Bin Sodina

Member of Climate Gen, 21 years old, majoring in Software Engineering at Cambodia University of Technology and Science (CamTech)

“Change is the only constant in the universe.”

Initially, I was introduced to Climate Gen by a special person. After looking through the programme and discovering more about YEA and Climate Gen, I really want to be a part of it. I am always interested in the natural beauty of the world. From the beautiful mountain range to the vast ocean, nature is truly unique and beautiful. However, all those natural wonders might be gone one day, and one of the main reasons is climate change. It is a really big issue that most of us acknowledge but still do not know what we can do about it. I always want to do whatever I can, no matter how small, to help combat climate change. Knowing that I will not be able to do it if I do not understand it encouraged me even more to join Climate Gen. After the interview and meeting the core team, I am even more convinced to be a part of Climate Gen.

Entering university, I am still in the process of discovering myself. I am very uncertain about my decisions regarding my career choice and university. If I were honest with myself, I would not have picked the field that I'm currently in right now. After talking with my family and reflecting back on my personality and characteristics, I believe that it would be fine. Thankfully, I have come to terms with my decision and started to enjoy the process. I can say that there are a lot of possibilities and uncertainties in life. The fact that there are so many decisions that we can and have to make is terrifying. To embrace what life has to offer, I try to participate in different activities despite sometimes not feeling comfortable doing so.

Being in Climate Gen has helped me grow in an unexpected way. The programme, from the outside perspective, is about climate change and environmental education. I do get a lot of that. There were so many good and powerful sharing sessions by experts and guest speakers. Some of them are technically related to many different topics that are both interesting and beneficial in building our understanding of the environment.

What I did not expect from the programme is how much it has played a role in developing my soft skills. It is as equally, if not more important, than the hard skill that we obtained. We need to be able to work well together in the team so that we can share what we have learned with others effectively. As we are all still learning, there are still some mistakes that we have made unintentionally. I really benefit a lot from the sessions, as they have opened my eyes to many new and interesting topics that I have not known before.

What I really love most about Climate Gen training sessions is the holistic development that the programme provides us. It really speaks volume on how well thought out this programme is by the core team, and I am very grateful for them. Also, what I love most about Climate Gen is the people.

In terms of achievements, for me mostly, it is related to personal. As someone who can be considered introverted, I usually like to keep to myself and avoid people as much as possible. However, during the programme I have to get out of my comfort zone and interact with many people both during the training and project implementation. It was energy draining, but it was worth it.