Alexandra Thompson, Grade 11
UWC Mostar
There's a time machine in front of me. I step into it and input the digits for 1916, at least in the Common Era (CE) designation. Not a typo, I am interested in how the varied and shocking events of 1916 contributed toward the world, despite the multitude of horrors ongoing simultaneously.
One of the first notable events of the year was the first successful blood transfusion that had been stored, and refrigerated occurred on the first day of the year by Oswald Hope Robinson. This allowed for significant advancement in emergency medicine and has since saved countless lives.
Margaret Sanger opens the first U.S. birth control clinic, which paves the road for Planned Parenthood (Biography.com Editors, 2020). Whilst as a world, we have made great strides forward, many women across the globe still struggle with having rights regarding body autonomy, and in many cases, abortion and reproductive rights are still a taboo topic, causing much internalized shame and lack of information.
At Easter, British-occupied Ireland underwent a violent rebellion; the manifestation of centuries of occupation and oppression led to the six-day uprising of Irish rebels against the British. If I could be physically present at any point in time, I would choose this period, as it was one of the most defining moments for my country. Without this conflict, the state of Ireland as an independent nation would not exist. Similar to the Irish fighting the British, on the other side of the Atlantic, Mexican revolutionary forces were in the midst of their liberation campaign.
Despite the fact that travel is a much more arduous and hazardous undertaking, I would try to see as much of the world as possible. In the next one hundred years, that world would undergo many paradigm shifts into the one we see today.
I would like to meet those who would die soon, as their legacies could be more truthfully told, as perhaps some information becomes distorted over time. I would learn as much as I could about global society, and despite the dangers, lack of rights for many, and war, this world has progressed slightly since then.
One of the first notable events of the year was the first successful blood transfusion that had been stored, and refrigerated occurred on the first day of the year by Oswald Hope Robinson. This allowed for significant advancement in emergency medicine and has since saved countless lives.
Margaret Sanger opens the first U.S. birth control clinic, which paves the road for Planned Parenthood (Biography.com Editors, 2020). Whilst as a world, we have made great strides forward, many women across the globe still struggle with having rights regarding body autonomy, and in many cases, abortion and reproductive rights are still a taboo topic, causing much internalized shame and lack of information.
At Easter, British-occupied Ireland underwent a violent rebellion; the manifestation of centuries of occupation and oppression led to the six-day uprising of Irish rebels against the British. If I could be physically present at any point in time, I would choose this period, as it was one of the most defining moments for my country. Without this conflict, the state of Ireland as an independent nation would not exist. Similar to the Irish fighting the British, on the other side of the Atlantic, Mexican revolutionary forces were in the midst of their liberation campaign.
Despite the fact that travel is a much more arduous and hazardous undertaking, I would try to see as much of the world as possible. In the next one hundred years, that world would undergo many paradigm shifts into the one we see today.
I would like to meet those who would die soon, as their legacies could be more truthfully told, as perhaps some information becomes distorted over time. I would learn as much as I could about global society, and despite the dangers, lack of rights for many, and war, this world has progressed slightly since then.
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