Summary for Sanity

This project started with wanting to make a positive impact on Gen Z of Sri Lanka. In my time at AOD, I noticed that many of them are getting discouraged very early in life. With the glorification of depression, too many young adults resort to suicide when they don't know how to find a solution.

As an adult, we have a gift of hindsight where we have already experienced extreme emotions for the first time and have learnt how to move past them. For late adolescents, this is their first time falling in love, getting their heartbroken, losing people, joining the work force, venturing out to society by themselves etc. While the traditional way is the way to let them find things out for themselves, there is a certain guidance we can offer as those who have already experienced them.

If anone do a simple Google search on bridging communication gap between generations, most of the information they will get is based on asking the older generations to cater to the younger generation.

It seems as if the responsibility of efficient communication has been put on the older generation. The younger generation lacks in guidance, respect, and responsibility, and the older generations complain that they are lost, disrespectful, and irresponsible. I want to be able to instil the slightest influence of these three categories within the late adolescents of Sri Lanka so they can start to contexualise when the adults start to talk.

How do I do that? How do I 'equip' a bunch of people who think they understand the world (as shown by my survey)?

To do this, I'm using my own self reflections. While teaching at AOD, I realised that I tend to have very unique and insightful relationship with my students. Throughout the years, I have been called into difuse situations between students and lecturers, I have been tasked with special assignments when it comes to getting the students excited about something (such as induction day hostings, graduate exhibition panel hostings etc.).

At the start of the project, I asked a few former students of mine why they have the kind of bond they have with me. Looking back at the answers they have given, I am looking at stories that connect to people, questions that gives you a deep dive, and activities that lets you work as a team. Furthermore, they added the course I taught, Human Centred Design (empathy) played a major role in how they started to like themselves more. I will analyse the design of the module to understand whether there are aspects of it that can be utilised here.

Even within this, I need to figure out how to equip. There is certain uncertainty within the question wording. Am I equipping LA or the adults around them? Is the word 'adults' or could I call them 'experts'? Or is there another word altogether? Am I equipping or am I creating a bridge? or giving a tool?

How should my question change to really capture the essence of how I'm achieveing the change I want to see.