CAN 1 ever be more excited?
To be or not to be was never the question. My mind was set on being a volunteer for IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) ever since I heard about the program. Since its inception in 2008, IBM CSC has not only positively impacted the lives of individuals and communities in many countries, but also has provided life-changing experiences to its volunteers. So the question instead was, will I get an opportunity too?
With an extra helping of hopes and aspirations (and a generous sprinkling of self doubt), I applied for the program in 2017. And voila! I was selected and eventually assigned to the first ever CSC mission to Canada— the CSC CAN1 team. The in-country assignment for 4 weeks in October 2018 is to be in the beautiful city of Halifax in Nova Scotia. And that is to be preceded by a 3 month long immersive learning and activities. I thought to myself — what is possibly there to learn about volunteering?
I could not be more wrong. As it turned out, I knew nothing about the level of expectations from an IBM CSC volunteer, nor about the superlative thought process of the CSC leadership and the mentors. The learning modules are sequenced to cross the t’s and dot the i’s. We dived deep into consulting, emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity, media and communications and a plenty of other skills. We conversed with our teammates who come from around the globe — Australia, Philippines, India, Denmark, Romania, Argentina, Brazil and mentors from Canada, and I am in awe of the depth and variety of skills and experiences that each one has. As we began soaking in all the information and knowledge, some of us started to quietly wonder — what problem can a developed country like Canada need help in solving?
Having lived and worked in the USA for a few years, I was aware that no country or community is entirely free of problems. The challenges vary only in shape, size and texture. Recently, the four different projects and their expected outcomes were revealed to us, and we are eagerly scouring through all the information available around. And as the beauty of the challenges keeps unfolding, I now ponder — am I competent enough to help solve those?
Only time will tell. For now, I am keeping an open mind and letting the universe build me in ways it knows best. The road so far has been extremely enriching, gratifying and transformative. And I am so excited — if the journey is proving to be so brilliant even before I have taken off, how beautiful will it be once I start to fly?!

