Learning can take many forms, whether through reading, listening or watching from various media. But many times, learning in the aforementioned ways also makes us find that what we think we know (maybe from reading or listening to others tell us or watching them do it) may just be our understanding or sometimes we may have wrong assumptions about it. Therefore, the best way to learn is through trying or doing it.
In this article, we will learn how Mr. Singh-Wansingh Prasertkul learned how he started to find his own learning style. How did he know what he liked or was good at? And does this kind of learning really help him find his life purpose?
If we talk about his personal life, we probably already know this young man’s history very well, whether it’s about his family or his various works.
But what is even more interesting is that Mr. Singh-Wansingh analyzed himself to see what he has learned over the years and how that has influenced his thinking and work today.
Stimulate learning
Mr. Singh-Wansingh grew up in a family with an open-minded attitude and no limitations on his thoughts. As a child, he learned to ask questions and find answers about various things in this world by himself. He said that this atmosphere in his family was natural, which made him enjoy learning new things.
“Our family’s happiness is when someone finds something exciting or new, and they share it at the dinner table.”
Mr. Singh-Wansingh said that overall, we cannot call it instillation because these things were never told or ordered to be done, but were motivated to make us curious since childhood. One thing is to know how we are connected to the world and to feel that we ourselves can play a part in changing the world.
With his parents’ background in social change, he is used to the feeling that he can contribute to making a difference.
“These things made me choose to work in the future because of two main factors: curiosity and understanding, and the second is that whatever I do will have the greatest impact on society.”
Find your identity
Mr. Singh-Wansingh started working since he was in high school. His first jobs were mostly as a presenter and actor. When he grew up, he started communicating by becoming a writer. All his work has taught him how to communicate his own ideas to society all the time.
“In the first 3-4 years of my career , I started writing and hosting. That was the time when I was excited about my identity. There were times when my ego was so big that it was full of my own opinions, ego, and self-identity,” Mr. Singh-Wansingh told me.
As he grew older and gained more experience, Singh-Wansingh developed himself in another way. He experimented with different career paths to find the “point” that suited him the most.
After graduating from university, Mr. Singh-Wansingh tried to start working in a variety of fields, such as being a musician, working for an NGO, and doing many other things. All of these were attempts to find himself, but he did not find what he wanted.
“The point where we want to be, the point where we are, and the point where we are useful.”
Mr. Singh-Wansingh told us that he wanted to work in a way that fulfilled three things: “where we want to be, where we can be, and where we are useful.” When I was 25 years old, I worked on my first documentary called “Life Space,” a program that took viewers on a journey around the world.
This led me to find a “job” where those three points met because it was a job that I was good at, I wanted to be, it was a job that I could be, and it was a useful job. It made me realize what kind of work I would do next, which was media work that had an impact on society,” Wansingh said about finding the kind of work he wanted.
Learn not to know
Later, Mr. Singh-Wansingh made his own documentary, the “Theun Travel” program , in which he chose to travel to risky areas around the world, such as conflict zones and war zones, to understand the world from another perspective. Traveling to these places allowed him to learn and understand human nature and things in a way he had never understood before.
“ My journey is another form of learning, not through letters, but through real experiences right in front of me. And it makes us realize that what we see is just a small part. ”
Mr. Singh-Wansingh told us that “My journey is another form of learning, not learning through letters, but learning through real experiences right in front of me. And it makes us realize that what we see is just a small part and there are still many parts that we don’t see. So I understand a lot more by experiencing the world, understanding what we don’t know yet, which is a very good process for a person’s growth.”
Mr. Singh-Wansingh said that every time he travels, no matter how well he prepares and carefully imagines what will happen, when he finally gets there, the reality he sees is never what he expected.
“The war zones I’ve been to lately, I went there without any idea of what it must be like because I knew that when I got there, it wouldn’t be like what we thought. For example, Iraq is very developed. Okay, it has bombs, but it’s only 0.001% of the city. The rest is a big city, almost bigger than Bangkok. And one of my goals in media is to put a camera in the other 99% so that everyone can see a clearer picture of life in a war zone.”
Mr. Singh-Wansingh gave an example of some of his own experiences while in Iraq.
Making a difference in the world
With the idea that everyone can contribute to making a difference, whether on a personal level or a global level, what Mr. Singh-Wansingh plans to do next is related to the issue of caring for the environment.
“One thing I have noticed all along my travels around the world is Climate Change. I think this is an issue of survival for humanity, not just in Thailand, but for people all over the world. And not just humans, but for all animals and plants. At first, I didn’t know what role I could play. So now I’m starting to pick up my backpack again, taking viewers to see what’s really happening on Earth in this story.”
Mr. Singh-Wansingh said that the environmental version of Theun Travel does not aim to explore conflict stories, but rather, it will take everyone to see volcanoes, underwater, in the jungle, etc., to see what will disappear from the world if we do not work together to take care of the environment.
“But that’s not all. I also want to do other forms of media, such as online media, which tells viewers what you can do with it, and it’s not just personal. As a media, I want to inspire change at the individual level. At the same time, it might push big organizations to change their minds. And if society starts to change, the government will probably change too.”
And this is the story of Mr. Singh-Wansingh’s new mission, which comes from his lifelong learning and work.
“Working has reduced my ego because I’ve seen so many things I didn’t know, and I’ve realized how stupid I was before.”
The story of Mr. Singh-Wansingh Prasertkul is another example of learning from work and travel, including using experiences from work and travel to find one’s own identity and also being able to use them to help society for the better. He gets to do the right job and help people. Every second of work is truly happiness.
The story references an interview with Mr. Singh-Wansingh Prasertkul.
From the Transformative Learning Project
Supported by the Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth)
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Ms. Oi-Montira Chuthaputthi, working and traveling with learning
