Baraa.al-chalabi, Grade 11
UWC Mostar
In my hometown neighbourhood, boys roamed the streets with their bikes, racing, falling, laughing, and crying while I could only stare at them. There was no single girl with them, and I was told that it was because girls did not enjoy this, and other girls were told the same. When people started asking me about my dreams after a couple of years, I answered them with a silly wish - saying all I wanted was to learn to ride a bike - since I did not really know then what I wanted to do with my life.
Throughout my childhood, I grew up learning more about what I am supposed to look like and how I am supposed to act like a girl. I was not the only one who did not like it, who thought it was restricting and who believed it made life less enjoyable for everyone. However, I could not but conform to most of the expectations, trying my best to enjoy what I can enjoy and learn what I can learn until I can be free from the confinements of my gender.
Coming to UWC Mostar loosened many chains that held me in bondage. “Loosened” because they never really broke; Mostar is not the ideal place for gender equality, especially when compared to the nearby European countries. Nevertheless, the chains were loose enough for me to reach out for new skills, hobbies, and experiences. In the first weeks, all I could think of is how happy and lucky I am, to be in a community as accepting and supportive as the UWC community, and to be as free of gender expectations as I ever could wish. However, I did not apply for UWC to learn how to bike or to be able to swim, neither did I apply so I can think of people who did not have the same opportunity as I did and feel as privileged as I felt.
I came to UWC so that I could become free of gender roles, not regardless of the place, but in my hometown. I came to UWC because I could not break free in my country, but not to break free from my country. I came to UWC because my real dream is not to ride a bike but to ride a bike in my neighbourhood. UWC is not a pathway I have to cross so I can live in a “developed” country and forget about the hardship I faced in my “developing” home country, it is rather the pathway I have to cross before being able to face these hardships, and make a change in the community I belong to.
Throughout my childhood, I grew up learning more about what I am supposed to look like and how I am supposed to act like a girl. I was not the only one who did not like it, who thought it was restricting and who believed it made life less enjoyable for everyone. However, I could not but conform to most of the expectations, trying my best to enjoy what I can enjoy and learn what I can learn until I can be free from the confinements of my gender.
Coming to UWC Mostar loosened many chains that held me in bondage. “Loosened” because they never really broke; Mostar is not the ideal place for gender equality, especially when compared to the nearby European countries. Nevertheless, the chains were loose enough for me to reach out for new skills, hobbies, and experiences. In the first weeks, all I could think of is how happy and lucky I am, to be in a community as accepting and supportive as the UWC community, and to be as free of gender expectations as I ever could wish. However, I did not apply for UWC to learn how to bike or to be able to swim, neither did I apply so I can think of people who did not have the same opportunity as I did and feel as privileged as I felt.
I came to UWC so that I could become free of gender roles, not regardless of the place, but in my hometown. I came to UWC because I could not break free in my country, but not to break free from my country. I came to UWC because my real dream is not to ride a bike but to ride a bike in my neighbourhood. UWC is not a pathway I have to cross so I can live in a “developed” country and forget about the hardship I faced in my “developing” home country, it is rather the pathway I have to cross before being able to face these hardships, and make a change in the community I belong to.
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