Alex Bavalsky, Grade 11
UWC-USA
When I shared my UWC acceptance with my friends and teachers last March, many asked difficult questions.
“Why are you moving from New York City, population 8.6 million, to Montezuma, population 503?”
“Why are you leaving behind the largest brick-and-mortar high school in the United States, with 6,000 students, some 300 teachers, and countless resources?”
“Why would you take an extra year of high school, for five years total [one more than is typical in the United States]? What do you get out of it?”
“Is UWC going to make you more competitive for college?”
To me, UWC isn’t about population or resources or years or university applications. I didn’t apply to UWC specifically because I wanted to move to a rural area or study the IB diploma or gain a competitive edge for anything. I applied to UWC because I wanted to meet different people with different perspectives, experiences and interests in a place very different from that which I had called home for my entire life. I applied because I yearned to try new things, to face new challenges, and to struggle–both academically and socially, and in ways both anticipated and unanticipated– and to grow through the culmination of all of these experiences.
Although UWC-USA wasn’t my first choice of campuses, it certainly provided exactly what I sought.
From the very start, UWC-USA challenged me by sending me (along with all the other first-years) on a three day trip in the Pecos Wilderness, complete with a 40-pound pack and a group of five other first years and two second years who I barely knew. Very quickly, we learned how to hike 5-6 miles daily, put up our tents, ration our snacks and meals, and sleep in the great outdoors, with no technology or outside human contact. Prior to orientation, I had never backpacked or camped, nor would I have had the desire to, had it not been for the support of the wilderness department and second-year wilderness leaders.
But orientation was merely a taste of what UWC would offer. Before long, we immersed ourselves in a loving and caring community of 235 students and a few dozen faculty and staff, supported at all ends by second-year buddies, faculty advisors, and an entire community of dedicated students, faculty, and staff who meant it when they asked something as simple as “how are you?” From the weekly all-hands community meetings (fora) to weekly campus service required of all community members, from students to the president, I was amazed by the collective pride that UWC-USA students had and how dedicated they were towards implementing the UWC mission and values both at their own school and across their homes.
To this day, UWC continues to challenge me physically, emotionally and academically. From a five day, 30-mile backpacking and camping trip down the Grand Canyon to the daily difficulty of balancing the IB classes and diploma requirements, various ExEds (extracurricular activities) and hobbies (all while getting “eight” hours of sleep!), UWC lives up to the expectations it produced in me when I applied.
The sound of uncontrollable laughter reverberating around a dayroom at 1 AM
The smell of fresh pancakes simmering in the student centre
The taste of soft, honey-filled sopapillas in a quaint restaurant in Las Vegas (the original Las Vegas)
The sight of fresh, fluffy snow covering the pine trees surrounding the castle that we call our second home
The feel of the hug your friend gives to comfort you on a bad day or to celebrate a good day
The realization that despite the constant stream of disasters and negativity we see in the media, our campus continues to include about 235 students from 92 different countries, living together in peace as students and friends.
That’s what I’ll remember about UWC after I leave. And I am grateful for every day I get to spend here in New Mexico.
I love New York, I love everything it offered me, and the first 17 years that I spent there. But it’s time to move on, and UWC-USA is the perfect place to start that journey.
“Why are you moving from New York City, population 8.6 million, to Montezuma, population 503?”
“Why are you leaving behind the largest brick-and-mortar high school in the United States, with 6,000 students, some 300 teachers, and countless resources?”
“Why would you take an extra year of high school, for five years total [one more than is typical in the United States]? What do you get out of it?”
“Is UWC going to make you more competitive for college?”
To me, UWC isn’t about population or resources or years or university applications. I didn’t apply to UWC specifically because I wanted to move to a rural area or study the IB diploma or gain a competitive edge for anything. I applied to UWC because I wanted to meet different people with different perspectives, experiences and interests in a place very different from that which I had called home for my entire life. I applied because I yearned to try new things, to face new challenges, and to struggle–both academically and socially, and in ways both anticipated and unanticipated– and to grow through the culmination of all of these experiences.
Although UWC-USA wasn’t my first choice of campuses, it certainly provided exactly what I sought.
From the very start, UWC-USA challenged me by sending me (along with all the other first-years) on a three day trip in the Pecos Wilderness, complete with a 40-pound pack and a group of five other first years and two second years who I barely knew. Very quickly, we learned how to hike 5-6 miles daily, put up our tents, ration our snacks and meals, and sleep in the great outdoors, with no technology or outside human contact. Prior to orientation, I had never backpacked or camped, nor would I have had the desire to, had it not been for the support of the wilderness department and second-year wilderness leaders.
But orientation was merely a taste of what UWC would offer. Before long, we immersed ourselves in a loving and caring community of 235 students and a few dozen faculty and staff, supported at all ends by second-year buddies, faculty advisors, and an entire community of dedicated students, faculty, and staff who meant it when they asked something as simple as “how are you?” From the weekly all-hands community meetings (fora) to weekly campus service required of all community members, from students to the president, I was amazed by the collective pride that UWC-USA students had and how dedicated they were towards implementing the UWC mission and values both at their own school and across their homes.
To this day, UWC continues to challenge me physically, emotionally and academically. From a five day, 30-mile backpacking and camping trip down the Grand Canyon to the daily difficulty of balancing the IB classes and diploma requirements, various ExEds (extracurricular activities) and hobbies (all while getting “eight” hours of sleep!), UWC lives up to the expectations it produced in me when I applied.
The sound of uncontrollable laughter reverberating around a dayroom at 1 AM
The smell of fresh pancakes simmering in the student centre
The taste of soft, honey-filled sopapillas in a quaint restaurant in Las Vegas (the original Las Vegas)
The sight of fresh, fluffy snow covering the pine trees surrounding the castle that we call our second home
The feel of the hug your friend gives to comfort you on a bad day or to celebrate a good day
The realization that despite the constant stream of disasters and negativity we see in the media, our campus continues to include about 235 students from 92 different countries, living together in peace as students and friends.
That’s what I’ll remember about UWC after I leave. And I am grateful for every day I get to spend here in New Mexico.
I love New York, I love everything it offered me, and the first 17 years that I spent there. But it’s time to move on, and UWC-USA is the perfect place to start that journey.
www.unitedworldwide.co