End of another year
End of another year
After a hectic five days, the academic year has ended for our students. After tearful farewell hugs, almost all the students have now departed to make their way home, in whichever country that may be. Staff will have their final meeting for the year tomorrow, followed by lunch together, and the holiday begins for the teachers as well. My own holiday will finally begin after a few more weeks, in late June.
On Thursday, we had the show presented by the 1st Year students to the departing 2nd Years. It was one of the best of these shows that I have had the pleasure to witness, and it was followed by a canteen party that lasted into the early hours of the morning.
Friday was a busy day, as this was the day students had to clear out their rooms, and in the case of 1st Year students, pack things away into store rooms for summer. Yearbooks were distributed, and after a barbecue dinner beside the pool, we all relaxed over jazz (well, it started as jazz!) in the air conditioned comfort of the sports centre.
Saturday provided further opportunities for reflection and farewells, starting with a special 10-cereal breakfast, and moving on to questions for reflective discussion in tutor groups. The chocolate fountain was a very welcome special guest at our tutor group meeting! After lunch in the courtyard, we squeezed into the lecture room to watch a video of staff reflections that had been put together by a very talented group of our students. Then, after some organised games, we met for drinks, hosted by each of the four Heads of House, before going to the canteen for our final meal together. This was a wonderful formal occasion, with sensational food and farewell speeches to the three departing staff members. The evening finished with music in the courtyard to about 11 pm.
The miracle is that in the midst of all this this, I managed to complete my Principals’ reports on every student in the College!
Today has been the big day for departures, with all the goodbyes, hugs, tears, finality and emotions that this entails. Not all our students have left yet, and one group is remaining on campus for another week and a half to conduct the Initiative for Peace in Kashmir, at which young men and women are being brought here to the campus from India and Pakistan to discuss important issues of peace in Kashmir.
One group I that I did farewell this morning was the 13 students who will be travelling with me on the UWC Initiative to North Korea this week. They are travelling to Beijing by train as I write this blog, where I will meet them on Tuesday morning after I fly there tomorrow evening, following our final staff meeting in the morning and then staff lunch. This is an important initiative that takes the United World Colleges back to their origins and raison d’être. I am sure I have will something to say about the North Korean experience in next week’s blog!
AFTERWORD: For those who read my last mid-week blog, I have now uploaded galleries on Mostar HERE and Srebrenica HERE.
Sunday, 27 May 2007
Legendary departing teacher, Mr Nimal de Silva, addresses the Graduation Dinner