Alexandra Schenk, Grade 12
UWC Atlantic
During October break, I interviewed my father, an AC (Atlantic College) alumnus, about his time at AC between 1985 and 1987.
His First Year Induction was -- just as ours were -- led by his second years, who took him and his co-years to the Brecon Beacons mountains to hike and camp for three days.
His social life mainly took place in the house and the Inshore Lifeboat Service (ILB), where he made lots of friends and connections. The houseparents were night porters, who checked all the rooms and dorms in all houses, or teachers, whom the students got to know much better in the houses. The service he did was Inshore LifeBoat. During the service sessions, they cut and made their own wetsuits and regularly swam in both the outdoor and indoor pools -- even in winter. If you were a second year on the rescue crew, you had to be ready for “call out” duty, which meant that you could not leave the campus or drink alcohol and had to be on standby 24/7 just in case the call out siren went off. Back in the old days, AC was an official Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI): if a boat out on the sea was in danger or if someone was caught onshore by the tide, the ILB team would be called out for service. My dad recalled that once; they had an official exercise with a coastguard helicopter and their lifeboat (with students) was airlifted. Another service that my dad was interested in was with the Cliff Rescue Team, who were trained to rescue people along the cliffs. It is easy to be cut off in the rising tide and impossible to climb up the cliffs without help.
In his second year, my dad and his co-year from Norway were House Representatives, who communicated with the Principal and the Director of Studies on behalf of the students. He told me that in his days, there was more freedom as well as strict rules. There was a school pub run by students that were located in what is now the Arts Center and opened on Saturdays. A school pub was created because going off-campus at night was dangerous and they had no Hi-Vis vests. Sometimes, they would go to Llantwit for grocery shopping; but he doesn't recall ever taking the bus, as they would walk. Surprisingly, in his two years, he remembered going to Cardiff only twice.
Their form of misbehaving was leaving the house after lights out on Fridays or Saturdays to go to other houses -- what we now call “night-riding”. The game was to avoid teachers roaming around the campus after lights out and not to get caught. But they would not leave campus. Sometimes they also played water polo in the outdoor pool with the pool kayaks.
His First Year Induction was -- just as ours were -- led by his second years, who took him and his co-years to the Brecon Beacons mountains to hike and camp for three days.
His social life mainly took place in the house and the Inshore Lifeboat Service (ILB), where he made lots of friends and connections. The houseparents were night porters, who checked all the rooms and dorms in all houses, or teachers, whom the students got to know much better in the houses. The service he did was Inshore LifeBoat. During the service sessions, they cut and made their own wetsuits and regularly swam in both the outdoor and indoor pools -- even in winter. If you were a second year on the rescue crew, you had to be ready for “call out” duty, which meant that you could not leave the campus or drink alcohol and had to be on standby 24/7 just in case the call out siren went off. Back in the old days, AC was an official Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI): if a boat out on the sea was in danger or if someone was caught onshore by the tide, the ILB team would be called out for service. My dad recalled that once; they had an official exercise with a coastguard helicopter and their lifeboat (with students) was airlifted. Another service that my dad was interested in was with the Cliff Rescue Team, who were trained to rescue people along the cliffs. It is easy to be cut off in the rising tide and impossible to climb up the cliffs without help.
In his second year, my dad and his co-year from Norway were House Representatives, who communicated with the Principal and the Director of Studies on behalf of the students. He told me that in his days, there was more freedom as well as strict rules. There was a school pub run by students that were located in what is now the Arts Center and opened on Saturdays. A school pub was created because going off-campus at night was dangerous and they had no Hi-Vis vests. Sometimes, they would go to Llantwit for grocery shopping; but he doesn't recall ever taking the bus, as they would walk. Surprisingly, in his two years, he remembered going to Cardiff only twice.
Their form of misbehaving was leaving the house after lights out on Fridays or Saturdays to go to other houses -- what we now call “night-riding”. The game was to avoid teachers roaming around the campus after lights out and not to get caught. But they would not leave campus. Sometimes they also played water polo in the outdoor pool with the pool kayaks.
My Father's School Document
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My Father's Dormitory Room
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My Father's Class Picture