Sehra Aggarwal, Grade 12
UWCEA Arusha Campus
I am one of eight students in my class who didn’t have to go through the typical UWC admission process. Before becoming UWC East Africa, the school was known as the international school of Moshi (ISM), where I had been studying for the past 13 years of my life. At first, I was not too thrilled when I found out that the school I had been attending for my whole life was going to become a United World College, although it was something I had heard about in the past, I was hostile towards the idea. ISM was where my parents, uncles, and siblings went to school and I felt as if ISM had become a part of my life. However, over the course of the three years in which UWC East Africa has been operating this perspective has been drastically changed by a multitude of factors, but the one moment that shifted my once resistant mindset was UWC Day.
UWC Day takes place every year on September 21st and its objective is to celebrate the mission and values of the UWC movement. This event made me understand the true aim of the 18 UWCs as it made it evident that the world is so much larger than what we usually perceive it as. At UWCEA we celebrate this day by having everyone dress up in their national attire and teaching people about their cultures, which can range from them teaching their classmates simple phrases in their mother tongues or cooking cultural meals for the whole form. It was at this moment I realised the novelty and remarkability of the UWC movement. Through education, I was able to not only celebrate my own culture without fear of judgement but also learn about those of others. Never in my life would I have imagined that I would be learning about the culture of Paraguay whilst eating a platter of butter chicken and naan with my classmates from Turkey, Macedonia, and Austria.
Furthermore, UWC day made me realise the interconnectedness and nuances of the world. Many times we subconsciously group cultures on a geographical basis, but within those geographical divisions there is so much complexity that is typically overlooked by the everyday human. This is another mindset that UWC Day helped me adopt, a mindset that emphasised attention to detail and the understanding of unfamiliar situations, in the pursuit of becoming a global citizen. It showed me the importance of perspective and critical thinking when trying to deconstruct global issues and how everyone’s voice must be heard for the sake of a sustainable future.
All in all, I am proud to say that my mindset toward the UWC movement has metamorphosed. I feel incredibly privileged to be experiencing my last two years of secondary schooling in such an environment and even though part of me still misses ISM, I have to say that becoming a UWC was the best thing that could have happened to the school.
UWC Day takes place every year on September 21st and its objective is to celebrate the mission and values of the UWC movement. This event made me understand the true aim of the 18 UWCs as it made it evident that the world is so much larger than what we usually perceive it as. At UWCEA we celebrate this day by having everyone dress up in their national attire and teaching people about their cultures, which can range from them teaching their classmates simple phrases in their mother tongues or cooking cultural meals for the whole form. It was at this moment I realised the novelty and remarkability of the UWC movement. Through education, I was able to not only celebrate my own culture without fear of judgement but also learn about those of others. Never in my life would I have imagined that I would be learning about the culture of Paraguay whilst eating a platter of butter chicken and naan with my classmates from Turkey, Macedonia, and Austria.
Furthermore, UWC day made me realise the interconnectedness and nuances of the world. Many times we subconsciously group cultures on a geographical basis, but within those geographical divisions there is so much complexity that is typically overlooked by the everyday human. This is another mindset that UWC Day helped me adopt, a mindset that emphasised attention to detail and the understanding of unfamiliar situations, in the pursuit of becoming a global citizen. It showed me the importance of perspective and critical thinking when trying to deconstruct global issues and how everyone’s voice must be heard for the sake of a sustainable future.
All in all, I am proud to say that my mindset toward the UWC movement has metamorphosed. I feel incredibly privileged to be experiencing my last two years of secondary schooling in such an environment and even though part of me still misses ISM, I have to say that becoming a UWC was the best thing that could have happened to the school.
www.unitedworldwide.co