During the past year, four RCN students (Diva, Laura, Meg, and Ylva) have used the Changemaker Project as a platform to design and print educational posters as visual learning aids for a primary school in Liberia. As Changemaker finalists their project was fully funded by the Pollination Project – and the printed posters are currently in the process of being incorporated into the Advent Christian School in Liberia.
Zooming In
Leaving Norway during the pandemic left me filled with uncertainties. First, I had to go to France to get my US VISA since the border closures prevented me from going home to Senegal. With God’s grace, it was granted to me, and now, about 5 month later, I can assert that Macalester College in Saint Paul Minnesota is my new home for the next four years of undergraduate life.
2020 being similar to no other year, my college experience described in one word would be Zoom. From classes to events, meeting people, and building connections, life has never been more virtual. Nevertheless, I am grateful for how my first semester at College has turned out.
I applied and got into a civic engagement group on campus called Lives of Commitment. Joining them gave me the opportunity to volunteer at a kid’s homework center, Skyline. Every Tuesday and Thursday, I help one or two kids with their homework from 2 to 3 p.m. I learnt a lot about patience, kindness, and compassion working with kids on problems that are easy for me but a real struggle for them.
Alongside my work at skyline, I also applied and got into the Student Academic Affairs Committee of the college. Here I meet with other students and staff members to discuss and find solutions to issues and concerns that impact student life at Macalester.
In addition, I have been journaling for the College Archives for a semester, as part of a project that seeks to represent more voices from minorities or groups that are often discriminated against. I wrote from a standpoint of a Black Muslim woman, Senegalese, and first generation student. I also wrote a couple of articles published in the College weekly newspaper.
This semester, I will join the Admission office as an International Student Ambassador for Macalester. I hope to interact with prospect students and help them get to know the college better.
My time at RCN has certainly helped me a lot to get all these beautiful opportunities. I still have a lot to learn and discover here at Mac and could not be more excited. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or just want to talk.
Anna Sene (RCN 2020)
In People of UWCRCN you find stories of alumni or other members of our community. Here are the laterst.
Tove Veierød has been the Chair of the UWC Red Cross Nordic Board for six years. Last weekend's Council Meeting was her last as Chair, although she will be at [...]
The Chair of the UWC Red Cross Nordic Council and Vice Chair of the UWC International Council has been profiled on the UWC website. Click here to read what he [...]
I never liked doing “seat of the pants” stuff, as Tony Macoun would put it, but that’s how it was being an administrator with a full-time teaching job. I ended [...]
Nearly all students are now back on campus and we are in the full swing of the second term in an extraordinary school year. About 50 of our students have stayed here locally throughout the recent break. They have kept up the spirit and supported each other at a time when it hasn’t been possible to be with their families.
A special thanks to our staff who have adjusted to the completely new needs and provided a fun, homely and festive holiday. Also, a big thanks to those who have contributed to support this work financially through the campaign undertaken by UWC Norway. This enabled us to buy each student on campus a warming Christmas present.
The students who have been at home during their break, have all been in full quarantine and testing, which is necessary in these times. We are excited about starting up again, first of all through what we have come to know as “blended learning”, and then fully face-to-face. Planning the logistics of how this comes together – under the continuously changing conditions that we all face during the pandemic – has been arduous. Yet, our dedicated team and the continuous support from relevant authorities and co-operation partners, have made it happen; we are here – ready for a new term.
There is much positivity and hope in the air at the start of 2021. Not only are the global vaccination programs now rolling out, with the prospect of a safer future, but we also see that reflection on the changes we’ve been forced through in the last year has brought about new opportunities. The world will not go back to normal after Covid -19. We will go back to the new normal, the changed normal, and maybe also the improved normal. Rough times are always full of learning. Education, as well as any other field, will consider our new normal and apply research and actions thereafter. I amexcited about fully discovering the new normal together with our brilliant people in the coming period; let’s see how RCN new normal will be shaped in the year by shared commitment and leadership.
Hege Myhre,
Rektor UWC RCN
Working for Climate Neutrality
Almost exactly one year ago today, the new Austrian coalition government took up its work, including one Minister responsible for the broad portfolio of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. Widely labelled the “Super-Ministry” it is tasked with ensuring Austrian climate neutrality by 2040 – in other words, the transition to a decarbonised society and economy and thus climate-friendly future.
At that time, I was part of an agenda-setting initiative calling for more effective climate action from the government in Austria. This happened during my gap-year, after which I had planned to continue studying law. But with this new Minister I saw the opportunity for real change and so I considered myself incredibly lucky when I got the chance to join her cabinet, where I now work on climate and energy affairs as Junior Advisor to the Minister.
There is so much to do: in order to realise the goals of becoming climate neutral by 2040 and to use exclusively green electricity by 2030, we need to expand public transport as well as bike- and pedestrian infrastructure, overhaul the support scheme for renewables, improve energy efficiency, green the heating systems and realise an eco-social reform of the taxation system, attaching a price on climate-harming activities while reducing the tax burden on other factors such as labour. We also push the climate agenda in EU discussions and make meaningful contributions on the international level. In light of the effects of COVID-19, it is now essential that we build back better and greener, instead of going back to old and inadequate systems.
Had I not attended RCN, climate action might nonetheless have become an important part of my life. But RCN has given me two essential things which I’m convinced made a crucial difference. One aspect is the fact that RCN has brought the global effects of the climate crisis closer to home by giving faces to some of the countries that will be most affected by the crisis and reminding me time and time again of the urgency to address it. The other one being the courage to step up and give my best to make a positive impact, because what people of RCN have always shown me is that what matters in the end is the ability to see that something has to change and the willingness to contribute, to take responsibility. Just recently, talking to my co-year John, who is now working in the renewables-sector, has been another striking example of the many brilliant minds that are doing their best to make a peaceful and sustainable future work – inspiring me yet another time to keep my efforts going and convincing me that it is possible to realise the UWC mission. In this spirit I would like to encourage everyone to sit down with a cup of tea (keeping up a good RCN tradition) and read through the portraits of these wonderful people of RCN – there is so much to learn and inspiration to find when delving into this microcosm of stories, thoughts and experiences of this selection of dedicated, special humans.
If you’re working in the field of climate action or energy, hope to do so in the future or just share your thoughts, I’d be more than happy to hear from you!
Antonia Reininger (RCN 16)
