Red Cross Nordic UWC

Funny, isn't it, how it seems that it was only yesterday that you heard of something, the next day you can't imagine living without it, and tomorrow, you'll get it?  I sound like a spoiled 4 year old, I know, but that's very much so the case with UWC.  I had gone through my life unchallenged, and those around me never seemed to see the world as I did, with candid curiosity and a thirst for understanding.  Understanding, not only of the natural world surrounded by and the role we play in it as humans, but also an understanding of the world that we surround ourselves in.  The perceived world that each and every one of us sees, filtered through our eyes as we want it to.  


At first I was skeptical, the United World Colleges seemed a little "too good to be true." I was more than inspired and excited as all skepticisms regarding the movement were put to rest when I finally met current students, teachers, applicants, and alumni. This was very much so real. People like this, like me existed.  And it was at that point, without even knowing that I was to be accepted or not for another month, that I had a sense of belonging, a sense that I was part of something much greater than me, or you.


Remarkably for the month of waiting I somehow managed to keep my sanity. Then again, I'm not sure I ever had it to begin with. On the noon of April 19th 2011 I checked my email and there it was. Alone in my inbox stood the collection of bytes that was the deciding factor of what my next two years we going to be like.  And so I opened and began reading.  


"Dear James Bui,

Congratulations! On behalf of the U.S. Selection Committee I am pleased to offer you a Davis Scholarship to attend Red Cross Nordic College (Norway)...."

Needless to say, I was ecstatic.  The next two years of my life after this summer will be spent in Norway, with 199 other students with the same mentality as me.

A thousand thoughts rushed through my mind with such speed that my neurons might as well break down at the subatomic level. 

Is this for real?! 

I need to call my teachers right now! 

What are the other students going to be like? 

What classes will I take? 

When does school start?

And then it stopped and a single word echoed as my sat still......

Yay.