I hope that you are well. If you have come to this blog in search of a UWC future (or perhaps a UWC past or present too) I am so happy that you found this. Welcome. This blog is a diary of 2 very important years of my life, ones where I was surrounded by friendship, love, and humanity on the shores of the Pacific guarded by magnificent tall trees. If all this sounds romantic and ideal - it sure was. And sometimes it wasn't. But most of the time it was.
I am writing again today, a full year since I began my second year at Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific because it is a very special day. As I write I can listen to the live stream of UWC's 50th Anniversary Celebration, where it all began - at St. Donats Castle in Wales at Atlantic College. Atlantic College is one of 12 magnificent schools across the globe that are united by a common mandate: to use education as a force to unite peoples, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. It has been 50 years since UWC was created. An extremely influential man named Kurt Hahn played a huge role in beginning this movement (he also created Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh award, and the Round Square) and my favorite quote from him is, "There is more in you than you think."
How extraordinary to think of education as more than a classroom, more than exam results, more than facts regurgitated, more than desks and pencils and powerpoints, more than laptops, more than papers...to me, education is about relationship(s). Relationships with others and relationships to our environment. Relationship can also mean conflict.
Education is dynamic. Education is fluid. Education is not fixed.
And I was completely blessed to experience my education (and kind of grow up in the process) at Pearson College, a true and beautiful United World College.
If I look at my life now, my decisions and the people I connect with most are intrinsically linked to UWC. Even if the people I am surrounded by did not/ do not attend a UWC, they often have the spirit in their hearts. I still miss my second years, my co-years, and my first-years and the times we spent together on Pedder Bay. The village meetings where we would talk and discuss anything on our minds...the late night conversations in the spiritual centre (a place for all faiths)....or the time spent in the outdoors biking and climbing - all of these are etched on my soul. Even doing laundry was an adventure.
I know that no matter what these connections remain and can be re-lit at any point! Great conversations are a result of great hearts connecting. And the beauty is - this can happen anywhere, the flame never dies.
So from my heart to yours, congratulations and happy birthday UWC!
Sincerely and with much love,
Emmy
PS: Earlier on I had planned to take this blog down after I left Pearson, but I will maintain it's presence on the internet if it continues to help inform and spread the aims and admirable goals of UWC.
