A note of a leaving student

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By: Anonymous

As a leaving National Committee student, I can absolutely say that UWCSEA was a great home for me. However, little did I know that these two years would result in a dismal crash of my expectations and unfair alienation from the school community.

Before expressing my opinion on the United World College of South East Asia, I would like to note that there is no way for any school to be perfect, faultless or completely and indefinitely ideal. The imagined criteria of a ‘true UWC’ in our minds arises as a result of compiled successful experiences from the worldwide UWC community. Therefore, for our school to be ‘a true UWC’ is both unrealistic and unattainable. As it should be, for Kurt’s sake.

What is concerning, though, is the discrepancy between UWCSEA’s presentation of its performance towards the public, and UWCSEA addressing its own student community. Put simply, it is the difference between what UWCSEA pretends to be and what it really is. These two parts may not always contradict each other completely, but in the eyes of a National Committee scholarship student, its bluntness can be shocking at times.

My first day of school was Tuesday, the 24th of August. I got lost on campus and arrived late to my first class. While taking attendance, the substitute teacher in charge claimed my name ‘too difficult’ to pronounce. Hence, he asked if he could call me simply by the first two letters of my name. Even after receiving a negative response and a comment that I would rather accept the most wrongful pronunciation than complete butchering of my given name, he carried on with his idea.

In my next class, the teacher started some small talk about where I came from. But when I grew triggered and truthfully shared the horrible reality of political repression taking place every day (which just a month ago was part of my daily life), she, clearly unprepared for what she must have thought an uncomfortable topic, commented ‘oh, that’s sad,’ and went back to her seat. I remained at my desk, trying to keep my feelings under control.

That day I also had conversations with various peers. For some reason, in talks between themselves they called me ‘a scholarship student’, whereas they would never have called me that to my face. They also completely disregarded the ‘National Committee’ part of the equation. The explanation for that appeared to be simple. Most of my classmates were not even aware of the existence of the UWC movement, other UWCs, and/or National Committees with their selection processes.

By the end of the day, my experience, which, together with the experiences of the other NC students, was supposed to be a priority of UWC’s educational program, was completely dismissed.

How well does UWCSEA live up to its mission and values? I guess if the members of the school are not even aware of them, the school should not expect much flattery in responses to this question.

National Committee students come to UWC from a diverse range of educational, financial, cultural and other backgrounds. I believe that they are not adequately recognised by the school. Of course, day students may face these challenges as well, but NCs are positioned more vulnerably. NCs cannot choose their college, and in many cases have limited information about the school they are joining. If our level of English proficiency does not reach the standards for higher level studies, it is our problem. If our parents cannot speak English and, therefore, decline from attending SPTCs or participating in other school events, it is our problem. If we cannot pay for UN Night costumes, it is, again, our problem. I have studied at this school for two years and still find myself having to remind teachers to turn on subtitles. This is a floor-level bar, especially taking into account the fact that this is an international school. UWC advertises itself as very diverse and inclusive. How does the above prove that in any way?

There are many in this school who are considerate, compassionate and kind. A large number of people understand and appreciate students' individual experiences. Furthermore, they support communication with them, keeping mentioned nuances in mind. But this attitude is the result of self-initiated decisions to apply additional effort, not a normal trend acknowledged by the school system.

My two years have shown that minorities are never prioritised unless time, effort and self-organisation are put in. No one hears us and, moreover, appreciates our everyday struggles in school. Faculty and staff members (the higher ranked, the worse) close their eyes to the discriminating environment against these students and refuse to communicate through effective and inclusive education. There are some initiatives in this school that speak up about these problems, but they are largely weak attempts to spread awareness through language, not an established dialogue.

‘What about the Student Council?’ some may ask. Such structures have the ability to establish the connection between students and the administration. But only if they are interested. If the main objective for Student Council members is to display their popularity and get a fancy new addition to their university applications, the best anyone can hope for is a dress-up day. Speaking of which, these are not even consistent. For example, a nice opportunity to appreciate the queer student community in June, during Pride month, was ignored — the council was apparently “too busy” planning Grade 11 celebrations).

And that leads us to the reason why proper celebrations are so important.

In the absence of opportunities to exchange personal experiences, beliefs and passions provided by school classrooms, the basis for social relations of students in UWCSEA’s high school is gained in a typical school power play. And in a high school with even higher fees, the power play inevitably has financial aspects.

Last year during my Economics class, a student commented that the government should not help homeless people. "They are a burden," the student exclaimed, "and the only reason they don’t work and don’t have a home is because they are lazy." The whole class laughed, including the teacher. Even if there were those who disagreed with this unfair and incorrect statement, no one raised any questions about the student’s ignorant claim. Meanwhile, the teacher simply accepted it and moved on. This is only one of the countless questionable situations which take place every day in this school. Some of them have even included hate speech towards social groups I belong to: “Bro! Seriously, pink? You literally look like a gay," “What do you mean, you can’t spend $700 on this party? It’s not that much," and so on and so forth. The more I hear, the more disgusted I feel, and belonging to this kind of community entirely loses its appeal.

Additionally, such an attitude, when the amount of money spent becomes your personality-defining trait, results in a phenomenon which can be described as ‘UWCSEA buying its values’.

The number of paid activities this school organises is astronomical. Though the intention behind them is usually positive, and the money gathered goes to great purposes (myself being an absolute supporter of this!), I cannot help but be sceptical. When it comes to many of the events hosted in school, unless you are an active participant, the reason why specific actions are being carried out and the problem solving behind them is unclear. However, if you were to buy something from a GC, for example, you would get a sense of self-satisfaction, contribution, and changing the world. It’s not a complete lie, but it lacks the conscious learning experience stated in the UWC mission.

Needless to say, I very much enjoy the education and resources that UWCSEA gave to me. I may have many grievances about the way that this school is run, but I also wholeheartedly appreciate all the incredible people that I have had the opportunity of meeting here, studying and learning with. They have ignited a flame in my heart that will never be put out. These people study or work hard in UWCSEA and, therefore, help contribute to it being a true UWC school.

This piece is not a judgement of particular individuals, but rather evidence of the harmful power of assumptions flooding the 'prestigious' UWCSEA. When assuming oneself as ‘inclusive’, ‘diverse’, etc. and refusing to reflect on our behaviour on a systematic, not occasional, basis, those words become nothing more than a cliche advertisement that comes at the cost of multiple students’ wellbeing.

So, does UWCSEA really live up to the UWC mission and values? The responsibility is up to its community and what it decides to do with its privilege of power.