Jesse Musinguzi, Grade 12
UWCEA Moshi
I didn’t know what to expect coming to a UWC, and reading about it didn’t exactly provide a solid idea of what was to come. To put it simply, I expected the unexpected. My first year at a UWC infact brought the unexpected. This was my first major exposure to a diverse community. I’ve been to international schools, but none of them compared to where I was now. Even though I had been preparing myself for this new environment, no amount of preparation could help me wrap my head around the diversity of the school. Being a social person, it was easy for me to make friends and made the adjustment process much easier. Fast forward to D1, I was already expecting a new batch of students from every corner of the world, and this meant new interactions and learning opportunities because I would be helping my classmates adjust to their new home.
The orientation week we had before school started gave us an opportunity to mingle with our new classmates and understand different cultures and ways of life. Not too long into the school year, we were introduced to Project Week, where we had to form groups and think of projects to do. My group wanted to make a video that would showcase the diversity of the school, which we unironically called “Diversity Video." We had to go around the school asking students and teachers about what they thought about the diversity of the school.
The whole process of talking to people about their experiences and editing the video helped me better understand UWC’s aim of making education a force to unite people. I even saw how people from dissonant countries united in friendship regardless of their country's prejudices. I saw how everyone’s different ideas and interpretations allowed for a deeper understanding and more diverse ways of thinking.
We wanted our video to be put on YouTube so that we could share these experiences with a wider community and show people what UWC is about; a movement that embraces the idea of diversity and uses education to unite people from different backgrounds for a sustainable future(“What Is UWC?”).
The orientation week we had before school started gave us an opportunity to mingle with our new classmates and understand different cultures and ways of life. Not too long into the school year, we were introduced to Project Week, where we had to form groups and think of projects to do. My group wanted to make a video that would showcase the diversity of the school, which we unironically called “Diversity Video." We had to go around the school asking students and teachers about what they thought about the diversity of the school.
The whole process of talking to people about their experiences and editing the video helped me better understand UWC’s aim of making education a force to unite people. I even saw how people from dissonant countries united in friendship regardless of their country's prejudices. I saw how everyone’s different ideas and interpretations allowed for a deeper understanding and more diverse ways of thinking.
We wanted our video to be put on YouTube so that we could share these experiences with a wider community and show people what UWC is about; a movement that embraces the idea of diversity and uses education to unite people from different backgrounds for a sustainable future(“What Is UWC?”).
www.unitedworldwide.co