My UWC Experience in 2017!
My UWC experience in 2017! I haven't updated my NC in a while dan banyak yang ngedm minta sharing/berbagi pengalamanku di UWC. 1. My UWC experience has definitely been challenging for me. Everyone faces a different challenge, but for me personally, the IB curriculum is nerve-wrecking. I'm not saying the IB curriculum is difficult or impossible, it's just that IB throws me off my comfort zone the second I get comfortable. And I am forever grateful for the friends that catch me. I am forever grateful to the boosting hugs, and humbling sticky notes, and random wechat messages checking up on me. Forever ever grateful! 2. I love my roommates so much this year they get a whole picture to themselves. (I love my roomies last year too but we never took a room pic :'( ) Meet Sara and Altria from Suzhou and Wonu from Nigeria. Though we originate from different countries, we are more similar than different. We're all either constantly hungry or constantly taobaoing or constantly cleaning the dustbin. Thank you roomies, for making our b303 a home <3 3. This year was definitely a year of growth for me. Every week in our Global Issues Forum or Mini GenEQ workshops, I find out more about myself and the world, and questions things I would have never questioned before. Was everyone born straight or did society's values shape sexuality? Is it ethical to be consuming dairy products like milk from current industries? Is buying meat from supermarkets unsustainable? Am I practicing the Islam that Muhammed (PBUH) intended? These are few of the questions that I have contemplated on this year. 4. For a daughter of a brown household who lived in the middle eastern desert for almost a decade, hiking and running a half marathon is actually a huUuuuUuuUGE accomplishment, and I got a medal for it (from the half marathon lol)! I did one of my first hikes (anhui) during Ramadan (and I survived!) and the most recent hike (mogan-shan) in freezing temperatures (and I survived again!). I never thought I would hike or even like hiking, but that's what the UWC experience is about too, about experimenting and trying out new things. China has beautiful mountains, but the real beauty does not lie in the view at the peak, the beauty lies in the determination to continue and the compassion each member shows to one another. But ofc, subhanallah mashallah the views are to die for. Hiking and running the half marathon was really more of a mental exercise than a physical exercise, and I did learn a lot about myself again. 5. While in China, I thought that I should try as many different things as I could. A few weeks ago I tried cupping and apparently I had a lot of stagnated blood, and the lady told me to eat more red beans LOL! (red beans are the solution for everything.) 6. I think my favorite part about UWC, is that you have a place to stay all over the world... or China. This year, for Chinese New Year, the school nurses hosted me in North Jiangsu and I SAW SNOW FOR THE FIRST TIME! This winter holiday my friend hosted me in South Korea #fangirldreamcometrue. My family has already hosted 3 friends in 2017, and I got to show my Chinese friend around the magnificent city of (traffic Ja--)karta. PS foto di Galeri Indonesia Kaya gratis lho wkwk. In my opinion, to host and be hosted is one of the best forms of cultural exchange. 7. Of course, I cannot only be taking and not giving. Service to the community is one of the fundamental values of both UWC and IB. My friend, Caro, arranged an event were UWC students share the happiness and joys of the Christmas holiday by donating 200 books to local school's library, and decorating the classroom with the school's students' creativity. 8. Coming to UWC was really a test of friendship for my other friends back home. I rarely reply their messages or take their calls, and I've probably disappointed them a bit too many times, but I guess it does take distance to show which friendships are worth pursuing. I am forever grateful to have met you guys. You guys are the most amazing, most understanding, most weird people I know. <3 I love you!!! 9. Last but not least... in this journey of mine at UWC, it was not just me that changed. My family did too. I thought I knew them but I don't. For a few months, I would not call them because I thought I had nothing but disappointment to share. Yet, the moment I picked up the call, my parent’s words was the comfort I was looking for all along. They are constantly evolving, like myself. They are my number one support team and my number one everything. And I am blessed to have my number ones evolve and mature with me in this journey.
