Quinn Holden-Schrock, Grade 11
UWC-USA
Recently, my global politics teacher played an Elie Wiesel speech about indifference, cancelling the lesson plans because he thought this speech was more important. As UWC students, we are in a bubble and sometimes we can easily slip away from the real world, and he wanted to remind us of this. Indifference is the easy route, and it is one UWC students often find themselves on. It is a bright yellow slide that lures you in, since it’s an easy ride down and you can’t see the end. Indifference is something I have struggled with all year long because coming to UWC shatters your indifference. But UWC also builds it.
The small town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, shattered the world I knew in many ways. I felt foreign in my own country, with people who spoke my native language. But immediately I met people who were far more displaced than I was and who had been travelling for two days and were unfamiliar with the language. These people also shattered my world, and they are still shattering my world. What UWC does is so special, because when I become friends with people from other countries, my life becomes inextricably connected to theirs. Suddenly I care about why the Welsh are still angry about British colonization and I want to know the history of rape culture in Nepal. Suddenly indifference doesn’t feel like an option. When my best friend from Hong Kong came to me sad because she was so far from her home that she felt unable to help her country, indifference is no longer an option. I can’t be indifferent when someone I care about is hurting. This is how individual by individual, indifference is shattered at UWC. I’ve felt this numerous times and it truly is simultaneously the most beautiful and painful thing this school has done for me.
While I’ve been shattered in this way numerous times, I’ve also felt my indifference towards certain things build. For one, I have stopped caring so deeply about the gun violence epidemic in the States, but this probably has to do with the fact that I no longer sit in class and worry that I will have to run for my life. Being in a bubble of what feels like a perfect world has made me indifferent toward issues I faced back home. It is hard to stay connected to smaller, real-world problems that are affecting your family and friends when you have switched your mind to a global lense. Even when you try to look at global issues, there is just so much that most of the time it is easier to take the route of indifference than to try to comprehend everything happening in the world. In this way, indifference builds and it is difficult to keep caring, despite having so much to care about.
Caring in quality is better than caring in quantity because the quantity is overwhelming and burns you out. UWC burnout is real, and I have to remind myself of the things I am passionate about in order to feel grounded. Passion is the opposite of indifference, and I see it as the only way to fight the encroachment of indifference into my life. As indifference pushes its way towards me, UWC keeps me grounded and makes me care about things outside of my bubble. This bubble is safety, comfort, and ease, but in the end, it is also indifference.
The small town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, shattered the world I knew in many ways. I felt foreign in my own country, with people who spoke my native language. But immediately I met people who were far more displaced than I was and who had been travelling for two days and were unfamiliar with the language. These people also shattered my world, and they are still shattering my world. What UWC does is so special, because when I become friends with people from other countries, my life becomes inextricably connected to theirs. Suddenly I care about why the Welsh are still angry about British colonization and I want to know the history of rape culture in Nepal. Suddenly indifference doesn’t feel like an option. When my best friend from Hong Kong came to me sad because she was so far from her home that she felt unable to help her country, indifference is no longer an option. I can’t be indifferent when someone I care about is hurting. This is how individual by individual, indifference is shattered at UWC. I’ve felt this numerous times and it truly is simultaneously the most beautiful and painful thing this school has done for me.
While I’ve been shattered in this way numerous times, I’ve also felt my indifference towards certain things build. For one, I have stopped caring so deeply about the gun violence epidemic in the States, but this probably has to do with the fact that I no longer sit in class and worry that I will have to run for my life. Being in a bubble of what feels like a perfect world has made me indifferent toward issues I faced back home. It is hard to stay connected to smaller, real-world problems that are affecting your family and friends when you have switched your mind to a global lense. Even when you try to look at global issues, there is just so much that most of the time it is easier to take the route of indifference than to try to comprehend everything happening in the world. In this way, indifference builds and it is difficult to keep caring, despite having so much to care about.
Caring in quality is better than caring in quantity because the quantity is overwhelming and burns you out. UWC burnout is real, and I have to remind myself of the things I am passionate about in order to feel grounded. Passion is the opposite of indifference, and I see it as the only way to fight the encroachment of indifference into my life. As indifference pushes its way towards me, UWC keeps me grounded and makes me care about things outside of my bubble. This bubble is safety, comfort, and ease, but in the end, it is also indifference.
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