PEPY welcomes scholarship students to Siem Reap

PEPY extends a very warm welcome to all scholarship students! Scholarship students have finally arrived in Siem Reap and will soon begin classes at Build Bright University. For most, this is their first time away from home and living in a city. To help students ease into this new phase, we held Integration Week – four full days of activities designed to familiarize them with PEPY, facilitate bonding, and address their concerns.

A key goal for Integration Week was for students to get to know one another. Since they will be living and studying together over the next few years, it is important for them to nurture a support system among themselves. Students must also learn to cooperate with one another. To achieve this, we played team building games, had students share their feelings, and facilitated a Praise Ceremony just like the one in our staff retreat.

Students also voiced their concerns about university. They were aware of the increased academic rigor and wondered if they would be able to keep up. Through discussions with PEPY staff, students came up with a few ways to mitigate their worries. First, they will help one another through study groups. Students will also look to their mentors for advice if they face any problems at school. Lastly, they would take advantage of the extra English and ICT classes provided at PEPY’s Learning Center.

Another concern was making new friends. They wondered if they would be able to fit in with classmates from the city. To address this issue, PEPY provides soft skill training at our Learning Center to build self-esteem and confidence. Furthermore, true to our goal of empowering youth, PEPY will connect students with mentors for moral support and send students for various conferences to promote networking.

When we asked students what their favorite Integration Week activity was, they said: Chhunny’s inspirational talk titled “My Success Journey”. Chhunny is a leadership and management trainer at Possibilities World, and co-founder of SmallWorld, a collaborative working space in Phnom Penh. He previously worked at PEPY to improve the quality of education in rural communities. Chhunny gave students practical tips on how to succeed in school, speaking about confidence in school, note-taking, time management, communication, cultivating positivity, and more.

PEPY is mindful about providing students with all the skills they will need to succeed at school and at their future jobs. Now that Integration Week is over, professional and emotional support for students will continue through our Learning Center and individually assigned mentors. To support our work, check out our all-new PEPY Presents, where you can see exactly how your investment will impact the lives of these scholarship students.