By Marco Petric
On the 21st September 2013, the World Peace Day and also the inaugural UWC Day was celebrated! UWC is an acronym for UnitedWorldCollege and it is a global community of 12 schools, 150 national committees and over 50,000 alumni. At HoodCollege, a total of 16 UWC alumni are currently enrolled in undergraduate studies, from 8 different UWC’s around the world. UWC students are recognized as Davis Scholars and are awarded annually with Davis UWC Scholarship. Shelby Davis and Phil Geier had one simple idea:
“If you could bring thousands of talented students from every corner of the globe to U.S. colleges and universities you could create international understanding and change the world.”
UWC alumni have a role in continuing UWC mission and values. UWC mission is as follows:
“UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.”
Values that UWC considers as crucial in order to achieve peace and a sustainable future include: International and intercultural understanding, Celebration of difference, Personal responsibility and integrity, Mutual responsibility and respect, Compassion and service, Respect for the environment, A sense of idealism, Personal challenge, Action and personal example.
In order to honour the academic and extracurricular achievement of UWC students, Hood College holds a ceremony of Davis Scholar recognition, to remind the UWC scholars why they were chosen and awarded Davis Scholarship and what is their mission in life. They receive a globe with personalized message from Davis Foundation, socialize with other UWC students at Hood, share their ideas through speeches provided by current UWC alumni at Hood, Hood College UWC alumni and faculty, including Dr.Kiran Chadda the director of Multicultural Affairs and International Student Programs and Kate Emory the director of Study Abroad Programs and International Student Coordinator.
On UWC Day, UWC students at Hood changed their Facebook cover into one of the UWC banners in order to show their support and wrote a one-sentence statement expressing their opinions of their unusual high-school experience and how it changed/affected their life. Some of them are:
“You know when people say that perfection does not exist? Yes, it does and it is called United World College. I can only say that I am remarkably proud of every single moment I have spent in Mostar. It was the greatest time of my life! Thank you UWC!”
Anela Alic,
UWCiM ‘10
Hood College ‘14
“UWC gave me the opportunity to explore the world’s diversity, and made of me a better thinker.”
Sammy Pierre
UWC Costa Rica ‘12
Hood College ‘16
“What I appreciate the most about UWCiM is that I grew up. Far from my family, I learned what it means to be alone, take all life responsibilities at the age of 16, surrounded by the people you do not know yet and in an unknown and foreign city at that time. It was a challenge which enabled me to go alone even to another part of the world, and that is where I am now.”
Melina Stevanovic
UWCiM ‘11
Hood College ‘15
UWC is encouraging not only UWC students, but all students to engage and actively participate in their communities living to create peace, appreciating each other with all our differences. UWC students at Hood College are: Anela Alic, Meni Nhanhla Khumalo, Maria Gaetskaya, Nejra Isic, Marko Petric, Melina Stevanovic, Maja Tavra, David Andrew Bowyer, Ivana Soce, Ana Filipovic, Samuel Pierre, Kahembi Moses Mukuwa, Adam Debreczeni, Andela Golemac, Patrick Kusebauch and Robert Sargyan.
One of the upcoming projects is recording a short movie about UWC students at Hood and their involvement. For this, we will need help from Film and Graphics students and if anyone is interested, has comments or questions, please e-mail Ana Filipovic at af12@hood.edu.
“I am the change I wish to see in the world and UWC helped me to get the self-confidence, energy and knowledge to see this. I live, I act and, I create impact thanks to UWC.”
Ana Filipovic
UWCiM ‘11
Hood College ‘16
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