Lilia Bellahcen, Grade 12
UWC Costa Rica
Story 1:
December break was coming to an end, and we all had to return to campus for two full weeks of quarantine. True to our teenage title, the complaints and mumblings were flying all over the place. As we began to come to terms with the fact that two weeks wasn't that long, we found a new covid case that condemned us to an extra week of quarantine.
With some perspective, this quarantine was one of the best things that happened to me this year. In my current situation I wouldn’t be able to explain how I started talking to Stefania. She was this very cold girl to whom I said hi once at the beginning of the school year and that I never saw again since. Deep voice, light skin, pink lips, dark hair and intense look, her beauty was quite intimidating. Her and I were very different and nothing was suggesting that we could ever be friends.
Stefania would probably exchange me for 5 more minutes of sleep in the morning. She never misses an opportunity to tell me that I am messing up, and I never miss an opportunity to not listen to her. We don’t have the same culture or background. She loves late night walks and 2 a.m.’s cooking sessions. I love early morning runs and going to the coffee shop with friends. Yet we have a pretty good time together. She makes me laugh more than anyone else and I try to advise her as best I can. She was there for me when things were not going well and vice versa.
We became friends by force of circumstance. Today I can say that I am grateful for these circumstances. I am grateful that everything worked out perfectly for us to meet. I had to be put into quarantine for three weeks or I would have never spoken to the one I now consider my comfort character.
Story 2:
When everything was set and ready and I was already watching myself flying to Costa Rica to spend the next two years at the world's roundabout: UWC, less than a week before the fateful date, I did the one thing everyone warned me about: getting the Covid-19.
Because there was no Costa Rician embassy in Morocco, I had to book an appointment at the embassy in Madrid. My whole journey was based on this same constraint. I had to postpone my flights, ask for another appointment that they would give me for God knows when and finally wait to test negative of this unpredictable virus that was spreading around the world.
On a slightly dramatic note, I started complaining and thinking about all the things I would miss out on. They were all going to become friends and I will never be able to fit in with people who already had time to bond and know each other better when I wasn’t there. The world was against me!
Spoiler alert: I had it all wrong.
When in December my country closed the borders and I couldn’t go back home I realized that that Covid bought me some more time with my loved ones. Once I felt better, I had the opportunity to see my friends and have long talks with my family. I made memories that allowed me to stay strong when I had no way back for more than a year.
For what it is about my welcoming at UWC, people were amazing and I felt right away like I knew some of them since forever.
What I learned from these two stories is that sometimes what we think is an ordeal is just a door to something new or much better. Everything works out perfectly together to make the best out of a situation, even when we don’t see it right away… :)
December break was coming to an end, and we all had to return to campus for two full weeks of quarantine. True to our teenage title, the complaints and mumblings were flying all over the place. As we began to come to terms with the fact that two weeks wasn't that long, we found a new covid case that condemned us to an extra week of quarantine.
With some perspective, this quarantine was one of the best things that happened to me this year. In my current situation I wouldn’t be able to explain how I started talking to Stefania. She was this very cold girl to whom I said hi once at the beginning of the school year and that I never saw again since. Deep voice, light skin, pink lips, dark hair and intense look, her beauty was quite intimidating. Her and I were very different and nothing was suggesting that we could ever be friends.
Stefania would probably exchange me for 5 more minutes of sleep in the morning. She never misses an opportunity to tell me that I am messing up, and I never miss an opportunity to not listen to her. We don’t have the same culture or background. She loves late night walks and 2 a.m.’s cooking sessions. I love early morning runs and going to the coffee shop with friends. Yet we have a pretty good time together. She makes me laugh more than anyone else and I try to advise her as best I can. She was there for me when things were not going well and vice versa.
We became friends by force of circumstance. Today I can say that I am grateful for these circumstances. I am grateful that everything worked out perfectly for us to meet. I had to be put into quarantine for three weeks or I would have never spoken to the one I now consider my comfort character.
Story 2:
When everything was set and ready and I was already watching myself flying to Costa Rica to spend the next two years at the world's roundabout: UWC, less than a week before the fateful date, I did the one thing everyone warned me about: getting the Covid-19.
Because there was no Costa Rician embassy in Morocco, I had to book an appointment at the embassy in Madrid. My whole journey was based on this same constraint. I had to postpone my flights, ask for another appointment that they would give me for God knows when and finally wait to test negative of this unpredictable virus that was spreading around the world.
On a slightly dramatic note, I started complaining and thinking about all the things I would miss out on. They were all going to become friends and I will never be able to fit in with people who already had time to bond and know each other better when I wasn’t there. The world was against me!
Spoiler alert: I had it all wrong.
When in December my country closed the borders and I couldn’t go back home I realized that that Covid bought me some more time with my loved ones. Once I felt better, I had the opportunity to see my friends and have long talks with my family. I made memories that allowed me to stay strong when I had no way back for more than a year.
For what it is about my welcoming at UWC, people were amazing and I felt right away like I knew some of them since forever.
What I learned from these two stories is that sometimes what we think is an ordeal is just a door to something new or much better. Everything works out perfectly together to make the best out of a situation, even when we don’t see it right away… :)
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