People, trees and ocean

Albert and I are the first two alumni in residence coming to the programme this year. I was probably writting my IB exams at the time Albert was born. Our difference of age does not mean anything in a place like Pearson College UWC. Here students and staff really make you feel welcome, and you very quickly get involved in activities and talks as if you had been here all along. Everyone shows such warmth and support you become a member of the community quickly. Here you find a place where people from all ages share the same passion for life, learning, creativity and personal growth. At Pearson, we all share eagerness and curiousity to learn from each other and share the values of the UWC movement with great respect. The spirit on campus is timeless. To me, this spirit has not changed much from the time I was here. My perception of it, however, has changed during the 38 years since I first arrived. Back then, we were natural changemakers, but we felt this strong sense of responsibility to become said changemakers and ambassadors of peace for the future.  As an observer of now and then, I see this spirit streams from students in a more natural way than we thought,  and that they think; we were, and they are, already acting as change-makers and ambassadors of peace, without being aware of it most of the times. My message to them now would be: "You are already doing it."

In a more intimate aspect of my return to Pearson College, I also feel like if I had never left this place; as if there were a thread that attached me to this place for generations of valuable students with many other threads, creating a strong net of roots around the campus trees.

One remarkable difference I notice now is the impact of the internet and social media on campus. Students now have the possibility of being in contact with "the outside". When I was here I only made a phone call to my family once in two years, when my houseparents generously offered me to phone my mother after the attempt of coup d'etat in 1981. I hardly had contact with my friends in Spain, so my return to the background I came from was a shock after such intensive and rich life at Pearson. Students now are able to use all the tools at hand for their educational growth. Social media makes communication among students and staff more fluent and easy now with a wide range of possibilities to organize and participate in activities that are taking place on campus. I find that the use of social network is not a burden for students for being very much involved on campus. They are amazing young people, who are able to accomplish their studies and juggle so many other activities that makes this place so vibrant: TEDx, Pearson Politics chats, Indigenous Day, CAS, One World rehearsals, choir, among many others. And there is also time for laughing, baking a birthday cake or cooking japanese food in the house of a resident amidst the pressure of the IB and university interviews.

I was lucky to be invited to some classes so far. I could see how social media allows students to receive updated information that enriches the exposure of the class. And I could see how learning can become a pleasure here using creativity as a very efficient tool. 

I love being in such an stimulating place. I am tremendously grateful for being back. And very proud of being part of it.

Oh! Another timeless fact at Pearson: the rain!!!!!!!