UWC Mahindra College monthly newsletter


Sunday, October 3, 2010

Head of College's message

The new academic year started in typical MUWCI fashion – a frenzy of activity as over 200 students descend on the campus from every corner of the globe!  For new students, the first few days can be a bewildering roller-coaster ride of excitement and information overload - in this dynamic mix of emotion, high expectation and energy the magic of this life defining experience is often found!

This is a year of new things – a new timetable, new exeats, a longer winter break, a new UWC Code of Conduct, new Triveni frameworks, a new Learning Support centre and exciting new plans for future developments (including a new wada).

Taking new paths is never easy when the voices of the past advise us to tread familiar routes.  Scott Peck in The Road Less Travelled describes the importance of developing a courageous open mindedness to change,

To develop a broader vision we must be willing to forsake our narrower vision.  In the short run it is more comfortable not to do this – to stay where we are, to keep using the same map, to avoid suffering the death of cherished notions.  The road of growth, however, lies in the opposite direction.  We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have previously been taught and hold dear.

Change carries the risk of getting it wrong.  But, as Scott Peck suggests, change also carries the promise of growth.  Amongst the challenges of change, for new students and returning students alike, are some of the greatest opportunities for growth this place has to offer.  As we consider taking our own “roads less travelled” this year we may, perhaps, find the courage to take one or roads never travelled before!

Dr Jonathan Long
Head of College

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