Since April, I have been working together with the wonderful Maria Vatista (the Coordinator for Student Led Initiatives at the United World College here in Maastricht), in an effort to link up the high school students there with some of the UM students, staff, and our various initiatives. After hosting a few events based around the UM, I finally had the opportunity to visit UWC during their Asian Cultural Week. Being there not only gave me flashbacks to my high school days at Andover, but it was absolutely delightful to meet some of the students and to sit in on classes that they were teaching. I felt rejuvenated to see so much energy and positivity from the students supporting and cheering on their fellow students (during class and especially during the talent show). I was also in awe of just how much the staff there really invested their time and effort into fostering the growth and development of these lucky students.
Albert Einstein wrote in his essay, On Education (1936), that “education is that which remains, if one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” I am almost certain that I have forgotten absolutely everything that I learned back in high school and was not exactly sure what had remained. However, the students and the staff at UWC reminded me that so long as we are kind and civil to one another, we can create a wonderfully fun and supportive learning environment driven by curiosity and collaboration, rather than by competition or fear (or promises of promotion for the staff). So in short, I am extremely grateful to Maria, UWC, and the continued opportunities for me to keep working with them on a variety of upcoming initiatives! If anyone is also interested in joining in on the fun, please give me a shout!
* Trigger warning for the non-inclusive language. Just leaving the quote from 1936 here as is.