Report of RSOS 2010

I am very grateful to have this opportunity to attend RSOS 2010, organized by RI District 3450. This is the first time for me to attend an international conference, in which all delegates should present themselves in English. The number of the participants including rotaractors and rotarians was about 30. They were from Mongolia, Shanghai of China, Japan, Taiwan, and the sponsor district, Hong Kong. As one of the GSE members, I felt especially lucky, because CP Kevin and PP Steven accompanied us.

The compact agenda of this all-English seminar was from 9 to 23. It was very challenging for me. We were asked to response instantly and should not speak our native languages. There were many topics in this seminar, of which I was the most interested in “Rotary’s vision and Works of Rotary, Rotary Foundation and Rotarians”, “How to be an effective change agent”, “Tips on Public Speaking and Comments on Presentation”, and "ambassadorial duties”. The organizers even utilized the lunch time to let us think about the contrast between the poverty and the rich. Each attendee was asked to present a 5-minute talk in either one of the topics “How can I change the world as a professional” and “How has Rotary changed my life?” We also had “Breakout discussion with Scholarship Alumni” and attended the regular meeting of rotary club of Peninsula Sunrise before our dinner. The meeting contained so many things that we finished the meeting of the first day hardly before midnight.

After shiveringly presenting my first English talk, I felt that I would have more courage to give English talks in public. I also learned a lot from other presenters. On the other hand, I was shocked by the English ability of other districts’ delegates and was surprised by their ambitions. They actively expressed their ideas and asked questions in fluent English, in contrast to us from Taiwan. In the end, I was surprised to be awarded an official seminar certification and a rotary flag.

Committee members, Ada Cheng as DG of 3450, DRFC PP Kenneth, PP Raymond, PP Eugene and other staffs were very nice and made us feel well respected. During this seminar, I did not feel anxious because of the accompany of our GSE team leaders CP Kevin, who was humorous and inspiring, and PP Steven, who took care of us and always gave us advice. From them, I also learned not to think little of oneself, to be proud of Taiwan, to always be an energetic learner, and not to forget to laugh loudly.

After attending this seminar, I have some thoughts and would like to provide a suggestion. Maybe in the future, we should try to hold an all-English RSOS which integrates all districts in Taiwan. It will be more efficient to combine the resources and create more exchange opportunities in English for GSE and ambassadorial scholarship students of Taiwan.

To me, this RSOS is not an end but is for another leap. GSE members and I have many things to be achieved before our departure for Australia.