Kayak Leader Course at RCN

2018-10-16T09:32:31+01:00September 14th, 2016|

In the wavesLast weekend the Autumn Kayak Leader Course happened, luckily in good weather! Ten second year students qualified to become Kayak leaders at RCN over the two-day course. On Saturday we focused on personal skills and techniques: paddle strokes, packing, entry and exit of kayak and a fair amount of practice rescues. We stopped for  lunch spot at the end of Flekke fjord on Ungholmen in beautiful weather. The day ended with lots of capsizing, rescues and good-natured splashing. Before dinner we packed kayaks and most of the equipment on the trailer in anticipation of the Sunday.

On the fjord

The final day we had decided to drive to the coast to get to paddle in a different environment, and possibly get to experience some wind and waves. A 40-minute drive saw us at Korssund where we packed our boats and put into the water. We paddled through the narrows and went out to sea where we were more exposed to wind and waves. Some of the participants tried out the waves in areas where the waves were breaking, while the others started preparing lunch. After refueling we followed the coast north with a fair amount of wind and some waves coming at us from the south-west. It was a slightly exciting journey for some but everyone made it without going into the water. The rest of the journey was easier but the need for towing ended up being necessary as one participant got seasick. After a long day on the water we arrived back at the starting point at Korsssundet. We got into dry clothes, and packed up the kit, we evaluated the trip and summed up the course before going back to the College.

Our newest kayak leaders are Sina, Amanda, Alberte, JP, Bela, Mai, Maria, Azlin, Magnea and Marloes.

Takk for turen

There is More in You than You Think

2016-09-08T15:28:31+01:00September 8th, 2016|

Anne-Mette Bredahl held the introductory lecture to our RCN Life Skills Programme for first year students. The lecture is part of our work to strive continuously towards building a resilient culture at the College. At an individual level Anne-Mette told about her great loss in life – when she became blind shortly after graduating from school. She had to re-learn and re-navigate, and – to her great surprise – discovered her athletic potential.  The discovery was made when embracing a new element – the Norwegian winter, by finding where her own possibilities and limitations were and by her interactions with others. Food for thought for our new students who are taking to an entirely new community and environment amid the fjords.
Anne Mette-Bredahl is visiting Haugland as a psychologist, as part of a professional team from Sunnås Hospital.  As an athlete she has won numerous gold medals from both the Paralympics and World Championships in Nordic Skiing.

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‘There is more in you than you think’ is a quote from Kurt Hahn – founder of UWC.

Staff at the Royal Garden Party

2018-10-16T09:32:32+01:00September 1st, 2016|

Arne and Vidar in Oslo for the Garden Party

Arne and Vidar in Oslo for the Garden Party

His Majesty King Harald and Her Majesty Queen Sonja are hosting a garden party in the royal gardens in Oslo today. 1500 invited guests from all over the country will have the privilege of attending. Arne Ophaug and Vidar Jensen, faithful workers at UWC Red Cross Nordic – since the start in 1995 – are representing the College at the event. Arne has been leading the kitchen and other support functions, whereas Vidar has taken care of our maintenance. Two key members of our staff who you may have seen if you saw the coverage on national TV.

Here is a link to the report of the day from the website of the Royal House of Norway.

Here is a link to an excerpt from King Harald’s speech as he spoke about love, religion and acceptance.

 

Rektor’s Address – A New Term

2018-10-16T09:32:32+01:00August 24th, 2016|

An extract from our Rektor’s opening address at the first College Meeting of term for students and staff:

I must admit to having been gripped with Olympic fever over recent weeks – and the force of the Olympics to unite nations through sport.

Conversation, companionship and compassion

Conversation, companionship and compassion

We, within the United World College movement, see our role as to sustain peace, not through sport, but through education. The Olympic symbol of the five interlocking rings, designed in 1912, represents the union of the five regions of the world and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games. Our UWC logo of two rings, encompassing the globe within, echoes this symbol of unity.

The Olympics, hosted by the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, caught many of our imaginations with more than 10,000 athletes, representing 207 nations, competing in 31 sports, with 306 medals awarded. It has been reported that there were 3,7 billion people actively engaged through media with the Rio Olympics out of a world population of 7.4 billion with 350 million people watching the opening ceremony.

Controversy of course followed the Olympics: political protests, Zika, empty seats, doping bans, unsporting behaviour, alongside the triumph and disaster of the competitors.

We will all have our favourite moments.

I have chosen two of my favourite parts of the Olympics for today’s opening address as we set out on a new academic year at RCN:

Firstly, the initiative for a refugee team competing under the flag of the International Olympic Committee – in the spirit of solidarity.

Six men and four women from South Sudan, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

As Yonas Kinde, the marathon runner originally from Ethiopia explained to the world press: ‘We are equal now. We compete like human beings, like the others’ – sending a message of hope to all refugees in the world.

Inclusion. We see you.

A new graffiti mural in Rio now honours the individual members of the first Olympic Refugee Team.

Helping each otherSecondly, one of the most moving moments of the games was when a New Zealand and an American runner stopped to help each other after a collision in their heat for the 5000 metres. An encapsulation, for me, of the Olympic spirit.

The values of friendship, respect, harmony and peace are at the heart of both Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement’s vision and the vision of the United World College movement. The games provide us with an opportunity to gather every four years, when the world is often faced with turbulence and trouble – and to strive to celebrate what is best about mankind.

With the Olympics in mind and as we set out on the next academic year, we must all seek to do, and be, the best we can.

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