Hello all,
This past week has been a busy one, even though we only had classes for 4 days instead of 5. Friday was an all-day Peace Conference day, where four outside speakers came to the college to discuss their involvement or research in peace missions and peaceful protests in areas experiencing conflict in the past 20 years. In between these lectures, students split up into small groups to discuss freedom within our political systems to gain influence and methods of peaceful protesting. I led a group discussion on the first topic and a workshop in the afternoon with a couple of friends from Hong Kong and China about using social media effectively to organize a protest. The workshop went quite well, and though I was very nervous beforehand, everything worked out and we had a great discussion. I even got some quotes from the guest lecturers to use for my Extended Essay!
Yes, first-years are still being constantly informed about our Extended Essays...some people are still deciding what subject they want to do their research in, but I have successfully gotten a supervisor and a topic, so I am feeling very good about that. My research question will be something along the lines of 'To what extent did the Blackhawk incident in Somalia lead to the US's decision to remain out of Rwanda in 1994?' My history teacher, Kate, will be my supervisor, and I was lucky to get her as my supervisor because multiple people wanted to do their EEs in history and unfortunately there were not enough spots for everyone.
We do have a newly formed Quidditch 'team' at AC---we are registered with the International Quidditch Association and duly named 'the Atlantic College Acromantulas.' There is a large Harry Potter fan base at AC, so I fit right in with that. Our first two practices have been lots of fun, even though it started to rain in the middle of today's practice, though that is to be expected since winter in Wales is not the prettiest of times!
In the upcoming week we will be preparing for another Friday Conference: the Model United Nations conference, which is sure to be exciting, especially as some students from our sister schools in Norway and the Netherlands will be coming to AC to participate as well. We will run a mini-scale version of the United Nations, which should be quite interesting....I don't know yet which group I will be working with (although I signed down for the Security Council, the Internaitonal Court of Justice, or the Human Rights Council), but more on that will come later. I think we all feel better prepared to run this simulation after having the Peace Conference, and we have gained a lot of historical context for some of the issues in the UN today. I hear from our second-years that there might even be crazy events such as terrorists bursting in to the conference and holding members hostage! We shall see how this all shakes out.
This term I have continued singing in the school choir, but I have also started participating in Football for Kids, an activity that involves teaching small children from the nearby area to play soccer. It has been great fun so far, and the kids are so cute! We have to play inside for now, since it is cold and wet most of the time, but as spring comes we will hopefully move to one of the gardens to play. I have also stayed with Dysparity and continued helping kids with learning difficulties practice math and reading on Saturday mornings. Dysparity has been rewarding for the past term, so I am glad to be a part of it.
There's a basic summary of life for the past couple weeks---hope you enjoyed it! Stay safe and happy for the next week!
Madi
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Return to AC and the start of second term
Hello everyone and Happy New Year!
I just saw the date of my last blog post (posted in the last few days of November), and it feels like ages ago since that post. Since then I have finished my first term exams, completed my first term at Atlantic College, said goodbye to all of my great new friends, returned to Jacksonville for a wonderful month at home, and come back to AC to see those awesome people again! I was struck by how easy it has been to settle back into the natural rhythm of life, both at home and after returning to Wales.
The holiday break came at a much-needed time, and I was so happy to come home and spend Christmas with my family. I found that home was the same as it always was in the important ways, like the people there and how easy it was to slip into living in my house again. I was surprised by how quickly my sisters are growing up, especially Shannon, who looks more like a middle-school student every day. Katie too is ready for high school, I think, and they seem to have jumped into the next phase of their lives while I've been away. I'm glad I came back for at least part of that transition for them. Mom and Dad were great, and being home with parents was awesome....and not just because I didn't have to do my own laundry for a little while! I was lucky enough to see a lot of family over the break, especially my great-grandfather, who came down for Christmas. My friends, when they are not being crushed by the ever-intimidating Stanton Junior Year, were lots of fun and we all promised to keep in better touch than we did this term...we'll see.....
We first-years had a lot of stress laid on us the very first day of classes during assembly Monday morning. Every Monday the whole school gathers in the Bradenstoke Hall so that teachers, academic staff, and students can address the entire student body and make announcements, etc. Coincidentally, this assembly was our first introduction to our new principal, John Walmsley, who is taking over for our Acting Principal Paul Motte. He has had a lot of experience in boarding schools, and was previously the headmaster at another international school in Britain, so he is coming to us with a good deal of previous knowledge to work with. He lives in a black boxish house across from Morgannwg, and apparently he has a family and a dog living with him, so we just got some new neighbors! That was not the stressful part of assembly, luckily. The stress came when our Vice-Principal informed us that all of the first-years will begin work on their Extended Essays starting on Wednesday. The Extended Essay is a 4000-word requirement for the IB Diploma on virtually any topic. It is less intimidating than it sounds, but it still wasn't a welcome back-to-school present for us!
Now the first week has finished and it's business as usual on Monday....we were lucky and had a couple of beautiful days this weekend, which was a nice relief since it's been raining a lot since winter set in. Service on Thursday was really good, and I was glad to see the kids we had been working with last term. Students have started a couple of new activities this term, the most exciting being Quidditch, which my co-year Luke started. Apparently it has been a huge hit in American colleges in the northeast for the past few years, and we are bringing it to Britain for their....enjoyment.
Well, I guess I must continue searching for the right Extended Essay topic....it should be a good one because, as our second-years tell us, we'll be stuck with it until October!
I hope everyone is safe, healthy, and enjoying 2012!
Best Wishes,
Madi
I just saw the date of my last blog post (posted in the last few days of November), and it feels like ages ago since that post. Since then I have finished my first term exams, completed my first term at Atlantic College, said goodbye to all of my great new friends, returned to Jacksonville for a wonderful month at home, and come back to AC to see those awesome people again! I was struck by how easy it has been to settle back into the natural rhythm of life, both at home and after returning to Wales.
The holiday break came at a much-needed time, and I was so happy to come home and spend Christmas with my family. I found that home was the same as it always was in the important ways, like the people there and how easy it was to slip into living in my house again. I was surprised by how quickly my sisters are growing up, especially Shannon, who looks more like a middle-school student every day. Katie too is ready for high school, I think, and they seem to have jumped into the next phase of their lives while I've been away. I'm glad I came back for at least part of that transition for them. Mom and Dad were great, and being home with parents was awesome....and not just because I didn't have to do my own laundry for a little while! I was lucky enough to see a lot of family over the break, especially my great-grandfather, who came down for Christmas. My friends, when they are not being crushed by the ever-intimidating Stanton Junior Year, were lots of fun and we all promised to keep in better touch than we did this term...we'll see.....
We first-years had a lot of stress laid on us the very first day of classes during assembly Monday morning. Every Monday the whole school gathers in the Bradenstoke Hall so that teachers, academic staff, and students can address the entire student body and make announcements, etc. Coincidentally, this assembly was our first introduction to our new principal, John Walmsley, who is taking over for our Acting Principal Paul Motte. He has had a lot of experience in boarding schools, and was previously the headmaster at another international school in Britain, so he is coming to us with a good deal of previous knowledge to work with. He lives in a black boxish house across from Morgannwg, and apparently he has a family and a dog living with him, so we just got some new neighbors! That was not the stressful part of assembly, luckily. The stress came when our Vice-Principal informed us that all of the first-years will begin work on their Extended Essays starting on Wednesday. The Extended Essay is a 4000-word requirement for the IB Diploma on virtually any topic. It is less intimidating than it sounds, but it still wasn't a welcome back-to-school present for us!
Now the first week has finished and it's business as usual on Monday....we were lucky and had a couple of beautiful days this weekend, which was a nice relief since it's been raining a lot since winter set in. Service on Thursday was really good, and I was glad to see the kids we had been working with last term. Students have started a couple of new activities this term, the most exciting being Quidditch, which my co-year Luke started. Apparently it has been a huge hit in American colleges in the northeast for the past few years, and we are bringing it to Britain for their....enjoyment.
Well, I guess I must continue searching for the right Extended Essay topic....it should be a good one because, as our second-years tell us, we'll be stuck with it until October!
I hope everyone is safe, healthy, and enjoying 2012!
Best Wishes,
Madi
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