Reflection on Soliya

Soliya (connect express) was my first time being involved in a group video chat in an intercultural context. I didn’t expect to enjoy it at all, thought it would be very awkward and was worried I’d lose a big chunk of my grade because of not attending all of it or doing it correctly. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable & informative things I’ve done for any class. When we first started, it was sort of a breaking-the-ice session but we all got along pretty quick. A difficulty for all of us though was the little talk button & the fact that only one of us could speak at a time. I would forget to click that button before speaking sometimes. Our moderator explained that it’s so each person has a chance to speak without being interrupted and so we can all practice really listening, so I guess it has more benefits than not. The only other online group calls I’ve been in were Skype and House Party and those were not for a learning purpose and didn’t have a talk button.

We all use the web for common purposes, for learning and communicating and we all agreed that we aren’t very active on social media so we don’t share much content, rather we use it to stay updated and connected. We exchanged instagrams to stay in touch with each other and I believe now we have a connection. I’d definitely contact any of them if I find myself in their country and would love to meet them and show them around if they visit mine.

I’m very lucky to have been matched with members who are all respectful, who listened well and did not judge any other member & respected opinions. My group was great at constructive communication because of this. In our sessions we got very deep, we discussed lots of societal problems such as unfair government regulations, hate crimes, environmental threats, homelessness,  things like homosexuality, dating & familial perceptions, sex, parties, drugs, societal pressures and a lot of other things and we shared the situations on these things within our countries and social settings. We shared our experiences, good and bad. I can say we all were really open and we connected deeply. My sessions were on Wednesdays and I remember feeling like something is wrong on the Wednesday after the 4^th session because it was like something in my day was missing. I really enjoyed this experience and am grateful to have attended Soliya.