Hana Sato, Grade 12
UWC Costa Rica
In UWC, there are so many amazing and inspiring people. Although I have only experienced the first year yet, I was able to find so many incredible students that left me valuable learnings. One of them was a Taiwanese second year student. Even though she might admit it, I think she took so much care of me and I can not stop being thankful with her. She was such an older sister-like character for me. She has an extremely unique personality that, for me, was very appreciable once I got to know her more. She was one of my closest friends during my first year and I can not stop wishing it to continue being so regardless of the fact that she is going to go to uni while I finish my second year.
This Taiwanese second year left so much impact on me, especially, on the way I interact with my own self. Previous to UWC, I used to prioritize academics above anything else, I put all type of efforts to excel in it. This was not necessarily because my parents were strict, but simply because my mother liked me to have good academic grades, and I wanted her to be proud of me. I was very stick to my academics and the impression I gave to my mother. But, in general, I cared a lot about my social reputation, the image I gave to others was a highly relevant factor for me to consider when realizing certain activities. Academic outstanding and external opinions were the main factors that restrained me and pressured me. However, after assisting UWC, in a completely foreign country, miles away from home helped me to be less cautious about social interactions. Furthermore, meeting with the Taiwanese second year brought me so many realizations about interpersonal and intrapersonal relations.
We were living in the same residence. She was my roommate's best friend. She is a very sarcastic person, with a direct speaking personality. Therefore, for me, her first impression was not too good; I was, honestly, scared of her. But because of my roommate I saw her so many times, and since the second end of the first semester I started studying in the library, so she did. We started spending almost our entire days in the same place, there was no way to not get close. We started talking a lot and she turned out to be one of the friends with whom I spend the most time with.
Once we became closer friends, I realized the kind personality she has. She was such a frank person that it also inspired me to be honest with her. She was the first person with whom I became very open and sincere, not caring about her judgments. It was shocking for me to know that I could have that type of relationship with people. Subsequently, I also started hanging out with her Taiwanese first year students, and I was able to become very open with them. Those people are today my closest friends. The Taiwanese second year made me realize the different social interactions I can have, I understood that there will be people with whom I do not need to hide myself because of fear of being judged.
She is a very hardworking person. She also puts a lot of effort into academics, that was the reason for her long stays in the library with me. I generally get stressed very easily, and she was always helping me to deal with it. My best memories with her will be the late night snack and singing sessions. When we got too stressed, we went far away from the library and sang various songs while eating snacks. Our favorite songs playlist was named "Cantando Juntas", Spanish of "Singing Together". These moments were so enjoyable for me, I believe I will never forget about how released I was able to feel, how thankful I was with her. IB is really difficult, and it is absolutely impossible to not be stressed with it, but she taught me that taking a breath is essential, that continuously pressuring myself is not the best solution. She also gave me the space and confidence to talk about it with her.
I can not help being scared of my second year at UWC without all those people that supported me during the first year. I will definitely miss them and need them. However, I also know that I will be fine, because I learned so many things from them that led to an incredible growth in me. I am thankful for the Taiwanese second year and I will miss her as I have never before missed someone.
This Taiwanese second year left so much impact on me, especially, on the way I interact with my own self. Previous to UWC, I used to prioritize academics above anything else, I put all type of efforts to excel in it. This was not necessarily because my parents were strict, but simply because my mother liked me to have good academic grades, and I wanted her to be proud of me. I was very stick to my academics and the impression I gave to my mother. But, in general, I cared a lot about my social reputation, the image I gave to others was a highly relevant factor for me to consider when realizing certain activities. Academic outstanding and external opinions were the main factors that restrained me and pressured me. However, after assisting UWC, in a completely foreign country, miles away from home helped me to be less cautious about social interactions. Furthermore, meeting with the Taiwanese second year brought me so many realizations about interpersonal and intrapersonal relations.
We were living in the same residence. She was my roommate's best friend. She is a very sarcastic person, with a direct speaking personality. Therefore, for me, her first impression was not too good; I was, honestly, scared of her. But because of my roommate I saw her so many times, and since the second end of the first semester I started studying in the library, so she did. We started spending almost our entire days in the same place, there was no way to not get close. We started talking a lot and she turned out to be one of the friends with whom I spend the most time with.
Once we became closer friends, I realized the kind personality she has. She was such a frank person that it also inspired me to be honest with her. She was the first person with whom I became very open and sincere, not caring about her judgments. It was shocking for me to know that I could have that type of relationship with people. Subsequently, I also started hanging out with her Taiwanese first year students, and I was able to become very open with them. Those people are today my closest friends. The Taiwanese second year made me realize the different social interactions I can have, I understood that there will be people with whom I do not need to hide myself because of fear of being judged.
She is a very hardworking person. She also puts a lot of effort into academics, that was the reason for her long stays in the library with me. I generally get stressed very easily, and she was always helping me to deal with it. My best memories with her will be the late night snack and singing sessions. When we got too stressed, we went far away from the library and sang various songs while eating snacks. Our favorite songs playlist was named "Cantando Juntas", Spanish of "Singing Together". These moments were so enjoyable for me, I believe I will never forget about how released I was able to feel, how thankful I was with her. IB is really difficult, and it is absolutely impossible to not be stressed with it, but she taught me that taking a breath is essential, that continuously pressuring myself is not the best solution. She also gave me the space and confidence to talk about it with her.
I can not help being scared of my second year at UWC without all those people that supported me during the first year. I will definitely miss them and need them. However, I also know that I will be fine, because I learned so many things from them that led to an incredible growth in me. I am thankful for the Taiwanese second year and I will miss her as I have never before missed someone.
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