franticatatlantic-blog

[franticatatlantic-blog]

Second Term: Done!

So I have finally reopened my Tumblr after 3+ months of absence. Second term was a lot more time consuming than my first one, socially and academically. From reading my last post about first term, I have definitely come a long way since then. 

I won’t sugar coat it, my second term has been long (so, so long), stressful and exhausting, physically and emotionally. The workload for the IB started to increase in preparation for the hellish third term, with IAs, end of year exams and the EE looming over us. I got even less sleep than in first term, due to a combination of lazy time management leading to late night work (and too much fun with people when I’m awake). The reality of having only a year left started to sink in, along with the fact that we will have to take the real IB. Friendships shifted along with the seasons, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. We got our hearts completely shattered saying good bye to our second years; the realisation that you won’t see some of these people for several years, or perhaps ever again, when you’re used to seeing them everyday, and of how much stuff you never said or did with your second years, is soul destroying. 

However, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

Yes, it has been a long term. But I realised that there’s no other people I’d rather spend that term with. Throughout the term I made so many new relationships with people, through project week (music production!!!) to joining new activities and councils, which made me realise it’s never too late to make new friends and find new friendship groups at UWC. Through all this I grew in confidence, to the point that I did things I never believed I could have done (wrote, recorded and released a song, became a leader for an activity, became a life guard...). I got to know my year group so much better, and over this term we grew into second years, ready to meet the standard set by our predecessors. 

I learnt how to work harder and better, to meet my deadlines and the standard expected of me so I can tackle the hell of third term head on. I started to realise my full potential, and am now more confident in being able to meet it, in and outside of the classroom. My grades improved since first term because of this, and I also learnt that your classmates can be some of your most valuable study resources. (Oh yeah, and I can now function on an impressively small and concerning amount of sleep!)

Basically I grew up this term. I finally worked out how to balance my work and social life, and how to set boundaries with myself, which is a very important life skill. I celebrated birthdays and watched people legally become adults. I complained about university whilst working on revision timetables and budgeting plans. I did some boring adult feeling things. But I’m not even close to finishing growing up. Sure, I’m grown up compared to the start of the year. But in a year I’ll reread this post and probably think “wow I was young and naive”, ‘cause that’s life.

So yeah this is a long, rambling, kind of useless post to try and make up for my absence over the year. This term has been so time consuming, and I know the next one will be even more...

Until the next time; stay frantic!

[franticatatlantic-blog]

Is there anyone from Sweden? It's super hard to get into AC from Sweden, so that's why I'm wondering. I just really want to talk with someone who's gone through the national committee of my ludicrous nation and succeeded. Do you still update this blog btw? Thx for posting what you've already done, I shall be waiting for the next update.

Okay, so I think we have one or two Swedes in the second year, and then another Swedish speaker from the Åland Islands. From what I understand though it is hard, and a lot of NCs don't really send a lot of people to AC because it's expensive. If you want to talk more, PM me, and sorry for the late response!

[franticatatlantic-blog]

First Term: Done!!!

Firstly, this blog has been a bit abandoned and neglected. I’d like to apologise for this, I can’t promise it won’t happen again. All I can say is the UWC life got in the way! This post will be in two parts, this first part being a bit more philosophical and deeper than the second.

The last post I put on here was about the end of my first week at Atlantic College. I’m struggling to come to terms with the fact that this post is about the end of my FIRST TERM at AC. So much stuff has happened since that week. Where did that time go???

The answer is clear enough: living.

Sure, a lot of my time has been eaten up by the IB (French B SL owns my sanity, whilst GloPo has my heart) and CAS (Donkey Care, Model UN and Lifesaving). That was to be expected. What I hadn’t expected was how much of myself and my time I would spend with people.

Jasmine, I hear you gasp, you’re at a UWC, with people all the time, of course you’d spend a lot of your time with people!  In that sense, you are correct. However back home, I was a very isolated person. I had my good, close, strong friends and groups, and my family, but I was always closed off. I didn’t openly show physical affection (hugs, arm links etc) to anyone, I wasn’t very socially outgoing or popular, and I did not like discussing or processing my emotions. 

AC has changed that. Living with almost 50 people, in a room with three others at close quarters no less forced me to evaluate how I perceived others and my relationships to people, and how I interacted with people. I realised the emotional barriers and categories I’d set myself had only been holding me back, and I’d been making myself kind of miserable for a long time. 

So, I’ve had to learn to let go. Let go of my boxes and categories, my labels and barriers, the constant need for order and control. It hasn’t been easy to do or adjust to, but it’s not supposed to be. I’ve been learning to be spontaneous; to go on random trips to places (often Cardiff) with people, to let people into and chill in my corner, to prioritise my relationships with other people over some of my work. I’m still learning to relinquish control; I didn’t earn the “Miss Clean” house award for nothing, but it is slowly coming. 

Slowly, I’ve been learning to enjoy and appreciate existing again. I’ve realised that just because not everything is planned out or following its correct order doesn’t mean it will a disaster. It will be an experience, and that is part of life. I’ve met some of the most incredible, caring and crazy people in my life at this school (the list is already far too long to name everyone!), and they have all helped me change and expand my mindset, although some of them probably don’t even know this. Thanks to these people, I’ve created memories that will last a life time, and experienced and learnt things I’d never have at home, all of which have helped me.

People back home notice the difference; my old teachers comment I look happier, whilst my friends are delighted to be hugged and shown affection. I walked into my old room a stranger to it; the closed off, boxed in girl no longer lives there, and hopefully she will never return.

Still, I am not perfect and I never will be. I have unintentionally hurt people around me, I’ve made some poor life choices (French B SL I’m looking at you) and at times I have let my fears and doubts restrain me from things, causing me to miss out. However I’m learning from this, and at AC I am constantly learning how to be a better person.

When they say you’ll learn and gain more from UWC than an education, they really mean it. I came to AC unsure and sceptical, about myself and the world. The best thing I thought I could gain here was an IB diploma, and some connections for the wider world. Boy was I wrong. I’ve only been here one term, and I have learnt more socially here than I have in a year at my old school.

After one term I have come so far; I have another three to further learn, develop and thrive in, and I am so excited for them! 

[franticatatlantic-blog]

The First Week

Well, week one of AC has officially passed and honestly more stuff has happened in that time than I thought possible, and it now feels like we’ve been here for at least a month. In this week we’ve picked out subjects and are choosing our services and activities (HL: Bio, GloPo and English Lit & Lang, SL: Maths Studies, Visual Art and French B), as well as going on First year camp over the weekend (Dancing in the Moonlight will be forever ingrained in my brain).

At AC there are eight houses; Powys, Sunley, Madiba, Whitaker, Tice, Pentti Kouri (PK), Morgannwg and Gwynedd. I am in Sunley, which is one of the furthest from the castle (the trek to breakfast on the M4 across the field will be awful in the rain), but our house parents are lovely and the second years are nice and welcoming, albeit a bit weird and loud at times. My roommates are from Scotland, Thailand and Bangladesh and they’re amazing!

The first day was quite intense. Our bus was met by screaming second years banging pans and waving flags in a massive crowd, who lead us to our houses and we’ve got to know them reasonably well (2am talks and communal showers). The days have gone quickly but slow at the same time. We also had a Brit national evening, which allowed us to get to know our British co-years and second years a bit (although with 50 students we didn't really get close with people).

Codes and classes start tomorrow (Wednesday 5th), so fingers crossed they’ll go okay. I also have an acapella audition this evening, which hopefully will go well. I’ll try and keep up to date on this blog in the next few weeks as our workload increases, but I may get patchy so apologies in advance.

[franticatatlantic-blog]

My UWC Journey

Compared to some of my co years, my UWC Journey had been a bit unorthodox. For a start I didn't discover UWC through family and friends, or through an activity or short course. I found UWC through Google, out of sheer boredom.

It was the summer before year 11, and I had to start thinking about further education. My most obvious choice after GCSEs was to stay at my school's sixth form, like all my friends. But part of my wanted to be different; I didn't want to be like everyone else. I'd spent my whole life wanting to travel and explore other cultures, and had spent my whole life being told "you can do that when you're older!" by adults. But I wanted to see if there was something I could do, like an exchange program.

Instead I found UWC. And was immediately hooked.

It looked like the perfect thing for me; I eagerly and painstakingly filled out the application, begged for references and basically planned my future. One small issue however: my parents absolutely hated it. Not the actual idea of UWC, just the idea of my leaving two years earlier than they expected to go to UWC (at the time I didn't fully understand why, but now I do). Still, they let me apply because "we don't want you to say we don't let you chase opportunities".

So in October 2016 I sent in my application. Yes you read that right, October 2016. And I waited and waited with everyone else. And I didn't get an interview. For a day or so I was crushed, but I brushed myself off and moved on, because I had GCSEs to focus on.

Fast forward to summer 2017, and a small email appears in my inbox telling me UWC applications have opened. I'd put the idea of me attending to rest up to that point, but that email forced it to make a resurgence. I'd been rejected before, so what was the harm in applying again?

And so the same process occurred; I wrote my application, begged the same teachers for references and focused on my A levels with this on the side. The key difference this time was my parents no longer hated the idea of me attending UWC. In that year they'd opened up a lot more to the idea of me going; I'd be leaving in a year anyway for uni, and I'd matured a lot since last year. They could see I was serious, and wasn't going to drop it, so more willingly they let me apply. So October 2017 rolls round and my application is sent in and the waiting began again.

Around the end of November emails were sent out; people were told they got an interview, people were told they didn't. But some people (including me!) were basically put on a waiting list. The NC was considering holding more interviews in January or February, and I'd been put on this list. I was in shock, one year ago I'd been crying because I didn't get an interview, and now I had a chance.

The days move on and December rocks up. Interviews are the second week. However, during the first I got another email from the NC. They had reviewed their numbers, and there was a space on the 14th if I wanted it! I got this on the 7th, so cue some frantic phone calls, hotel booking and pleading with school to get time off.

So next week on a cold wet night (so cold there was a snow warning and I almost wasn't allowed to go) my dad and I drove over 200 miles down to Atlantic College in Wales for my interview. I won't go into too much detail as this post is already long and interviews deserve a separate post, but all I can say is it was amazing.

After interviews and college choice forms had been filled in, there was yet another round of waiting. It was a little better as we had applicant group chats, so we stressed out together. Finally two months later in the middle of February, people started receiving emails.

Traditionally people got physical letters in the post and we were all expecting that, so it was a bit of a shock and more nerve wracking to learn it was coming by email. And they sent them out randomly; people were finding out they didn't get in or they got a college at the same time, which added to the stress of it.

Eventually my email came. I braced myself for the truth, I hadn't got into a UWC but it was an achievement to get this far, right? I opened it, and it turned out I got an offer for Atlantic College!!!

Over the last six months it's been very surreal; for a while we weren't sure if I could attend due to the cost (shout out to AC for 10% bursary and for the universe for deciding my dad should get a promotion) and it's been a bit demeaning putting so much work into this year of A level, knowing I won't use it (bye bye geography controlled assessment). But now with only five days to go, it's finally sinking in.

Guess it's time to finish packing; I've got a new adventure ahead of me. Next stop, Wales!

[franticatatlantic-blog]

My UWC Journey

Compared to some of my co years, my UWC Journey had been a bit unorthodox. For a start I didn't discover UWC through family and friends, or through an activity or short course. I found UWC through Google, out of sheer boredom. It was the summer before year 11, and I had to start thinking about further education. My most obvious choice after GCSEs was to stay at my school's sixth form, like all my friends. But part of my wanted to be different; I didn't want to be like everyone else. I'd spent my whole life wanting to travel and explore other cultures, and had spent my whole life being told "you can do that when you're older!" by adults. But I wanted to see if there was something I could do, like an exchange program. Instead I found UWC. And was immediately hooked. It looked like the perfect thing for me; I eagerly and painstakingly filled out the application, begged for references and basically planned my future. One small issue however: my parents absolutely hated it. Not the actual idea of UWC, just the idea of my leaving two years earlier than they expected to go to UWC (at the time I didn't fully understand why, but now I do). Still, they let me apply because "we don't want you to say we don't let you chase opportunities". So in October 2016 I sent in my application. Yes you read that right, October 2016. And I waited and waited with everyone else. And I didn't get an interview. For a day or so I was crushed, but I brushed myself off and moved on, because I had GCSEs to focus on. Fast forward to summer 2017, and a small email appears in my inbox telling me UWC applications have opened. I'd put the idea of me attending to rest up to that point, but that email forced it to make a resurgence. I'd been rejected before, so what was the harm in applying again? So the same process occurred; I wrote my application, begged the same teachers for references and focused on my A levels with this on the side. The key difference this time was my parents no longer hated the idea of me attending UWC. In that year they'd opened up a lot more to the idea of me going; I'd be leaving in a year anyway for uni, and I'd matured a lot since last year. They could see I was serious, and wasn't going to drop it, so more willingly they let me apply. So October 2017 rolls round and my application is sent in. And then the waiting began again. Around the end of November emails were sent out; people were told they got an interview, people were told they didn't. But some people (including me!) were basically put on a waiting list. The NC was considering holding more interviews in January or February, and I'd been put on this list. I was in shock, one year ago I'd been crying because I didn't get an interview, and now I had a chance. The days move on and December rocks up. Interviews are the second week. However, during the first I got another email from the NC. They had reviewed their numbers, and there was a space on the 14th if I wanted it! I got this on the 7th, so cue some frantic phone calls, hotel booking and pleading with school to get time off. So next week on a cold wet night (so cold there was a snow warning and I almost wasn't allowed to go) my dad and I drove over 200 miles down to Atlantic College in Wales for my interview. I won't go into too much detail as this post is already long and interviews deserve a separate post, but all I can say is it was amazing. So after interviews and college choice forms had been filled in, there was yet another round of waiting. It was a little better as we had applicant group chats, so we stressed out together. Finally two months later in the middle of February, people started receiving emails. Traditionally people got physical letters in the post and we were all expecting that, so it was a bit of a shock and more nerve wracking to learn it was coming by email. And they sent them out randomly; people were finding out they didn't get in or they got a college at the same time, which added to the stress of it. Eventually my email came. I braced myself for the truth, I hadn't got into a UWC but it was an achievement to get this far, right? I opened it, and it turned out I got an offer for Atlantic College!!! Over the last six months it's been very surreal; for a while we weren't sure if I could attend due to the cost (shout out to AC for 10% bursary and for the universe for deciding my dad should get a promotion) and it's been a bit demeaning putting so much work into this year of A level, knowing I won't use it (bye bye geography controlled assessment). But now with only five days to go, it's finally sinking in. Guess it's time to finish packing; I've got a new adventure ahead of me. Next stop, Wales!

[franticatatlantic-blog]

My UWC Journey

Compared to some of my co years, my UWC Journey had been a bit unorthodox. For a start I didn't discover UWC through family and friends, or through an activity or short course. I found UWC through Google, out of sheer boredom. It was the summer before year 11, and I had to start thinking about further education. My most obvious choice after GCSEs was to stay at my school's sixth form, like all my friends. But part of my wanted to be different; I didn't want to be like everyone else. I'd spent my whole life wanting to travel and explore other cultures, and had spent my whole life being told "you can do that when you're older!" by adults. But I wanted to see if there was something I could do, like an exchange program. Instead I found UWC. And was immediately hooked. It looked like the perfect thing for me; I eagerly and painstakingly filled out the application, begged for references and basically planned my future. One small issue however: my parents absolutely hated it. Not the actual idea of UWC, just the idea of my leaving two years earlier than they expected to go to UWC (at the time I didn't fully understand why, but now I do). Still, they let me apply because "we don't want you to say we don't let you chase opportunities". So in October 2016 I sent in my application. Yes you read that right, October 2016. And I waited and waited with everyone else. And I didn't get an interview. For a day or so I was crushed, but I brushed myself off and moved on, because I had GCSEs to focus on. Fast forward to summer 2017, and a small email appears in my inbox telling me UWC applications have opened. I'd put the idea of me attending to rest up to that point, but that email forced it to make a resurgence. I'd been rejected before, so what was the harm in applying again? So the same process occurred; I wrote my application, begged the same teachers for references and focused on my A levels with this on the side. The key difference this time was my parents no longer hated the idea of me attending UWC. In that year they'd opened up a lot more to the idea of me going; I'd be leaving in a year anyway for uni, and I'd matured a lot since last year. They could see I was serious, and wasn't going to drop it, so more willingly they let me apply. So October 2017 rolls round and my application is sent in. And then the waiting began again. Around the end of November emails were sent out; people were told they got an interview, people were told they didn't. But some people (including me!) were basically put on a waiting list. The NC was considering holding more interviews in January or February, and I'd been put on this list. I was in shock, one year ago I'd been crying because I didn't get an interview, and now I had a chance. The days move on and December rocks up. Interviews are the second week. However, during the first I got another email from the NC. They had reviewed their numbers, and there was a space on the 14th if I wanted it! I got this on the 7th, so cue some frantic phone calls, hotel booking and pleading with school to get time off. So next week on a cold wet night (so cold there was a snow warning and I almost wasn't allowed to go) my dad and I drove over 200 miles down to Atlantic College in Wales for my interview. I won't go into too much detail as this post is already long and interviews deserve a separate post, but all I can say is it was amazing. So after interviews and college choice forms had been filled in, there was yet another round of waiting. It was a little better as we had applicant group chats, so we stressed out together. Finally two months later in the middle of February, people started receiving emails. Traditionally people got physical letters in the post and we were all expecting that, so it was a bit of a shock and more nerve wracking to learn it was coming by email. And they sent them out randomly; people were finding out they didn't get in or they got a college at the same time, which added to the stress of it. Eventually my email came. I braced myself for the truth, I hadn't got into a UWC but it was an achievement to get this far, right? I opened it, and it turned out I got an offer for Atlantic College!!! Over the last six months it's been very surreal; for a while we weren't sure if I could attend due to the cost (shout out to AC for 10% bursary and for the universe for deciding my dad should get a promotion) and it's been a bit demeaning putting so much work into this year of A level, knowing I won't use it (bye bye geography controlled assessment). But now with only five days to go, it's finally sinking in. Guess it's time to finish packing; I've got a new adventure ahead of me. Next stop, Wales!

[franticatatlantic-blog]

I love him as well.

Hello!

If you’re reading this, welcome to my blog! Some quick facts; my name is Jasmine, I am 17 years old, I have a dog, two sisters + a fossil collection and a small obsession with textile crafts and Rudimental. Oh, and in 20 days I will be starting at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, after applying through the GB committee last summer/autumn.

This blog is my attempt at documenting my time at AC over the next two years in a simple, accessible format and to try and give any applicants an insight into what goes on here (the long nights of obsessing over every British UWC blog I could find have left their mark) and to be able to easily give help and advice.

How updated will I keep this blog? Hard to say; realistically I’ll be more behind than I want to (I’m a forgetful, disorganised but lovable mess) but hopefully I won’t abandon this! If you are interested in more UWC blogs please check out the UWC blog list,  which I’m sure will be loaded with new blogs in the next few months.

In the mean time please stick around and watch out for updates!

P.S. If you want some international blogs by GB students check out @londontopearson and @whereisbosnia, AKA the lovely Asia and Joseph (who I’m still a little salty at for not picking my blog name idea). They are heading off all over the place, so keep an eye out for their UWC adventures

[franticatatlantic-blog]

I love her.

Hello!

If you’re reading this, welcome to my blog! Some quick facts; my name is Jasmine, I am 17 years old, I have a dog, two sisters + a fossil collection and a small obsession with textile crafts and Rudimental. Oh, and in 20 days I will be starting at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, after applying through the GB committee last summer/autumn.

This blog is my attempt at documenting my time at AC over the next two years in a simple, accessible format and to try and give any applicants an insight into what goes on here (the long nights of obsessing over every British UWC blog I could find have left their mark) and to be able to easily give help and advice.

How updated will I keep this blog? Hard to say; realistically I’ll be more behind than I want to (I’m a forgetful, disorganised but lovable mess) but hopefully I won’t abandon this! If you are interested in more UWC blogs please check out the UWC blog list,  which I’m sure will be loaded with new blogs in the next few months.

In the mean time please stick around and watch out for updates!

P.S. If you want some international blogs by GB students check out @londontopearson and @whereisbosnia, AKA the lovely Asia and Joseph (who I’m still a little salty at for not picking my blog name idea). They are heading off all over the place, so keep an eye out for their UWC adventures

[franticatatlantic-blog]

Hello!

If you’re reading this, welcome to my blog! Some quick facts; my name is Jasmine, I am 17 years old, I have a dog, two sisters + a fossil collection and a small obsession with textile crafts and Rudimental. Oh, and in 20 days I will be starting at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, after applying through the GB committee last summer/autumn.

This blog is my attempt at documenting my time at AC over the next two years in a simple, accessible format and to try and give any applicants an insight into what goes on here (the long nights of obsessing over every British UWC blog I could find have left their mark) and to be able to easily give help and advice.

How updated will I keep this blog? Hard to say; realistically I’ll be more behind than I want to (I'm a forgetful, disorganised but lovable mess) but hopefully I won’t abandon this! If you are interested in more UWC blogs please check out the UWC blog list,  which I’m sure will be loaded with new blogs in the next few months.

In the mean time please stick around and watch out for updates!

P.S. If you want some international blogs by GB students check out @londontopearson and @whereisbosnia, AKA the lovely Asia and Joseph (who I’m still a little salty at for not picking my blog name idea). They are heading off all over the place, so keep an eye out for their UWC adventures