Wrapping it up

I decided to write a final blog post, and sum up the week, but where do I begin? The IB World Student Conference at the University of Warwick was one of the best experiences of my life, and I loved everything- from the plenaries, to the Global Action Team sessions, to the field trips, to every single person I met.

The plenaries were incredible; Jeremy Gilley, Phil Kaye, Ben Walden, and Void Physical Theater were all so inspirational. I learned a lot this week about finding my voice, what it takes to make a difference, and how we can create peace one day. On Monday, they told us two things about the UK Conference. The first was that it was the most diverse of the four conferences- I absolutely believe that. We were representing 28 countries, which was really exciting. It was so cool to be able to walk up to someone and say, “Hi, where are you from?” The second was that it was the first IBWSC to deal with the arts. I loved being a part of the first conference to do with the arts, and I loved the fact that everything we did had the arts, and peace, at its core. 

The Global Action Teams were so much fun- mine were theater and dance, and both focused on conflict, and war, and how eventually we can find peace, both within ourselves and with others. It was such heavy material, but the GAT leaders were so confident that we would be able to handle it, and in such a short period of time, that we all did. We all really came together, and produced work that we were really proud of. Friday was so fun, both to watch and to perform.

Above all, my favorite part about this week was the people I met. I made friends from across the world, people I hope to stay in contact with for a long time. Everyone I met was so nice- I can honestly say that I did not encounter one mean person or bully the entire week, and that’s really great, in a setting with 150 high school kids. It’s amazing how in a week we can develop such strong friendships- and while it was hard to leave, I wouldn’t have traded meeting those people for the world.

This week was so special, and I’m so glad I was able to be a part of it. Thanks so much to everyone who made the UK IBWSC possible, and even more, to everyone there who made it what it was. You are all so wonderful, and I’m so lucky to have met every one of you. Thanks for reading! It’s been fun :)

Day 5!

    Today was fun! It was our second to last full day, so everything to do with the Global Action Teams are really coming together- our performances are tomorrow! The morning started off with a performance by Void Physical Theater. The members of Void had been our Dance Global Action Team Leaders, so it was so fun to see them dance. It was even cooler that the piece they performed, titled "High Rise," was brand new, and we were the first audience to see it! It had to do with the British system of government, and how it affected the British people. It was a very interesting style of dance, and a very powerful subject. I really liked seeing our teachers dance, and it was great to see such a new, relevant piece.
   After the performance, we broke off into our Global Action Teams, to rehearse for the last time before tomorrow, the day of the show! I'm really excited about the theater piece, the piece about war and peace. Everyone has worked so hard to create a five minute piece of theater, in less than 3 hours total rehearsal time. I really like that our piece utilizes so many different kinds of media- we have poetry, song, spoken lines, and dance, all in a five minute piece. I'm very excited to perform tomorrow.
   This afternoon, the Tuesday trip groups switched, and my group went into the city of Birmingham! It's the second largest city in England, and has really great art galleries (and shopping!), so it was fun to go there. We had a couple of hours to explore the city before heading back to campus. At night, we explored the Sports Centre on campus, and went swimming at the university pool! Can't wait for tomorrow, but also can't believe it's our last day here :(

Day 4!

    Today was a really interesting day, with a bunch of really great experiences. Today's plenary was absolutely incredible- it was by a man named Ben Walden, an actor who worked for three years at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre alongisde Mark Rylance and Richard Olivier. His plenary discussed many different topics; among them, elements of intelligence, other than exam scores. He made the point that aas we get older, it gets harder to be confident with ourselves. I learned the idea that the four elements correspond to internal elements:

Fire = Spirit

Air = Mind

Earth = Body

Water = Heart

   Something else that he brought up was that to be a good communicator, you must be alive in your body. People who are overly dynamic communicators, however, are often insecure. Ben Walden taught us that emotional intelligence is a life-long journey, and it is so important to understand and acknowledge our feelings. It was a really incredible plenary, and my favorite point raised was this: it is important that we have the courage to be happy. We are more afraid of being strong, and succeeding, than we are of being weak, and failing.

    Today, we moved onto our second Global Action Team. This time, I was with Theater. Our piece for Friday is based around the motif of a suitcase, and the feelings, thoughts, and actions that come with that. Within that, we're doing a five minute piece about war and peace. In our piece, there is a war, there is a lot of hurt and anger, and at some point (to be figured out exactly when/how tomorrow!), a person comes, the motif of an angel, and brings peace to the people, making them stop their fighting. I'm playing the angel, so tomorrow should be really fun, and a really good learning experience. 

   Another highlight of today was the talent show. The range of talent was so wide, and stretched across so many different sub-genres of the performing arts. There was acting, singing, many kinds of dancing- Irish step dancing, African dance, ballet, contemporary- as well as some acts that were such a unique experience to see, such as traditional Indonesian shadow puppets. Overall, I really enjoyed today, and am looking forward to tomorrow! 

Day 3!

     It was a really intense day today, our second full day! The morning started off with a plenary by Phil Kaye, a spoken word poet, and founder of Project Voice. His talk was so heartfelt and honest, and he even performed three of his own poems for us, including one which he considers one of his most personal. He talked a lot about finding your voice, and what it takes to do that. A big portion of his talk focused on what it takes to achieve your goals- specifically, his point was that once you find your passion and take that leap, the work has only just begun. I loved this morning's plenary, and the whole message about finding your passion, finding your voice, and doing everything you possibly can to achieve your goal.
    After this morning's plenary, we broke off into our Global Action Teams again, and it was my second, and final, day with Dance. Today, we finished choreographing our dreams vs. nightmares piece that will be performed on Friday. After that, we had the opportunity to do a workshop on lifts. The GAT leaders taught us a few different types of lifts, ranging from beginning to very advanced, and though they could be kind of scary at times, they were all really fun, and everyone was having a really good time trying to advance to the next step, together.
   This afternoon, we split up into two groups- blue and orange- and went on field trips. The orange group went to Birmingham, where the blue group will go on Thursday, and my group, blue, went to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace! We went on a guided walking tour around the town, and saw sights including the home where Shakespeare was born, as well as the school he attended. We also got to go on a boat trip, and just take in everything, which was really fun. When we got back to Warwick, the night ended for me with dinner, hanging out with friends, playing card games, and meeting new people! Intense day, but looking forward to tomorrow!

Day 2!

Day 2!
"Should art set the boundaries of society, or should society set the boundaries of art?" 

      Today was our first real day at the IBWSC at Warwick, and it was packed- and awesome. The day started off with a plenary by Jeremy Gilley, the founder of the organization Peace One Day, which aims to have September 21 celebrated as a day of ceasefire and nonviolence. I found it incredible that in 2012, 280 million people- 4% of the world's population- were aware of International Peace Day. What's even more incredible is that number is expected to double by September 21, 2013. He shared with us the story of how he started Peace One Day, and described its journey. One of its monumental successes was having the Taliban in Afghanistan agree to allow health care officials come in to local areas on September 21, with no threat of being kidnapped or killed, and provide vaccinations against diseases such as polio. Jeremy Gilley's talk was interesting, inspiring, and I definitely plan on spreading the word about International Peace Day. 

     After the plenary, we broke up into our first Global Action Teams, which we will also remain with tomorrow, Tuesday. I was on the Dance Global Action Team today. We got to know each other, then talked a lot about power, as well as what constitutes dreams versus nightmares. After that, we got to dance! We as a team had the opportunity to choreograph, alongside our GAT leaders, a piece in which half the group portray dreams, and half portray nightmares. We learned almost the entire thing today, and are going to perform it on Friday!

    The rest of the day was just as busy, and between an amazing plenary, a very fun GAT session, tournaments in badminton/benchball/volleyball, and just hanging out and playing card games with friends after dinner, it was a pretty great day. Can't wait for tomorrow! 

Day 1!

Day 1 was crazy! Though not our first full day, so much happened. I met so many kids from so many different places- at our dinner table alone, we were representing 5 countries- USA, Nepal, Switzerland, Italy, and Singapore. During the afternoon, we just kind of explored, walked around campus, got settled into our rooms. After dinner, everyone took part in a quiz-game type thing, mostly about British history and culture. We called our team "Let's Get Quizzical", and came in tied for third place!! It was very exciting, and of course we sang along to the tune of the original song :) Tomorrow, our first full day, is absolutely packed, and looking very fun. Time for sleep! :)

Introductions

Hey! I'm Nicole. I'm 17 years old, and from Dobbs Ferry, New York. I'm going into my senior year at Dobbs Ferry High School, and my second year as an IB Diploma Candidate. I'm also going into my seventh year as a student at Broadway Training Center, a performing arts school in Hastings-on-Hudson. I am absolutely a theater nerd- I love theater, and the arts, and that's part of the reason why I'm so excited for this week. I'm going to an IB World Student Conference, and the topic is right up my ally- employing the arts in social and political change. The conference is taking place in Coventry, England, at the University of Warwick, and is expecting to host 150 kids from across the globe. I'll be blogging here about the conference here as often as I can, so check it out :) Also- I wanted to give a huge thank you to the IBO, as well as the University of Warwick. I'm so grateful to have recieved a full scholarship to attend the conference. I am so excited to be going, and to meet kids from all over the world, who have had so many different upbringings and experiences than me, and who are also interested in the arts. Can't wait! 2 more days until the conference :)