2021-May-20

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Being Myself While Giving Back to Others

BY JAKKRAWARN “DIFF” SAWASDIWITTAYAYONG
WITH KRYSTAL CHENG



My name is Diff, and I’m an IT Client Experience Specialist at Cisco.

Diff (far left) snaps a selfie with the school’s principal and a fellow volunteer.
Diff (far left) snaps a selfie with the school’s principal and a fellow volunteer.

Most of my friends know that I have always loved computers.

In fact, I vividly remember when my father brought home our family’s first computer when I was in the seventh grade. I was so determined to use it, I read the entire 600-page operating system guidebook that came with it from cover to cover. Though most pre-teens would’ve been bored with the task, I actually loved it.  

So when I saw that one of my Facebook friends was looking for volunteers to fix computers at the Chaipittayapat School here in Bangkok, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to use my Time2Give hours.

Time2Give at a local Bangkok School

I arrived at the school at 9 a.m. and immediately got to work disassembling and reassembling computers to get them back into shape. Since the computers were quite old and had been exposed to moisture, each one took over an hour to fix.

After I worked on a computer, I never really knew what would happen when I pushed the power button — either the computer turns on or it doesn’t. But whenever it did turn on, and I would hear the familiar power-up tune and see the screen light up, it was like experiencing magic.

Pictured: An inside look of a computer Diff reassembled.
Pictured: An inside look of a computer Diff reassembled.

Because I ended up fixing nine computers that day, it felt like I got nine of those magic moments. It was the most amazing feeling!

Being myself while giving back to others

What I love most about Cisco Time2Give is that I can choose a volunteering opportunity I’m passionate about. You see, at Cisco, there’s no one-size-fits-all volunteering event that everyone signs up for. You can choose to give back to your community in a way that fits you.

When I saw my friend’s Facebook post, I instantly knew that that volunteering event was uniquely suited for me. I got to get my hands dirty doing what I’ve always loved since seventh grade.

And that’s the thing about Cisco culture: I can still be myself even when giving back to others.

Due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Thailand, Diff has been unable to volunteer since November 2020. Once the situation improves, he plans to return to the Chaipittayapat School to work on more computers.

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