We are proud of the impact Anna is making in her home country, Senegal and the world, and we believe her project is a testament to the power of a RCN education. Anna Diagne Sene, who graduated from RCN in 2020 and is currently a Junior at Macalester College. Anna’s project, “xam sa bopp xa sa adduna” (Wolof for “Know Yourself, Know the World“), aimed to empower 20 Senegalese middle school students to become more open-minded and empathetic towards the world beyond Senegal, as well as equip them with strategies to cultivate well-being in their education journey.

My name is Anna Diagne Sene and I graduated from RCN in 2020. I am a Junior at Macalester  College, studying Political Science and Arabic (my 2 majors) with some Economics on the side. Macalester was in my top 2 choices and I applied through the regular decision round (Shoutout to Mark for seeing right away that Mac was the place for me). My time there so far has been exceptional. I have carried out multiple projects, including the most recent one in my home country, Senegal.

My project, “xam sa bopp xa sa adduna” (Wolof), which translates to “Know Yourself, Know the World” sought to encourage and empower 20 Senegalese completing middle school to become more open-minded and empathetic towards the world beyond Senegal, as well as equip them with strategies to cultivate well-being in their education journey through a series of workshops over three full days. It was funded by the Macalester Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The idea of introducing the participants to the world beyond Senegal mainly came from my realization that the Senegalese education system does not critically explore the world beyond our borders. Such realization mostly sparked from my time at UWC. RCN broadened my horizons as I lived, shared meals, went to class, and discussed and learned about diverse cultures with young people from all around the world. It’s in Flekke that I started to think more critically about the world and how I fit in it. I wanted other Senegalese to also start their journey of knowing the world even if they don’t attend a UWC, because that opportunity is not given to everyone.

Parallelly, the well-being portion stemmed from my desire to help younger Senegalese students realize that they should take care of themselves even under intense pressure. Back in Senegal, I was never introduced to the idea that I should think of my well-being when I study. I wanted this narrative to change, even for a small group of students, because if I had to pick one thing I learned at RCN, it’s that change starts with one person. Finally, this project helped me start my journey of making the Senegalese education system more grounded in the country’s history and open to the ever-changing world.

RCN literally changed my life! Graduating with a bilingual international diploma enhanced my self-confidence. It’s also RCN that instilled in me the responsibility to make a difference with what I have. Going there as a 17-year-old, without my family, in a country miles away from Senegal also taught me to be self-reliant, responsible, and adaptable, qualities that made me quickly settle in college. RCN gave me a lovely host family, mentors who pushed me to excel (shoutout to Daniel and Barbara and the entire staff back then), friendships, and sisterhoods that I hope will last for a lifetime. I owe much to the Flekke bubble and can’t wait for the day I return by the grace of Allah!

We are always proud to see our alumni living the UWC mission after leaving RCN, but we are equally proud of our current students who are already making an impact. Meet Asta, a first-year student from Denmark who is passionate about global issues, music, outdoor activities, and, most of all, people. Asta’s interest in others drove her to start her own podcast, where she has the opportunity to hear people’s stories, learn about conflicts from around the world, and understand different perspectives. Recently she introduced first-year student Valeria from Ukraine, who fled with her family from the war and College guest Gato Catun, who used art to help him escape from violent street gangs in Guatemala. Keep an eye out for Asta and her podcast – we do not doubt that she will continue to make a positive impact in the world.

I applied to UWC to learn, not only academically but because UWC gathers people from all around the world with totally different backgrounds, cultures, religions, and opinions. I wanted to learn from people who are personally related to these conflicts, cultures, or stories that I would otherwise only have the chance to hear about in the news. Maybe some people would call us idealistic, naive young students who think we can change the world, but I truly believe that gathering young people from around the world to talk and educate each other as friends will help create change for a better future.

When I came to RCN, I found out that there wasn’t much time for tea, talks, and conversations because people were so busy with academics. It can be hard to create these conversations around a lunch table, so I wanted to create a space where difficult conversations could be the focus. First, we were a group of students that started a conversation club to establish a space for people to talk and share their opinions. I thought about creating a podcast for a long time. The whole process was a long journey as I had to find out about all the techniques behind it first. Luckily, Pablo Reyes has saved me all these times when I have yelled at the microphone for not working and taught me how to edit from scratch. Without this help and support from other students and teachers, I wouldn’t have been able to start my project. I appreciate this spirit, where people are supporting and helping each other. This spirit supports people in their projects, and I think this is especially special for the mission and spirit behind the UWC movement as a whole.

I am proud of my podcast and where it is today. I hear people’s stories, learn about conflicts from around the world and understand controversial opinions, which was my personal goal at UWC. Every episode takes a long time, but I feel honored that people want to share their stories. The idea behind my podcast, Point of View, is written in the description under each episode:
“The meaning behind Point of View is to hear and learn about different perspectives from all around the world that vary because of our country, religion, or culture. United World College is the perfect place to explore and learn face to face whilst listening to new perspectives.”

In the future, I want to keep on learning and hearing others’ stories. I want to keep on recording and developing the podcast. My goal is that not only people at RCN will listen to it, but hopefully, it will reach out to people from outside that don’t have the opportunity to speak with people from all around the world every day. I hope this podcast can be a small step closer to us listening and learning from each other and creating peaceful environments built on understanding, especially outside UWC.