The 21st September! A big day for us naturally, aside from the fact that the 21st of September is my born day, it is also celebrated across the world as UWC Day and important part of UWC culture and heritage. And naturally, we celebrate it to the fullest extent here at UWCSEA East, where we celebrate our values of peace and working towards a sustainable future. Across campus, you see all kids and teachers dressed up in some form of national or cultural dress, and with the flags in abundance hanging over the courtyard, spirits on the day were high and colors bright all around.

Being part of the IFP group, we also decided to hold an event to commemorate both UWC day, which in fact coincided with a peace day. Our IFP group hosted a 1000 origami crane folding event, the crane, marked an important symbol of peace in Asia, and in Japan, this tradition is fabled to bring about desired wishes from the Gods. We folded 1000 cranes to wish for peace within our community and our surroundings. I was involved in the activity, and came at lunchtime to help out, and tried my own hand at folding one myself. Mind you, origami is quite difficult! I think this was quite an important event, because of the messages and symbolism it brought with it, and it’s meaning. Folding paper may not have the most efficient impact on the world, but the culture surrounding it, and the unity and joy it brought with the people doing it meant a lot to all of us. It brought us together towards a common goal, to fold 1000 cranes for peace, and I think if we can come together on this small stepping stone, who knows what more we can achieve by coming together. That was the valuable lesson I learned through participating in this activity.

And of course, it was a great way to spend my birthday surrounded by my UWC family here at school!