Facilitator Corner: Herish Patel
FIUTS Facilitators are student leaders from all over the world who welcome new international visitors, help organize events, and lead activities for hundreds of students each quarter. Read on to find out more about the FIUTS facilitator experience from Herish Patel!
Name: Herish Patel
Country: India
Major: MS in Construction Management
Class: 2017
FIUTS Facilitator Since: 2015
Brief Introduction: Hello everyone, my name is Herish Patel. I am an international student from India, currently enrolled into a Masters program at UW. I completed my undergraduate studies in 2013, majoring in Engineering. Eager to gain success with profound knowledge, I moved out of my home in 2009, and then out of my country in 2015. I believe that when you reach a comfort zone in life, you must break through that zone in order to push yourself forward and achieve your goals. I have experienced two big transitions in my life, which have enlightened me and provided me with substantial life learnings. The 1st experience was when I left my town at the age of 18 and the 2nd one when I came to the U.S.A. The 1st transition showed me the importance of extra-curricular development and the 2nd transition showed me my existence in this world. The 1st transition forced me to change the way I perceive myself and helped me learn developing skills. With the new gained skills, I ended up becoming the head in a Student Organization. The 2nd transition changed the way I see the world, it forced me to broaden my perspectives, and encouraged me to go beyond the limits I had set for myself. This led me to become a happy facilitator for FIUTS.
What does it mean to be a FIUTS facilitator?
Being a FIUTS facilitator means breaking your psychological boundaries of culture and moving towards a world where everyone understand and flourishes the sense of culture under the shelter of humanity. Meeting new people, learning and respecting other cultures, enlightening your self-world with facts from the real world, taking responsibility of people who are outside of your comfort zone (own culture), developing connections and contributing to make the world a place without boundaries of cultures, cities & countries.
Why are you a facilitator?
The reason behind becoming a facilitator was to meet new people, learn their cultures and make lifelong connections in this new environment. In parallel to learning the leadership aspects, managing people and still finding ways of happiness makes it more fascinating. The FIUTS facilitator program design gives volunteers freedom to leverage events, with some given activities based on participants’ wishes. This helps them break the pattern and develop decision making skills. Being a facilitator, one will also get the chance to see different places around Seattle, something that one might not want to do alone. As a FIUTS facilitator, you will have the chance to feel like a tourist every time you visit a place with new people around you.
Favorite FIUTS anecdote as a facilitator
I prefer to do driving events, hiking & other outdoor activities out of all the great options offered. My first American camping experience with FIUTS, in which I facilitated with Kevin and Kamal, was the most memorable trip ever. The snowy hidden lake hike of approx. 8 miles round trip on next day was the most energy consuming, but also the most stunning. When participants are wearing running shoes and still want to hike in the snow, it will definitely put a little extra pressure on your shoulders. The SUSI 2016 summer program was also amazing. Through this program, a lot of strong connections were made that during the last day everyone left with watery eyes.
Tips/comments for peer facilitators
Eagerness to learn, accountability to the surroundings, and stepping up when everyone else is hesitating – build these in your everyday life and use them all the time. If you will wait for other facilitators to act than you will never be able to show and grow yourself. That being said, FIUTS is a place where you should forget corporate professionalism and work as a family member. Make preferences for your selection of events, that’s fine, but also make sure to step up when FIUTS needs you because no one will force you to experience new things.
FIUTS is a Family Away from Family.
Check out our past Facilitator Corners:
Cece Zhang, Nail Hassairi, Sophia Chakalo, Bader Alfarhan, Peirce Kirkham, Alissa Mustre, Ang Li,Wedward Wei, Terry Jung, Hassan Almuzaini, Isabella Ning, Lucy Deng, Nhung Le, Abigail Lim, Ferris Maghi, Kevin Sander, Joey Liao, Anya Raj, Minhtu Nguyen, Jianyang (Jane) Zhang, Jialu Sun, Fleur Xuanlin Li, Saleh Alwabel, Clara Jiayao Lu, Le (Juliet) Huang,David Veth, Yili (Jacky) Chen, Jonathan Cheng,Fah Thamsuwan,Charlie Warner, Katherine Li, Nabil Sutjipto, Jeremy Sculley, Ani Antonyan, Jaisang Sun