Instead of finishing high school in the traditional manner, I took an alternate route. I spent my last two years of high school at an international boarding school.
What is UWC USA?
The United World College USA, is an international boarding school in Montezuma New Mexico. There are approximately 230 students from over 90 countries aged 16 to 20. This campus is apart of the global United World College movement, and is only one out of 18 schools across the globe.
The first question that typically comes up when introducing the school is “is it a college or a high school?” Technically, it is a high school, however students only attend for two years. Students come with the goal of obtaining an International Baccalaureate Diploma, a degree that is internationally recognized, and obtained in the last two years of high school. From here, students apply to college.
Why did I choose it?
In 2019 I won the Davis Scholarship, a $50,000 scholarship to attend UWC, and was offered a place on the UWC USA campus. This scholarship is awarded to 50 U.S. students every year, and had over 500 applicants in my year. I fell in love with the school after working as a film intern in the summers of 2018 and 2019 for a summer camp hosted on campus. By taking the I.B. diploma I would be able to engage more deeply in my academics, and have better opportunities in the college admissions process.
Extracurricular Activities / Leaderships
Throughout my time at UWC I participated in a number of extracurricular activities or “exeds.” These activities profoundly impacted my experience, and allowed me to explore a variety of new interests, as well as maintaining old passions. Although I participated in a number of exeds, these are my top five that impacted me the most.
Tech Sound
I have been a dedicated “Tech” member at UWC for both two years. As a tech member, I address all tech needs for school events (which there are quite a lot of!) This typically consists of setting up sound systems for live performers in a variety of locations, running the tech for UWC’s classic “Cultural Day Shows” and Cafes. Tech taught me several technical audio skills, but most importantly helped me grow my leadership skills. As a second year tech leader, I helped train and organize our tech team of over 40 members. Often times I helped fix technical issues under the immense time pressure of a waiting audience, or helped calm down a stressed group. This has been my favorite leadership, and the one I have learned the most from.
Wilderness
The wilderness program at UWC USA has been another transformative part of my experience. Throughout my time at UWC, I have spent approximately a month sleeping outdoors! I met some of my best friends during a five day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. At the beginning of my second year, I participated in a 10 day backpacking trip throughout the Pecos Wilderness. Over this journey I learned the daily rhythm of living in the outdoors, and learned teaching skills to help introduce my peers to the wilderness. Later in the year I led a trip with eight first year backpackers, making them comfortable, and helping teach them skills every step of the way. My experience in wilderness both helped me learn how to face adversities, yet also taught me how difficult wilderness can be for someone who is experiencing a night outside for the first time. I formed so many close bonds, and made so many lasting memories through the wilderness program.
Yearbook
Yearbook taught me how to organize a team of students around a distant yet firm deadline. Although I primarily acted as a photographer for the team, I also learned Photoshop and Illustrator to help design for the yearbook. Although I am fluent in 5 Adobe programs, Photoshop proved to be the most difficult learning curve. I was proud of the final result both years, and proud of the contribution I made to the community.
Rock Climbing
Despite growing up with parents who had been avid rock climbers in their earlier days, I didn’t come to UWC with much rock climbing experience. The rock climbing exed taught me to love the sport, and inspired me to go further ahead with my climbing after UWC.
Video Editing
I was fortunate enough to be able to host my own exed in which I taught students of all skill levels video editing on Adobe Premiere Pro. Students took two hour classes, over the course of seven weeks. They learned basic video editing, and interview skills. For one class, we were joined by the NGO “WITNESS” in which students learned ethics around filming human rights violations. The course finished with students creating a short film, later watched at a viewing session.
Reflections
Here you can find writings that I created throughout my UWC experience. These were written in times of introspection, and learning. Press the button to download each file.