Eva Grovaerts, Grade 10
UWC Thailand
In pre-school during recess, I would ask the boys if I could play soccer with them. They responded that girls can’t play soccer and laughed at me for even asking. I didn’t understand it at the time and didn’t think much of it. I really wanted to play with them, but I also didn’t want to get bullied so like all the other girls, I just did rope skipping. Over the years, I forgot about this incident until I came to UWC. During orientation week, I had my first proper talk about discrimination and the effects of it on society. After being able to talk freely about this topic, I finally began to realize that what happened in pre-school was discriminatory and that I should try soccer. UWC gave me a new opportunity that I never thought I could pursue and this is my story about how my life has changed since then.
Belgium is a developed country that has a rich history which we try to hold on to. Most of us don’t like change. Especially not people that have lived their whole lives in Belgium and until recently knew no other lifestyle besides the typical farmers/workers’ way of living. Modern-day discrimination also isn’t taught in most Belgian schools so people are uneducated about the topic. This is why there is still quite a lot of discrimination against people that go against the “classical” way of life.
My experience with this was when I wanted to play soccer. My best friend back in Belgium plays soccer and she has experienced a lot of discriminatory comments, people asking if soccer isn’t a “man’s sport”, and weird looks when she told people that soccer is her main passion in life. This is probably because it used to be a male-dominated sport so they put societal pressure on females that do play the sport. When I asked my teachers about modern-day discrimination, the question wasn’t fully answered or they said that they didn’t know anything about the topic. I always tried to support my friend with her passion and encourage her not to listen to those hateful comments, but I wasn’t aware that this was a type of discrimination until I came to UWC.
UWC helped me realize that I don’t have to follow Belgian societal expectations and that my country’s culture doesn’t decide what I can or cannot do. During my first week at UWC, orientation week, we were encouraged to participate in a conversation about discrimination and our different cultures. The stories and experiences that were shared during multiple conversations helped me realize a lot about my own experiences with discrimination. The conversations made me feel grateful for what I have, but they also made me feel a bit angry with Belgian culture and how Belgians can be so discriminatory to people that aren’t living in the past. I decided to go against my culture’s expectations and join the soccer team. Now looking back at the decision I made, I think I made one of the best decisions in my life. Even though I’m not the best soccer player, my team always supports me and it feels great to be a part of such an amazing team with amazing players. Being on the soccer team helps me improve my teamwork, my physical health, and my relationship with my team members. I’ve also been able to meet people from other schools through soccer. But when I told my friends back home that I was playing soccer or when I posted something soccer-related on social media, I would get comments like: “Wow, really? I didn’t even know a girls soccer team existed.” It also was hard to start playing soccer with zero experience while all my other teammates have at least one year of experience. Even though these problems could have led to me stopping with soccer, I worked through all these possible problems with the help of my best friend and have enjoyed playing soccer more than I ever thought I would.
Belgium is a developed country that has a rich history which we try to hold on to. Most of us don’t like change. Especially not people that have lived their whole lives in Belgium and until recently knew no other lifestyle besides the typical farmers/workers’ way of living. Modern-day discrimination also isn’t taught in most Belgian schools so people are uneducated about the topic. This is why there is still quite a lot of discrimination against people that go against the “classical” way of life.
My experience with this was when I wanted to play soccer. My best friend back in Belgium plays soccer and she has experienced a lot of discriminatory comments, people asking if soccer isn’t a “man’s sport”, and weird looks when she told people that soccer is her main passion in life. This is probably because it used to be a male-dominated sport so they put societal pressure on females that do play the sport. When I asked my teachers about modern-day discrimination, the question wasn’t fully answered or they said that they didn’t know anything about the topic. I always tried to support my friend with her passion and encourage her not to listen to those hateful comments, but I wasn’t aware that this was a type of discrimination until I came to UWC.
UWC helped me realize that I don’t have to follow Belgian societal expectations and that my country’s culture doesn’t decide what I can or cannot do. During my first week at UWC, orientation week, we were encouraged to participate in a conversation about discrimination and our different cultures. The stories and experiences that were shared during multiple conversations helped me realize a lot about my own experiences with discrimination. The conversations made me feel grateful for what I have, but they also made me feel a bit angry with Belgian culture and how Belgians can be so discriminatory to people that aren’t living in the past. I decided to go against my culture’s expectations and join the soccer team. Now looking back at the decision I made, I think I made one of the best decisions in my life. Even though I’m not the best soccer player, my team always supports me and it feels great to be a part of such an amazing team with amazing players. Being on the soccer team helps me improve my teamwork, my physical health, and my relationship with my team members. I’ve also been able to meet people from other schools through soccer. But when I told my friends back home that I was playing soccer or when I posted something soccer-related on social media, I would get comments like: “Wow, really? I didn’t even know a girls soccer team existed.” It also was hard to start playing soccer with zero experience while all my other teammates have at least one year of experience. Even though these problems could have led to me stopping with soccer, I worked through all these possible problems with the help of my best friend and have enjoyed playing soccer more than I ever thought I would.
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