Lauren Ruzinsky interviews herself about her volunteer experience at Pakkret Babies Home in Thailand. She was assigned to care for a baby named Ah-Pin-Ya for over a year until the child was adopted by a family in Switzerland. Lauren discusses how this experience taught her about the difference between wants and needs. It also demonstrated how emotion, perception, and language relate to learning. Specifically, it showed her the importance of putting others' needs first, considering multiple perspectives, and communicating effectively despite language barriers.

1. Lauren Ruzinsky
Senior Seminar P.6
Interview Script for Video Presentation:
Introduction: Name, Age, Nationality, Education, and Future plans.
Hi. My name is Lauren Ruzinsky. I am 17 years old and American. I am a senior at the
International School of Bangkok and in the future, I plan on attending a university in
either Virginia or Ohio.
Q: What is the purpose of this presentation?
The meaning behind this presentation is to further explain who I am by using a recent
experience, which was volunteering at Pakkret Babies Home in Thailand. I will use the
ways of knowing to show how this experience has helped me grow personally and as a
student.
Q: What are the four ways of knowing?
The four ways of knowing that have been studied in our Senior Seminar class are
language, perception, reason, and emotion.
Volunteer at Pakkret Babies Home
Q: What is the Pakkret Babies Home?
Pakkret Babies Home is a place for babies, toddlers, and children who are without a
home or parents. It is located in Pakkret. All of the volunteers are assigned one child and
continue to visit the same child until they are either adopted or the volunteer has moved
away from Thailand.
Q: How were you involved in it?
Well, my mom was the first one to visit the babies home and as soon as she did, she was
assigned a little girl named, Ah-pin-ya, who was only a few months old at the time. I
would go visit her whenever my mom went. We held her, fed her, and brought toys for
her to play with. She was really sweet. Shortly after her first birthday, she was adopted to
a family from Switzerland. Now, I go with my mom and we interact with any of the other
children there.
Q: Why did you choose this example?
I choose my time volunteering at the Pakkred Babies Home as an example because I
learned a lot from the experience. It helped show me the difference between the values of
wants and needs in life.

2. Q: What are the ways of knowing that relate to this example?
The ways of knowing that relate to my example are emotion, perception, and language.
Q: How does emotion relate to this example?
Well, the moment my mom was assigned to this little girl, she reminded me that this
situation was only temporary. Ah-pin-ya did not have any parents and so she could be
adopted at any time. I kept this in the back of my mind. Over the past year, I watched her
grow from a helpless baby at just a few weeks old to a baby who was learning to eat and
laugh and even walk. It was amazing how fast she was developing. We celebrated her
first birthday by buying her a new outfit and some toys. It was then that we received the
news that a family living in Switzerland was going to adopt her. One would normally be
grateful for the news, however I had mixed emotions. I also felt sad to leave behind the
journey I went through as Ah-pin-ya grew up. It was easy to identify what I was feeling
and so they are most likely known to be primary emotions.
Q: How does perception relate to this example?
Perception played a role because I thought that it was in my best interest to continue
seeing this little girl. I had visited her for the past year, why shouldn’t I be able to
continue? This is what I perceived in the situation. Now I realize this was just emotional
coloring, which can make us aware of some aspects of reality to the exclusion of others.
In the end, my emotions were seen as an obstacle to knowledge, especially perception. I
felt as if I should be the one to see Ah-pin-ya grow up into a child, but I knew that she
needed more than my happiness. She needed a loving family with a home and food to eat
and that is exactly what she has received.
Q: How does language relate to this example?
As Ah-pin-ya was only an infant, she did not have the full capability to communicate. So
I had to use different facial expressions and body language, such as smiling and clapping,
for her to better understand me. Another problem was that she was always spoken to in
Thai except for when my mom and I would visit her. This may have confused her from
time to time.
Q: What does this say about you personally or as a student?
This example of Ah-pin-ya getting adopted shows that I have a fairly good balance of
emotion and reason. I care about people, but always want the best for them. Also, it
shows that language causes problems in communicating, but can be solved by other
means.

3. Q: How will this example impact your learning in the future?
I think that I will try to be more understanding of situations and try to figure out the best
solution. I will put my emotions aside when making important decisions. Also, I will
continue to be patient when talking to people who are not fluent in English or are not able
to communicate properly.
Conclusion:
I hope you have learned a little bit more about who I am and how my experience at
Pakkret Babies Home impacted my learning. Thank you.