United World College enriches perspectives

Andre Veiga '07 is as international as one could possibly be. Born and raised in Portugal, he attended an International Baccalaureate high school in India and is now a student at Princeton. While he reminisced about his experiences at the Mahindra United World College in India and showed off pictures of his friends, his cell phone rang. He jumped out of his chair, exclaiming: "It's Nandita! I just showed you her picture!"

After two years of intense bonding, the friendships and memories Veiga cultivated in India are still very much alive.

"Without a doubt, it was the most fantastic, rewarding, enriching experience of my life, in every way I can conceive of it: intellectually, emotionally, ideologically and spiritually," Veiga said. "We went there to learn how to change the world."

United World Colleges, a global educational movement headed by Jordan's Queen Noor '74, was founded in 1962 with the College of the Atlantic in Wales. It now includes 10 colleges around the world and aims to provide a rigorous two-year International Baccalaureate curriculum with an emphasis on community service, multiculturalism and international understanding, according to its website.

And thanks to the $75 million gift of mutual fund manager Shelby Davis '58, every graduate of a UWC school who is accepted to Princeton or one of four other American colleges, receives a scholarship that entirely covers their financial need.

While the University has offered full financial aid to international students since 2001, the Davis scholarship uses a more generous formula, Associate Dean of Financial Aid Robin Moscato said. Since the money comes from a source outside the University, scholarship winners receive a break on summer savings and campus jobs, possibly contributing several thousand dollars extra to the award.

"[Davis'] scholarship is quite unique," Moscato said. "It's extremely generous."

Life at UWC

Erin Blake '06, who attended the United World College of the Atlantic, said that in addition to the diversity — the 360 students represented roughly 85 countries — the distinguishing feature of her experience was the emphasis on community service.

"They just have different educational ideals," she said. "Academics aren't the first priority. Instead, it's international understanding and service. And I think those are better educational tools."

Blake worked in the local coast guard, responding to calls when people got stuck on the cliffs surrounding the college — situated in a 12th century castle — or fell into the water.

"Through the service, I feel I matured a lot and it certainly broadened my perspective," she said. "It also instills a sense of responsibility, because students basically run the program; the second years trained the first years."

Veiga also completed service activities, mostly playing with orphans at a Christian mission.

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"Materially, they were pretty well off, but they didn't have too many people to play with," he said. "That's where we came in."

As rewarding as the service itself, Veiga said, was the introspection the students experienced while performing it. "There was always this self-critique and I really appreciated that," he said. "Did people really want the schools we were building? What was my objective playing with those kids? Are we performing charity and, if so, is that a good thing? What if they reject our help?"

Veiga said the diversity of backgrounds represented in his college — 70 countries among the 200 students — also contributed to his growth.

"In terms of shades of skin, languages, culture, country, it was very diverse," he said. "There were a lot of very interesting personalities I could learn from."

Keeping in touch with these friends is key, Veiga said.

"Once you go, you establish a pretty sweet network of friends all over the world," he said. "Not only does this make travel easier, it's also much easier to relate to things happening around the globe. So if there's a terrorist attack in the Gaza Strip, I'm always thinking about what my friend in Tel Aviv is thinking."

But the biggest lesson coming out of UWC, both Veiga and Blake said, was the feeling that they could have an effect on the world.

"You're supposed to go if you're interested in making the world a better place," Veiga said. "That wasn't the first thing on my mind when I applied, but it was the first thing on my mind when I got out. I think that means something."