#uwclpc

"UWC schools, colleges and programmes deliver a challenging and transformational educational experience to a diverse cross section of students, inspiring them to create a more peaceful and sustainable future."

One of the best parts of LPC life are COP days, and the theme of the one we had today was Peace. As a member of the school's Amnesty International, I actually had the chance to plan out a part of the day and I'm very thankful for the experience. As I've posted earlier, we had a Sustainability COP day sometime during January (I would've been involved in planning that one as well had I not decided to leave the Campus Ecologists QC for Playback due to timetable clashes) and the two ideals together make up an important part of the UWC mission statement quoted above.

The day started at 9 (though we were cleverly/annoyingly asked to meet at the assembly hall at 8:50 as we are a late bunch) with a presentation by a couple of IFP (Initiative for Peace) and LPC Amnesty members with issues of conflict in Hong Kong. There was a focus on the issue of mother tongue in the discussion, and I learnt a lot about the situation of non-Chinese folk here who are unable to access further stages in education due to language barriers in the system. We were also given a talk by guest speaker Carlos Soto, a teacher well versed in issues of social justice and culture. After his presentation, I was glad to hear that he may be returning to campus soon, as I felt there's a lot to learn from a person from his field of work. 

IFP simulations took up the time before lunch, while Amnesty did ours right after. I was part of a group that underwent the IFP simulations, which involved being given roles to play that lead to conflict, and being made to come to a solution. We figured out the first simulation very quickly when one person realised we needed different parts of the Hypotheca plant to create a cure both parties desperately needed. The second one involving Lakeville didn't run quite as smoothly. My group successfully framed the factory for polluting the lake, though we realised from the very beginning that we are likely responsible. It was difficult to come to a compromise. There was a lot to learn there about the importance of communication and reasoning.

Lunch was cut short by the need to prepare for our simulations. Ninay, Anton, Lisa, Wilson and I ran the Forced Labour simulation for Amnesty. It was insanely fun to prepare for and plan out till the very last second when people filed into the library classroom. All in all, we were quite successful, and many people praised our simulation during the courtyard reflections at the very end, which really made my day. Our art project involved creating and photographing standing sculptures related to a case study we made of forced labour in the building of the football world cup stadium in Qatar. We had an incredibly productive session.

Today it really hit me that I should get to thinking about ideas for my Extended Essay, a required part of the IB Diploma. We had student-led information sessions, and I went to the groups relevant to my subject choices. You can't do one on french a.b., there was no ESS session, you bet I'm not doing it on math and the second year running world studies left a note saying she'll get back to us later. So conveniently for me, I was left to use up my three sessions on my three higher levels and only real options.

I went to English first, and I've been inspired to perhaps explore a theme in a book series I've read recently. I imagine it'll be easiest to write for, but I'm not sure if my idea is EE-worthy. The next classroom was Economics, where I got this idea of combining Econ and ESS for something relevant to my country. I'm worried about how difficult it would be to collect the necessary data though. Lastly I headed over to Biology, which was the most fun discussion and although I don't have a topic in mind and science EEs have a bad rep I'm considering it because I enjoy the class.

Then I realized I haven’t looked at the clock for a long time, which was good because that meant I have been busy. Being busy was good because it meant I was enjoying my time here. So I opened the countdown app, to discover I had already spent half of my time left here.

I made my decision, thanks for the reply khwanhatai, you don't seem to have an ask box so I can't write directly o you, message me if you see this!

Our current Aussie students, Clinton (g'day!), Lachson, and Jason, chilling out in Hong Kong.