Hello, my name is Soi Ha. I am 15 years old. Before I joined the children’s opinion workshop, I don’t really have confidence. I don’t know how to deal with stress. I don’t reach out to people I can talk to when I feel sad. I didn’t know how to express my feelings. Now I have learnt on ways I can deal with my stress and I also learn how to forget and let go.

I don’t like asking for people’s help because I feel sorry for troubling them. I still feel this way but I’ve learned to seek help from people. For example, when I reach a stumbling block in my studies, I find friends to do a group study so we can help each other to complete our homework.

The children’s opinion workshop is a good workshop. I always share with my friends about the things I have learnt from the workshop. I shared with my friends on one of the tools used in the workshop called the “Goal Maze”. I also showed them how to use it to overcome challenges and ways to achieve their goals.

My goal is to be a programmer. I am learning the basic programming language. I am trying to study the programming language but it takes a lot of time for me to understand it. I have allocated two hours a day to study the language. The challenges remain but I’ve managed to overcome about twenty five percent of my challenges. It is a hard course for me but I’ll keep learning. I have to not give up.

The “Feelings Guy” activity is really meaningful to me. When other people feel sad, I can go talk to them and make them feel a little better. Sometimes I miss my family. I ask myself would this feeling make it hard for me to achieve my goals? I think the answer depends on me. If I want to achieve my goals, I must not look back. If I look back I will feel sad. So, I have to keep looking forward.

Note: Soi Ha is now happily resettled in the US and in the midst of applying for a placement in school.