Barbara Nelson, Contributor

Melecia Wright ... there are things we never forget.

Melecia Wright, once a shy, reserved young woman at Montego Bay High School in Jamaica, has evolved into an assertive, confident person over the past two years.

She attributes the change in herself to the two years she spent at Atlantic College in Wales between September 2005 and May 2007.

Atlantic College, the first of 10 United World Colleges (UWC) now found on every continent, was started by Kurt Hahn and Lawrence Darvall to engage young people from all nations in finding peaceful means to bring together a world divided by political, racial and socio-economic barriers.

Melecia first heard of the UWC movement while at Montego Bay High School and learned that several students had been granted places at UWC schools. She was interested in the venture. From time to time, she read about students who had been awarded UWC scholarships.

Melecia contacted her guidance counselor and also spoke with Dr. Dennis Minott, her tutor from the Association of Quietly Excellent Scholars and Thinkers (AQuEST).

"I applied to the Jamaican National Committee and was short-listed for an interview. I was successful!" she said.

Of the four UWCs she could choose from, she decided on Atlantic College since it was the first UWCand also because transportation between Jamaica and the United Kingdom is well-established.

"Atlantic College marked an official expansion of the world as I knew it," Melecia said. "I became aware of so many things: the impediments that exist to humans loving and accepting each other, the many cultures that are deprived of respect and the great potential that exists in each individual."

Putting aside differences

The experiences made her realise that it is possible for people to put aside their differences and find something of value in everyone.

"To someone outside of the Atlantic College community it might appear that the UWC ideals are unrealistically idyllic," she said. "But living in a community like Atlantic College provides great hope for a better world."

At Atlantic College, she learned that it was not necessarily incorrect to deviate from the norm.

"I've found friends from every part of the world. Now I can think of myself as a global citizen and live accordingly, acting in cognisance of the fact that my actions just might be affecting the friends I have made or people just like them," she said.

What were some of her most memorable experiences at Atlantic College?

"I've only just left," she said. "It is very difficult to highlight my most memorable experience at AC as one might deem any moment spent there noteworthy.

"However, I could mention a debate between Israelis and Palestinians, which left the whole college in a frenzy as the issues of the people most affected by the conflict were voiced. Hearing stories of wars or displaced refugees left indelible marks on my mind."

She added: "A student-led venture to have the most nationalities in a swimming pool at any one time (I'm not quite sure if we actually earned the Guinness world record for this) is also a significant memory. These are the things we never forget!"