Tenzin Tsomo, Grade 11
UWC Red Cross Nordic
Life at UWC is chaotic. A perfectly organised mayhem, a madness clinging to the edge, and a bliss tiptoeing around reality. UWC Red Cross Nordic greeted me with a rush of activities and interactions that took up the whole school year, in the blink of an eye, my first year was gone. It was a potpourri of exhilaration, frustration, joy, and nostalgia. And amidst all the storm, there was always a place where I could seek calmness. Near the edge of the woods, inside a tiny cottage, I found my peace in Haugland painting(Haugland is a popular Norwegian last name).
Haugland painting is a weekly activity where you go with all the members for an hour to paint, relax, and connect with the locals inside a cozy cottage. At the beginning of the year, I joined the group out of curiosity only. After spending my first hour at the site, I realised it was a match made in heaven for me. I would go in with four or five other students and also the patients from the nearby Haugland health center, and we would paint our visions and inspirations while chatting over the table.
Some evenings would be filled with conversations and others in comfortable silence. Music would be played in the background, and a state of tranquility would be reached, away from the bustling schedule and the hectic scene. Like the stillness in the eye of the storm, I found my serenity in Haugland painting.
The UWC experience is never boring; every minute, you have a meeting, an interesting conversation, tests to study for, and homework deadlines. It’s so consuming of your attention that you often forget to spend time with yourself and it is so easy to forget to take a moment for that. It is a wonderful place, I know, but no matter how heavenly a locale is, you need to step back sometimes and take a moment to sink in with your emotions and thoughts; otherwise, you simply lose hold of yourself.
Haugland painting offered me a rest that I unthinkingly took, and it turned out to be a marvellous decision. The days at Haugland painting are one of the fondest memories at UWC Red Cross Nordic. I am glad to be a part of this activity.
What I loved was the fact that we didn’t always have to hold a conversation, and it is so liberating when you don’t have to socialise to feel close to a person. The trust and the sound of careful brushes against the canvas, a silence that just envelops into a bubble, leaving the person within it to be free and unbound of our needs as social animals.
For you, the joy might be from a different club or from a different situation, yet above all, every human has different tastes, so it changes what they consume. Mine is finding peace, but yours might be finding excitement; it changes from person to person. But always keep in mind that your life would be gone in seconds if you run along with it, so move away from the crowd once in a while and take time to just appreciate it. It will make your experiences much more worthwhile. Good luck!
Haugland painting is a weekly activity where you go with all the members for an hour to paint, relax, and connect with the locals inside a cozy cottage. At the beginning of the year, I joined the group out of curiosity only. After spending my first hour at the site, I realised it was a match made in heaven for me. I would go in with four or five other students and also the patients from the nearby Haugland health center, and we would paint our visions and inspirations while chatting over the table.
Some evenings would be filled with conversations and others in comfortable silence. Music would be played in the background, and a state of tranquility would be reached, away from the bustling schedule and the hectic scene. Like the stillness in the eye of the storm, I found my serenity in Haugland painting.
The UWC experience is never boring; every minute, you have a meeting, an interesting conversation, tests to study for, and homework deadlines. It’s so consuming of your attention that you often forget to spend time with yourself and it is so easy to forget to take a moment for that. It is a wonderful place, I know, but no matter how heavenly a locale is, you need to step back sometimes and take a moment to sink in with your emotions and thoughts; otherwise, you simply lose hold of yourself.
Haugland painting offered me a rest that I unthinkingly took, and it turned out to be a marvellous decision. The days at Haugland painting are one of the fondest memories at UWC Red Cross Nordic. I am glad to be a part of this activity.
What I loved was the fact that we didn’t always have to hold a conversation, and it is so liberating when you don’t have to socialise to feel close to a person. The trust and the sound of careful brushes against the canvas, a silence that just envelops into a bubble, leaving the person within it to be free and unbound of our needs as social animals.
For you, the joy might be from a different club or from a different situation, yet above all, every human has different tastes, so it changes what they consume. Mine is finding peace, but yours might be finding excitement; it changes from person to person. But always keep in mind that your life would be gone in seconds if you run along with it, so move away from the crowd once in a while and take time to just appreciate it. It will make your experiences much more worthwhile. Good luck!
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