The Best High Schools in the World, continued

His laughter: infectious. His name: Shelby Davis. When he arrived for a visit with students who had come from around the world to this particular university, he wanted to talk with each one. However, he was no stranger to them. They all knew him, some as friends, and some merely by his reputation.

Shelby Davis believes in education. But he has done what few in the world are capable of doing. He took his own advice that he gave to the students that day seriously. For the first 30 years, one needs to learn, for the next 30 they need to earn, and for the last 30 they need to return. Shelby is now returning what he has learned and earned. He has given over 1 billion dollars to support the greatest educational experiment in the world.

Shelby Davis

He has supported through his generosity a set of secondary schools called United World Colleges (or UWCs for short). Their website (http://www.uwc.org/), will explain the educational mission, but here is what it is like to visit one. This one is representative of the whole. The locations are in all corners of the globe, and the students are too.

UWC, Pune, India

Outside Pune, India, on a mountaintop is one of the most beautifully designed schools in the world. This particular United World College (it is a secondary school not a college as we term it in the US), has, as all 13 of them do, students from all corners of the globe. Most are there on scholarships courtesy of Shelby Davis. Each student has been selected trough a rigorous nomination process within their home country and they are the best and brightest from around the world. I can remember sitting outside at a table overlooking the fecund Indian valley below. I was having an intense conversation with a student from Bolivia about whether the titular character of Borges’ story, “Funes the Memorious”, was blessed or cursed. A student from Ethiopia stopped by and joined in, and then one from Taiwan, and then one from India, and so on. Each had amazing insights into a text few read even at university. The students are culturally literate in ways few of us could even dream about. And bright as almost any group of students, one could imagine. 

UWC students at Dartmouth

They tend to head off to the best schools in the world, armed with knowledge and an instilled belief that they can change the world because of their understanding that communication across cultures and beliefs is the way to change lives and countries. They are not afraid of tough questions and issues. The respect they show one another means they learn to grow from debate rather than nurture hurts and resentments.

What follows is the voice of one of these students, Sophie Syed. She is a global citizen in and of herself. She is a leader and a person who fights for justice and the rights of others. She will be someone you will hear from in the years ahead. She will make a difference.

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UWC, Singapore

The  Journey from a United World College To University

People often ask me two questions when I mention that I went to school for 7 years at United World College of Southeast Asia. The first question is “What is a UWC?” and the second question that follows is often “What’s so great about a UWC?”

Taken straight from the United World College website, I could leave it at: “UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.” However, this is not a sufficient explanation for why I believe that  my UWC  shaped me to be the person I am, and prepared me for my life at my current university. 

UWC, Hong Kong

Growing up in Hong Kong, Singapore and being of Indian ethnicity and then having gone to a United World College has given me life experiences that I would not otherwise have had at this point in my life. I have had more cultural enrichment and more cultural education than virtually anyone with several Phds in these subjects. They may have spent years doing research and writing. I did that too, but I also lived it in ways no academic ever could.

As a fourth year college student, the world is my oyster. It is intimidating and yet exciting at the same time. You would never think it, but learning how to take care of myself on a school trip to Tioman Island, Malaysia while snorkeling, or cooking couscous on a Bunsen burner while camping on the beach of Pulau Ubin for NYAA (National Youth Achievement Award) have taught me life skills that I use in my own dormitory room! 

UWC, Norway

Learning about cultural nuances, and the differences between people’s backgrounds has honestly allowed me to fit in at my university even though I am from the other side of the world. The maturity I gained from all my experiences at UWC has really helped me to succeed in whatever I have chosen to do at college, whether it is being on different leadership boards, starting my own organization, or being a Resident Advisor (“RA”) to students here.

However, it is also the teachers who have enabled me to be open-minded, to be aware, and most of all be understanding and caring when it comes to new experiences. My 8^th grade teacher in UWCSEA taught me the etymology of the word “anadiplosis” in one of our first English classes after I guessed it meant “an explosion of letters” (which was wrong, unfortunately); he stimulated a hidden academic thirst within me and mentored me for the next few years I was at UWCSEA. While working on projects outside of class, he showed me that with motivation, I could achieve whatever I wanted – no matter how long it took and how hard I had to work for it. He made me understand that it was the effort that counted and that if I didn’t achieve what I wanted the first time, it didn’t mean I was a failure. He encouraged me to be courageous and confident through his own enthusiasm about my efforts. Although my English teacher was not the only person to care about how I did in school, the point is, at UWCSEA – all my teachers cared about me. This helped me to excel in whatever I chose to do in my 7 years at UWCSEA. 

UWC students, Waterford, Southern Africa campus

If I were to give any advice to UWC students around the world trying to pick universities and colleges for further education, my biggest piece of advice would be: pick a school that fits YOU. I’m sure a lot of people say that, and it is difficult to really understand what that means. Here is what it meant to me when I was going through the process, in no particular order of importance:

·         Subjects: Since I enjoyed Economics, English, History and French during IB (International Baccalaureate program), I looked for universities who had great departments in these subjects. Here I am now, double majoring in Foreign Affairs (Politics) & French, and minoring in Global Culture and Commerce!

·         Shelby Davis Scholarship: Since I knew I could not afford full tuition costs, I looked for schools that were part of the Davis World Scholars program so that I could be eligible to get a Davis Scholarship. 

·         Diversity & Cultural Awareness: Since multiculturalism, and being around people of diverse nationalities had been a big part of my life growing up, I looked for universities with a larger percentage of international students compared to their total population as that would mean people were more aware of the world around them. 

UWC, New Mexico

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·         Size of the University:  I didn’t really think about this, but the faculty to student ratio is an important factor to keep in mind, as it is possible you prefer 1-on-1 contact with professors and lecturers in 20 person seminar-style classes, versus sitting in a lecture hall where there are 100-500 other students.

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·         Why are other people there? I took in to account why people liked my University. I spoke to friends and friends of friends who I knew were at the universities I was looking in to, and heard what they had to say – there is nothing like speaking to someone who already has some experience!

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·         Ranking: Of course, I looked in to ranking as it is important for my family for me to be at a well-known school – but that is definitely not the case for everybody so don’t stress!

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·         Campus: Since I knew I’d be at my chosen university for 4 years, I typed in University names into Google images, and looked at pictures of the Universities I was applying to – since I did not get a chance to visit any of the 6 universities I applied to in the US, or the 5 in the UK.

UWC students, Pune, India

·         Location (Weather, Living Expenses, Proximity, Size of town): This one is a big and complicated one – weather and living expenses are self-explanatory. However, by proximity, I had to think to myself – what is the closest international airport? How close am I to an embassy that I could go to in case of an emergency? Are there good hospitals in the area? How about the proximity to stores or social activities that I am interested in? All of this directly relates to how big the town is that your University is situated in. Perhaps you have been born and bred in the city and don’t want to move to the suburbs or a rural area? Perhaps the town your University is in, is a university town, where everything has been built around the university? There are many things to think about under this category!

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·         Social Environment: I knew I wasn’t interested in Greek life, but that a big passion of mine has always been music. When I found out that big named bands like U2, Muse, Dave Matthews Band, Lady Gaga, and the Goo Goo Dolls often came to my current university, I looked further into the music scene and saw that Charlottesville, Virginia is a really happening place! Additionally, there are a lot of cool authors like John Grisham who live in in my city so that was pretty exciting for me. Summary: The key to this category is to do some research about where you will be living – what is there to do in the place you will be staying in for the next 3 or more years? Do these things appeal to you? 

UWC, Costa Rica

All though this is by no means an exhaustive list, these are just some of the things for you to start thinking about as you apply to college. In retrospect, leadership has always been a very important part of my life at school, and now at university. If I had realized just how important it was to me, I would have asked representatives I met from prospective schools how the concept of student self-governance fit in with their schools, and how central leadership was amongst students. 

UWC, Singapore

As a fellow UWC-er, who has been through the stress of IB, university applications, and obtaining CAS hours, GOOD LUCK with all your future endeavours! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail at sophie.syed@gmail.com.