This weekend we had exeat (a long weekend free to travel/catch up with sleep/...), so now everyone is all fresh again and happy to start school again... supposedly, at least.
Things have been pretty weird here lately. I'd say the secondyear is, for a lot of people, an emotional rollercoaster: there is high stress, sadness and depression, altered with crazy moments of happiness. To be really honest, there is just too much work and too much pressure. In the first year, all we had to do was keep up with our classes; do subject-related homework (which is also a lot, trust me). The difference is that, this year, there is also the EE that needs to be worked on, the TOK-essay that needs to be finished, all the universities in the world need to be checked out until you find the perfect match and then you need to start applying to these perfect universities,etc. In addition, we are now at the time when for each of our subjects, we need to write an IA (Internal Assessment), which is A LOT of work and really important.
And while doing all of this, it is important that we remember why we are here, and what we actually want from this place and from ourselves. It seems that, because we came to a UWC, it is expected from us, and it is kind of our responsibility, to go to a fancy, prestiguous university somewhere in the US and continue for the rest of our life to study and work and live in all kinds of really high-class institutions. There is this pressure from different people which makes us think that what we want, is study hard and go to a "crazy cool" university and then live a "crazy cool" life, but we have to remember and life according to what we want ourselves, not what we are expected to want. It's true, the UWC-ness of this place is sometimes hard to find these days. One of my coyears put it into words: even the things we are passionate about, don't excite us anymore, because they are merely a part of our list, which we have to finish but never ends.
I was having a conversation about this with a good friend, and she reminded me of something which I, and with me a lot of other secondyears, had forgotten: we are here for a reason. We have the trust of our national committees, parents, family etc. that we are able to "be UWC", to combine the workload with socializing, with volunteering, with "making the world a better place". They had their reasons to send us here! We shouldn't forget that it is not just our responsibility to get good grades, it is even more so to contribute positively to this community, and through this community to the bigger scene.
It is really hard to stay optimistic when you know that all you'll be doing in the next few days, is working for school, going to your (compulsory) actvities you've chosen, eat and sleep a bit. Sometimes it's just easier to lay in your bed and not do anything but (I can't say this enough, sorry) we (I) shouldn't forgot what it means to be here!
Sadly, exeat's behind the back. It was really nice to have three days without thinking about school, or even about MUWCI at all. For the first time since last August, I didn't feel happy coming back to this place after a holiday, and that saddens me a lot because this place has always brought me so much happiness. However, I've realized that it's up to me to change this feeling. I need to prioritize myself: do I want to study a lot and go to a nice university somewhere in the world, or do I prioritize the UWC-experience and see what happens after all? Where is the perfect balance? How can I get there? Can I get there?
This blogpost might sound really depressing, but it doesn't have to be. This quote has been used waaaaay to often, but i'll use it anyway: "be the change you want to see in the world"
Love always
Things have been pretty weird here lately. I'd say the secondyear is, for a lot of people, an emotional rollercoaster: there is high stress, sadness and depression, altered with crazy moments of happiness. To be really honest, there is just too much work and too much pressure. In the first year, all we had to do was keep up with our classes; do subject-related homework (which is also a lot, trust me). The difference is that, this year, there is also the EE that needs to be worked on, the TOK-essay that needs to be finished, all the universities in the world need to be checked out until you find the perfect match and then you need to start applying to these perfect universities,etc. In addition, we are now at the time when for each of our subjects, we need to write an IA (Internal Assessment), which is A LOT of work and really important.
And while doing all of this, it is important that we remember why we are here, and what we actually want from this place and from ourselves. It seems that, because we came to a UWC, it is expected from us, and it is kind of our responsibility, to go to a fancy, prestiguous university somewhere in the US and continue for the rest of our life to study and work and live in all kinds of really high-class institutions. There is this pressure from different people which makes us think that what we want, is study hard and go to a "crazy cool" university and then live a "crazy cool" life, but we have to remember and life according to what we want ourselves, not what we are expected to want. It's true, the UWC-ness of this place is sometimes hard to find these days. One of my coyears put it into words: even the things we are passionate about, don't excite us anymore, because they are merely a part of our list, which we have to finish but never ends.
I was having a conversation about this with a good friend, and she reminded me of something which I, and with me a lot of other secondyears, had forgotten: we are here for a reason. We have the trust of our national committees, parents, family etc. that we are able to "be UWC", to combine the workload with socializing, with volunteering, with "making the world a better place". They had their reasons to send us here! We shouldn't forget that it is not just our responsibility to get good grades, it is even more so to contribute positively to this community, and through this community to the bigger scene.
It is really hard to stay optimistic when you know that all you'll be doing in the next few days, is working for school, going to your (compulsory) actvities you've chosen, eat and sleep a bit. Sometimes it's just easier to lay in your bed and not do anything but (I can't say this enough, sorry) we (I) shouldn't forgot what it means to be here!
Sadly, exeat's behind the back. It was really nice to have three days without thinking about school, or even about MUWCI at all. For the first time since last August, I didn't feel happy coming back to this place after a holiday, and that saddens me a lot because this place has always brought me so much happiness. However, I've realized that it's up to me to change this feeling. I need to prioritize myself: do I want to study a lot and go to a nice university somewhere in the world, or do I prioritize the UWC-experience and see what happens after all? Where is the perfect balance? How can I get there? Can I get there?
This blogpost might sound really depressing, but it doesn't have to be. This quote has been used waaaaay to often, but i'll use it anyway: "be the change you want to see in the world"
Love always
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