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So far Edmund Cluett has created 595 blog entries.

Hari Bahadur Tamang (’16 – ’19)

2017-02-08T06:25:24+01:00February 8th, 2017|

Hari Bahadur Tamang says he was born twice. As soon as he was born, he faced challenges. From a small village in Chitwan in southern Nepal, he had 11 siblings, and his parents were poor, and could not look after all the children properly, so all of them were sent out to work at a very young age. Hari went to work as a dishwasher in a hotel 10 hours from his village. He was 7 years old. One day a bus he was traveling on was caught by a bomb blast, and 53 people lost their lives. Hari was one of the 71 people who survived.

After this traumatic experience Hari’s perspectives changed. He was lucky to be alive, and he knew it. He appreciated life and was fortunate to gain supporters – individuals and organisations who provided him with a small amount of financial relief and work opportunities in homes and on a farm. He went to school again, but when his mother passed away in 2007, he returned home to look after his father. Eventually, thanks to the support of a sponsor, Hari applied for a UWC scholarship, and with the assistance of the Nepalese National Committee he was accepted to the Survivors of Conflict programme at RCN – a programme which the College runs in tandem with the Red Cross and the Rehabilitation Centre on our campus.

Receiving an RCN scholarship filled Hari with hope and excitement. Finally, he thought, he could just focus on his education and take control of his future. However, coming to a new country and the RCN community brought new challenges. English was the most difficult problem of all. In the beginning, everything was hard, but gradually, Hari relaxed, and the friendly, supportive RCN environment brought out his natural friendliness and curiosity. He realized that RCN is not just about academics and started participating in activities such as Norwegian folk dancing and sports.

The Foundation Year Programme is making a huge difference in his life, he explains. He is getting familiar with the IB Programme, the UWC movement, the Red Cross and the RCN community. He is becoming more confident and feels he is receiving a great deal of moral support. He is building his foundation to tackle not only the IB, but also other challenges. With smaller class sizes and a special focus on developing both basic and academic English, he feels well supported and motivated. His language skills are going from strength to strength, and his days have become much easier.

“My life has been challenging, but these challenges have taught me to never give up, to have hope, ask for help, grab opportunities and work harder.”

Written by Sonam (Nepal) and Angie

For profiles and news of other students and alumni, click here.

Alumni at Case Western

2018-10-16T09:32:17+01:00February 3rd, 2017|

As well as our biennial reunions on campus, we have also organised reunions for alumni and other supporters in London, Helsinki, Malmö, Reykjavik, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Oslo, Stockholm, in recent years and are planning an event in Costa Rica this April. The RCN University Office is an important part of our alumni engagement – supporting graduating students in choosing the right course and university and then staying in touch with them. Mark, our Senior University Counsellor, was recently visiting Case Western Reserve University – a partner university in the Davis UWC Scholar Program – along with other UWC university counsellors. Mark took the opportunity to meet up with recent alumni Akinola (Daniel) Akinbote (Nigeria – 2013-15) and Aya Bahij (Palestine in Lebanon – 2013-15).

Akinola is majoring in Polymer Science and Engineering with a Bio Materials track, which is essentially a minor Bio Engineering. He has already taken advantage of Case Western’s undergraduate research opportunities having done some research into breast cancer in his first year. Over that summer, he worked with the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa. Next summer he will be doing stem cell research alongside regenerative medicine.

Aya is majoring in Chemical Biology with minors in Cognitive Science and Economics. Aya has also joined a sorority at university, through which she does a lot of volunteering. Building on her personal experiences on arrival, she has taken the lead in the implementation of airport pickup for students, improving the international orientation, a Middle East Club and a discussion group on the human rights of Palestinians.

Den Kulturelle Skulesekken

2017-02-02T06:11:30+01:00February 2nd, 2017|

Thanks to Den kulturelle skulesekken, our first year students had the opportunity to connect with local students in Dale and to experience great music. The College brought more than a hundred students to listen to Thea Hjelmeland who surprised all present with her original sound and creative lyrics. The singer herself complimented the audience for their positive and welcoming attitude and several students chose to dance to the inviting rhythms. We are very grateful for all the opportunities we get to connect with Norwegian students and performers thanks to Den kulturelle skulesekken.

(The picture was taken from DKS’s website)

Neil Davis Friluftsliv PBL

2018-10-16T09:32:18+01:00February 1st, 2017|

We drove into the mountains looking for snow to build a snow cave. Our little international band of students, headed by a South African (who really can ski) scanned the landscape excitedly. The five of us came from Belarus, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and the US and have various experience with skiing and this diversity in nationality, skiing ability and personality, made for a wonderfully positive working – and playing – dynamic.

As soon as we arrived in the snow, many small challenges arose. Firstly, how do we carry all the sticks and branches we’d brought with us to build a shelter? And how do we use them to make a solid home for the next two days? The less-than-ideal conditions called for us to create unconventional solutions given our limited resources. We found that the ingenuity that came forth, especially in our roof and the overall design for our snow cave-ish structure, to be a big part of the learning experience. We even had time to make the most epic snow slide in Norway.

Building the shelter took all of our hands, but eventually we had a new temporary home. It was a great feeling! Then came the problem of finding drinkable water. Alistair enjoyed pointing out the irony of this situation, as we were surrounded by frozen water. Once even Nik was full of noodles and soup, we fell asleep awaiting the next day of skiing.

SunsetIt was a long day of skiing. The wind stung our faces and Nikita gave us perspective on the beautiful, harsh landscape, remarking that the wind was like smoke flying through the valley. The icy conditions made for plenty of humbling falls. Although Alistair’s ski decided to break, we still made the best of the day exploring and jumping around the snow cave.

Certainly something we will remember from this trip are Alistair’s long tales of Norwegian epics in the outdoors, as well as personal stories of adventure. We would like to make it clear that the imperfect circumstances we experienced by no means made this PBL any less meaningful or enjoyable! It was a trip which cleared our minds, giving us greater perspective on the daily hustle and bustle. In an entirely different context to the usual classroom: we learnt by doing, about teamwork, practical skills and the philosophies of friluftsliv. All in all we are thankful for the opportunity to connect with nature through friluftsliv!

(Report written by Nik Schelling and Faith Isham ’15 – ’17)

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