within weighing down my footsteps so that I could delay my arrival in Chinatown. By time I reached the building, I felt like I had concrete blocks for feet…

Read the rest here and find out how students can get involved both at the Learning Exchange and in other community-based learning opportunities.