Ella Williams, Grade 11
UWC Mostar
Throughout the application process and the interview days, the concept of finding a “balance” at UWC was significantly emphasised. I was made aware of the masses of fantastic opportunities that would be available to me and that, at some point, I’d have to find some middle ground to keep me going and get the most out of this experience. This idea was something I thought of a lot. I found myself questioning what I wanted to prioritise before I’d even experienced any of it.
Once I came to UWC, I realised how much I could accomplish. My life changed – and suddenly, this idea of a balance that I had heard of before became very real. Did I want to go out this evening and spend time with my friends, or did I need to stay in and study for the math test the next morning? And after that, is staying awake all night and studying or talking with my roommates a good idea or is it better to get some sleep? I found myself making these decisions constantly in my first term. Eventually, I began to fall into a rhythm that was comfortable and exciting all at the same time. While this rhythm was chaotic at times and not all that balanced, it was an amazing start to my UWC life, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.
As I moved into my second term, I realised that things I had paid less attention to in term one were actually more important to me than I had thought. Once again, this “balance” began to change. I spent much more of my time on things that I hadn’t focused on at all before, and I found a completely new part of UWC that I wasn’t a part of before. To me, my second term felt like a whole different experience to my first term, and both were equally valuable to me; however, neither seem particularly “balanced”. Some evenings I would be up late into the night, singing and dancing with my friends and other times I found myself exhausted and asleep by 10pm. Similarly, some weeks I felt like I was moving at the speed of light, and there still wasn’t enough time to do everything whereas others were so tranquil and could have lasted forever. UWC has been one of the most sporadic experiences, and this is what has made it so precious to me. While some of the more demanding weeks were challenging and it took some time to get used to switching from being energetic to focused in 10 minutes or less, I am my happiest when I’m busy and making memories so this filled me with joy.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I returned home a few months before the end of my second term. It happened very abruptly, and it has given me a lot of time to reflect on my journey so far. This made me question this term “balance”: although the word is so frequently used, is there even such a thing? Now, I think the best way to describe it is an ever-fluid system of ranked priorities which I found myself changing on a day to day basis depending on how I was feeling or what was more important to me in these moments. Some days it was crucial for me to prioritise studying, but others I wanted to have more fun, and I never found a schedule that fit me for every day. Every week in UWC comes with new obligations, responsibilities and challenges and for this reason, I don’t think it’s possible to find a steady, continuous “balance”.
My UWC journey – and the journey of many others that I have spoken to – has been nothing short of madness and, quite honestly, very unbalanced, although this is not even close to a bad thing. My experience has been crazy and amazing, and the best thing that’s happened to me. I would argue that finding a balance could not have improved it, and I’m not going to start looking for one now. Having a balance is great, but I also think that learning to live and thrive without one is where UWC students excel.
Once I came to UWC, I realised how much I could accomplish. My life changed – and suddenly, this idea of a balance that I had heard of before became very real. Did I want to go out this evening and spend time with my friends, or did I need to stay in and study for the math test the next morning? And after that, is staying awake all night and studying or talking with my roommates a good idea or is it better to get some sleep? I found myself making these decisions constantly in my first term. Eventually, I began to fall into a rhythm that was comfortable and exciting all at the same time. While this rhythm was chaotic at times and not all that balanced, it was an amazing start to my UWC life, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.
As I moved into my second term, I realised that things I had paid less attention to in term one were actually more important to me than I had thought. Once again, this “balance” began to change. I spent much more of my time on things that I hadn’t focused on at all before, and I found a completely new part of UWC that I wasn’t a part of before. To me, my second term felt like a whole different experience to my first term, and both were equally valuable to me; however, neither seem particularly “balanced”. Some evenings I would be up late into the night, singing and dancing with my friends and other times I found myself exhausted and asleep by 10pm. Similarly, some weeks I felt like I was moving at the speed of light, and there still wasn’t enough time to do everything whereas others were so tranquil and could have lasted forever. UWC has been one of the most sporadic experiences, and this is what has made it so precious to me. While some of the more demanding weeks were challenging and it took some time to get used to switching from being energetic to focused in 10 minutes or less, I am my happiest when I’m busy and making memories so this filled me with joy.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I returned home a few months before the end of my second term. It happened very abruptly, and it has given me a lot of time to reflect on my journey so far. This made me question this term “balance”: although the word is so frequently used, is there even such a thing? Now, I think the best way to describe it is an ever-fluid system of ranked priorities which I found myself changing on a day to day basis depending on how I was feeling or what was more important to me in these moments. Some days it was crucial for me to prioritise studying, but others I wanted to have more fun, and I never found a schedule that fit me for every day. Every week in UWC comes with new obligations, responsibilities and challenges and for this reason, I don’t think it’s possible to find a steady, continuous “balance”.
My UWC journey – and the journey of many others that I have spoken to – has been nothing short of madness and, quite honestly, very unbalanced, although this is not even close to a bad thing. My experience has been crazy and amazing, and the best thing that’s happened to me. I would argue that finding a balance could not have improved it, and I’m not going to start looking for one now. Having a balance is great, but I also think that learning to live and thrive without one is where UWC students excel.
www.unitedworldwide.co