Dear UWC Russia,

I want to sincerely express my gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of the UWC movement! To make peace and sustainable future - that's how I began to see the world, when entered UWCSEA East campus!

I'll start all over again!)

So, I'm in Moscow. 6-30 am, 4 August, 2016. Leaving the Kazan-Moscow train, I began to understand that an independent new life was starting. Millions of different thoughts visited my head, I was at a loss, completely at a loss. I could not imagine what would happen to me the next day, I could not calm down.

Moscow, 17-00, August 4, 2016. Having successfully passed the registration for the flight Moscow-Singapore, I was in the zone of passport control. I showed my passport, visa, all the necessary documents, after which I immediately went on boarding the plane! Here the bus carried me, and I started to think: "Is it really true? Will I be in Singapore in 9 hours? Just think how far I will be from my home, my relatives, teachers, friends!"

Boeing 747, 3 am (for Singapore). All the time I could not sleep, I thought, how will I be there, how will I live, speak and learn in English, will I have friends, but what if I can not?

Tampines House, 10 am. They met me. A new life begins!!!

The place where I live is called Tampines House, which is located 5 minutes from the school. The first two weeks were the orientation ones. At this time, we explored different parts of Singapore, tried different dishes (by the way, they are spicy enough, in the early days, water was needed, literally, to survive). I started to have new friends, new acquaintances, new people surrounded me. Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, USA, Kazakhstan. If you list everything, then it will take a lot of time)

Our school has 340 teachers. I was fortunate enough to meet many of them. Each teacher is a highly qualified specialist with extensive experience in the field of teaching! For example, I have 2 math mentors. Mollet and Ms. Tippi. Mr.Mollet is a bachelor of Oxford University, and Ms.Tippi is the coach of the Chinese team in mathematics, preparing students for performances at the IMO (International Mathematics Olympiad). Here, teachers are not only an example in a certain field, but in everything! Sometimes, in the morning you go to school and see that your economics teacher is doing a morning run, and after school he trains the volleyball team! Sometimes it's like this: during the morning workouts, you try to regret yourself, stop, but your chemistry teacher pushes you from behind, and accelerates, threatening to leave JJJ after lessons! And then he gives you a head start on the finish line! J

The main difference in learning lies in the concept itself. For example, in biology we have a huge amount of laboratory work. It is practice that gives you the answer to your internal questions, which previously did not give you rest! Of course, training is not easy, it takes time, concentration, zeal, but you can always count on your teacher, who will be happy to stay with you alone after school and help solve the problem!

In addition to the academic part, every student's life is full of sports activity: in our school there are a large number of sports resources, where each student can discover hidden talent (football, basketball, swimming, running, gymnastics, chess, rugby, softball)! For example, from the beginning of the year I started to study cross country (long distance running (5 km, 7 km)). And now I am entering the college team. At the end of November, our school will hold SEASAC competitions, in which many international schools of southeast Asia will take part! Our school has already won competitions among boys in swimming and basketball.

I can definitely point out that for me CAS is not an IB requirement, for me it is an opportunity, a door to knock on! Every week I do 2 services, one of which is AMK Drum Therapy. We visit a rehabilitation center in which people with mental disabilities are being treated. Once a week, our group of enthusiastic students comes and conducts a drum therapy, the essence of which is the development of motor skills! Very interesting! At the beginning of this service, I was extremely puzzled, because I never did this, but then it became a habit, and I began to realize how important to me is what I do! My second service is called Rainforest Restoration! This is an experimental design work of a teacher from Yale University. We mainly study the technique of planting trees in the rainforest, after which we do practical work in the famous Singapore Botanic Gardens.

As we all know, a person forms the environment in which he is located! UWCSEA East is the place that shapes you as a person!

Sometimes, attending various kinds of school activities, I wonder how talented each student is: someone excellently plays the guitar, someone sings, someone dances.

Our school has many opportunities for comprehensive development! I often visit the music department and learn to play the drum set! Our boarding house has its own music rock band, which often plays famous tunes on themed dinners and parties!

You can write endlessly and talk about school, life, friends and opportunities. Here I often ask myself the question: "Comil, are you happy?" And every time I realize that I'm really happy! Every morning before waking up, it seems to me that all this is a dream, but soon I wake up and realize that this is not a dream, but a reality, a life, a door, an opportunity and a discovery!

I am infinitely grateful to the sponsors, who gave me this opportunity to realize my potential for 100%! Thank you!

I'm really looking forward to my first-year student!)

Komil Vohidov, UWCSEA East