APR 2022 Edition
TUF x UBS Pen Pal (with Partner School collaboration)
By Kiko Law, Year 3 Program Mentor This was the second year that we had organized the Pen Pal Program with UBS. In a similar manner to last year, students from Hong Kong (Yan Chai Hospital Law Chan Chor Si College) and Japan (Kamaishi High School) interacted online despite being based in different locations and time zones. During three sessions, students were granted several opportunities to discuss their personal lives and exchange information about cultural differences with their peers and UBS volunteers. While the Program was a real-time virtual event, participants were also encouraged to communicate with their pen pals outside the virtual sessions by exchanging letters and videos. Our participants mainly used English to communicate, although a few students from Hong Kong wrote and spoke in Japanese. We observed that most of the participants were actively engaged and offered positive feedback on the sessions. Some acknowledged that the Pen Pal Program allowed them to get to know and meet international students and volunteers, and a number even requested more one-on-one opportunities to interact with their pen pals. We, as Program Mentors, found that the Pen Pal Program was exceptionally encouraging and meaningful as it provided an alternative opportunity for our students to meet people from different backgrounds, learn from them and strengthen their linguistic capabilities.