Svake godine UWC organizuje letnje kurseve koji omogucavaju učesnicima da osete UWC vrednosti, druže se sa vršnjacima iz celog sveta i stvore doživotna prijateljstva. U nastavku možete pronaći dnevnike koje su naši stipendisti vodili tokom svojih letnjih kurseva. 

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Ovo su iskustva nekih od naših stipendista:

Isidora Radenković, Beograd - Letnji kurs u Finskoj 2016

Prvih  par dana kampova na kojima sam do sada bila pamtim po upoznavanju ljudi, cudnoj tisini i pronalazenju zajednickih tema. Nasuprot tome, sest sati puta sa prvim ljudima koje sam upoznala na helsinskom aerodromu, sve do doceka koji su nam domacini, fasilitatori, priredili u Kontiolahtiju bili su ispunjeni zagrljajima, preglasnim smehom i dobrom muzikom, uprkos cinjenici da su mnogi od nas putovali i po deset sati – presedajuci sa aviona i autobusa. Prvo vece je samo najavilo ono sto nas je cekalo u naredne dve nedelje. Tesko mi je da prepricam kroz sta smo sve prosli za to vreme jer neka iskustva mozes samo da dozivis, ne i objasnis. Okupljeni iz 27 zemalja nismo mogli imati razlicitija okruzenja iz kojih poticemo – nacionalno, verski, tradicijom i obicajima. Bilo je imena nemogucih za upamtiti na pocetku, za ostale je to ukljucivalo i moje. Sve te razlike savrseno su se uklapale u temu kojom smo se bavili sve vreme: “Re-Thinking Identities” . U radionicama smo razmatrali sve sto utice na nas identitet od pola, nacionalnosti i rase do nas samih. Kroz diskusije, pozoriste i predavanja smo mogli da vidimo koliko nekad nismo svesni stereotipa i predrasuda koje imamo usadjene cak i kada se trudimo da budemo otvoreni. Radionice su pravili fasilitatori, ali cesto smo ucili jedni druge i zaista smo mogli da u mnogome uticemo na celu zajednicu. Svako od nas. Pravila koja smo imali smo napravili sami, glasanjem, a dogovaranjem smo brinuli o obavezama poput ciscenja i pravljenja uzina. Stvorili smo mesto gde mozes da budes kakav hoces i nista ne treba da propustis ili ne uradis jer te je bilo blam, niko ne osudjuje.

                Bili smo poprilicno odgovorni i ozbiljni kad je trebalo, ali takodje i veoma neozbiljni kad je trebalo. Niko se nije naspavao za te dve nedelje iako bi svako jutro zazalili ostajanje do kasno. Pravili smo zurke, pevali, gledali filmove ili jednostavno pricali do svitanja. Iako je bilo veoma zabavno mislim da su neki od tih razgovora bili bitni koliko i radionice, jer mogu da te promene i uticu u istoj meri, pogotovo kada si 14 dana posvecen razmisljanju sta te cini onim sto jesi i sta zapravo zelis. Ove veceri su bile i veliki deo razloga zasto je rastanak bio toliko tezak iako smo se znali tek dve nedelje. Poslednje jutro je bilo bas bez veze, ispunjeno suzama i obecanjima da se necemo zaboraviti dok nas je polako ostajalo sve manje i manje kako su letovi odmicali.

                Tek sada kada sam se vratila kuci mogu da sagledam sve sto se dogodilo  - od snimanja videa kojim sam se prijavila i iscekivanja rezultata, do putovanja kroz koje sam prosla. Prvog dana kada smo dosli napisali smo pismo sebi. Sada kada citam to pismo i razmisljam sta sam promenila u medjuvremenu mnogo mi je drago da sam imala priliku da steknem ovakvo iskustvo. Volela bih da se nisam plasila kada me je na pocetku cekalo mnogo toga nepoznatog jer sada imam prijatelje iz celog sveta i mnogo toga da prenesem na ljude oko sebe.

Lena Petrović, Niš - Letnji kurs u Nemačkoj 2016

Entry 1 of 3
Date: August the 1st.
Since this morning, I have had a feeling that this is going to be more than just a course of Sustainability.
I’m using the five-minute break before dinner to try and put all these unexpected feelings in my notebook.
Around nine o’clock we all gathered on a field next to the mensa, called the Red Square. We sat in a circle, all seventy-two of us. It was a sunny day with no clouds, which is not that common in Freiburg, I figured.
A voice inside the circle, somewhere on my left side, asked us to be silent.
It was a voice of a tall, middle-aged man. He introduced himself as Andrej, and his gentle looking female companion as Mine. They were here to teach us about „the Dialogue“. None of the participants, had any idea what „Dialogue“ is, but Andrej assured us that we have nothing to worry about.
To start off, Mine will recite her poem, so we can get more sense of what are we going to do.
So she took out a piece of paper, took a deep breath, and started reading outloud.
The sound of her voice echoed between the buildings surrounding The Red Square, interrupted only by the song of birds from the forest.
 The poem talked about self-discovery, and appreciation. I glanced at the faces around me;  some were looking at the sky, some at their feet. Ones were lying on the ground with their arms spread, others had their heads buried in their knees. But everyone stood quiet, letting Mine’s words in.
The reason why I am writing all of this with such precision, is because I want to remember it as it was.
A sincere moment that , I think,marked a starting point in my journey here.
When Mine’s voice faded, in a split of a second, all the sounds of the world disappeard. It seemed like even the birds, and the wind felt the breeze of the energy connecting these 72 young people through the red bricks under our legs.
And then, the applause errupted.
Some with tears, others with joy, everyone clapped with an honest feeling of gratitude. I think that, in this moment, we formed some kind of allience. We shared this moment of unity, that made strong, unique bonds that will never be broken.
Andrej then asked us to stand up and separate into groups with six people and two fascilitators.
My group and I found each other, and settled on a warm, freshly cut grass, away from everyone else.
It turned out that „Dialogue“ meant tha we are going tobe given a topic, relatable to our everyday lives, and just talk about it as much as we want. There was no time limit.
E.g. What makes me happy? What are my plans for the future?
This sounded pretty ordinary to me; but as soon as the first person started to talk, I realized there was much more to it. There is so much burden we all take with us without being aware.
As the words flew by, so did tears and smiles.
All of us talked, but no one was judged. When you share your ideas and concerns with these people, you want to be accepted, to feel like you fit in; therefore, you want others to feel the same.
When fascilitators announced that four hours have already gone by, it was a big surprise.
After the hug exchange, I was left thinking; If everyone got this kind of release in their life, the world would be a much better place.
And now,  lets hope they left me some of vegan lasagna

Entry 2
Date: August 8th
I feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and lost.
There is so much information being served to us on a daily basis.
Child labor, human trafficking, climate change, garment industry, species extinction, pollution...
After learning where does my phone,  clothing, food come from, it is hard not to just throw it all away and go live in a cave for the rest of my life.
Today we had a workshop called „Slavery Footprint“ that tries to calculate how many people work in terrible conditions with minimum wage just so we can get our consumerist needs satisfied.
Right now I just need someone to tell me that I am not a terrible human being for wearing branded clothing or eating meat.
For the first time I understand the phrase „Ignorance is bliss“.
Knowing what I know now, gives me an obligation to stop and think about everything I buy, eat and wear. I don’t like this, to be honest. Living in my own, closed world was so much easier.
But then again, I need to learn how to make a selection of what I take with me from these workshops.
Yes,  being aware is great, but knowing what you can or can’t change is wisdom that I hope to learn by the end of the course.
I can limit my meat, and dairy products intake, but I can’t make the whole world go vegan.
I can try to buy more second handed clothing, but I can’t make the garment industry’s workers lives different.
I can shorten my showers, but I can’t make the thirst go away for every human being.
But even though I cannot change the whole world, I can change the one in myself.
I can change my lifestyle, and influence the ones of the people around me.
I can raise awareness with my actions.
And that’s totally okay. I just need to keep saying that to myself.

Entry 3
August 14th
Everyone is gone.
My partner from Serbia, Milan, and I are the only ones left on the campus.
Last night, we were saying goodbye to everyone.
One by one, they left the campus’ grounds, with the sound of heavy suitcase rolling on the ground.
I just wanted to make that moment last forever. I didn’t want these people to go, I needed them here.
For the past seventeen days they learned so much about me, and I got to know them better than I know my sibilings at home. Letting go didn’t feel quite right.
But now, as I am writing this, I have come to a realization.
Just because this place made me feel good, and the whole experience was amazing;
It doesn’t mean that the rest of my life won’t be.
In fact, I should take it as a challenge!
Take what I learned here, and enforce it in my daily life back home. This journey is not the end, it’s the beggining of the transition, of the new life I will lead the moment I hug my parents on the airport.
And I will make the best of it.