Hello,

My name is Rabiea Abo Taha and I am a Palestinian student from Syria who graduated from UWC Dilijan in May 2019. It is been exactly one year and 4 months since I graduated, and I still remember the first day I set foot in Armenia. When I think about my experience and try to reflect on it, I just remember all the cultural nights that we had, all the conversations that I had, and all the ups and downs that I went though to reach what I have reached today.

There are so many disputes in the world, of those that have been resolved but will never be forgotten between different nations. When I think of the cultural nights, I just remember how happy everyone is and how cooperative we are regardless of our differences. You see people from Asia helping people from South America fill out gaps while people from Europe are filling gaps in African performances and vice versa. Throughout the show, the only thing that comes to your mind is how beautiful peace and cooperation especially with the events that our country has been witnessing since 2011. Due to that, cultural nights were my favorite activity at UWC.

One of the main struggles that I had to overcome was to advance and improve my English communication skills. I was only good at writing before I went there and I could not speak English properly but seeing that I am not alone in that gave me, and other students, the motivation to work hard to consider ourselves fluent right now. Another struggle was the cultural shock. As a person who lived his entire life in Syria and Lebanon, it was hard to get exposed to new cultures, new habits, and new activities right away but that is part of the experience; without it, I’d stay in Syria if I am planning to never try and see new things.

I am currently studying Computer Science and minoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Oklahoma in the United State, an achievement that I consider very hard and nearly impossible to get if I did not go to UWC. Even If I got it, my journey here would have been harder and less enjoyable without the skills that I gained from my time being a UWC student. After graduating, I can say that the best part of being a UWC student is the amount of resources that we get that will never end. Now, I have friends all over the world and a connection with thousands of students who studied there. I love how connected we are and how easy it is to make friends. Going to a new place will only take a single Facebook post to get friends to show me around that I never knew before.

In other words, UWC is a hard journey as it has its ups and downs that every student will encounter but it is indeed a life changing experience that I 100% recommend. If you have the minimum qualifications to apply, I’d recommend that you apply and never give up. I applied twice to get it.

All the best,
Rabie