Host families
Thora and Olav Hovland have been a host family ever since the college opened. They have three grown up children. This is what they say about being a host family:
For 10 years now we have been host parents to students from UWC.Young people from
the world over have been into our home during this time. Some years we have had only one student, whereas other times we have had three at the same time.
When the first student was going to come to us, a boy from Nepal, we wondered if we spoke enough English to manage. There was a lot of laughter,particularly when mother tried.Our skills have become better and better each time and now none of us think that the language makes it difficult.
Culture from lands which before we had only heard about, came nearer to us and we have developed our geographical knowledge. There has been much laughter and many good stories. Our children became good at expressing themselves in English and we watched this skill mature.
What will these students have? A bed to sleep in, solid meals and to be with us “på tur” “På tur” is an important expression in the Norwegian language.This could mean a walk in the mountains,a fishing trip or maybe some cross country skiing.Some students have come with us to our “hytte” (mountain cabin) over Easter, and many times we have
been impressed by how good they are on the ski tracks.
With e-mail it is easy to keep in contact with them and good to know what they are doing as the years go by.Now we look forward to meeting our old friends again this autumn when they will come to Haugland for a reunion. It is ten years since their first year at Haugland!
2004 was the Volunteer Program’s first full year of operation. 33 volunteers were placed in 15 different organizations in 10 different countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
These organizations have diverse remits, activities and beneficiaries, including education
for disadvantaged populations, child welfare, the environment, sustainable rural
development, health care,political activism and advocacy, refugees, youths,orphans, and children who have suffered abuse. All are relatively small local, regional or national organizations operated by people from the area in which they are located.
The volunteers were primarily graduating students, though there were also a handful of former RCNUWC students and students from other UWCs. They do many different kinds of work, from direct service provision—working directly with children, young people and refugees--, to advocacy and education, to work in the areas of the environment, development, and human rights. The Volunteer Program regards their experience as crucial to their education, helping them gain the insights, experience and skills to
bring about positive environmental, social and political change.
Universities Office
2004 was again a successful year for acceptances to Universities and Colleges, with many students receiving scholarship awards that met their full financial need.
The destinations of 2004 graduates show a similar pattern to the 2003 statistics as shown in the following table:
Students going on directly to University after RCNUWC
UK - 10 (11 in 2003)
USA - 39 (38 in 2003)
Canada - 6 (8 in 2003)
Nordic - 6 (10 in 2003)
Europe - 3 (7 in 2003)
Other - 3 (3 in 2003)
Total - 67 (77 in 2003)
In 2003, 25 students (102 in year group) did not immediately take up a place at University, either doing volunteer work, serving in the military, working or travelling. In 2004 this figure had increased to 30 students (97 in year group), appearing to reflect a trend towards more students looking to do a Third Year Option before continuing
their studies. The majority of students in this category had already secured a University place before graduating to begin their studies in 2005 before.
We have now completed most of the applications for the 2004/2005 cycle for our 2005 graduating class and it is interesting to compare this with the applications for 2003/2004 as shown in the following table:
Number of students applying to:
UK - 31 (27 in 2003-04)
USA - 65 (52 in 2003-04)
Canada - 19 (9 in 2003-04)
Nordic - 3 (6 in 2003-04)
Europe - 7 (5 in 2003-04)
Other - 3 (3 in 2003-04)
The figures do include a relatively small number of our graduate students, for example 5 of the 65 applicants to the USA are former students. There does however appear to be a trend towards an increasing number of applications to North American Universities,
partly because of the increasing number of scholarship opportunities in the USA and Canada. Some of these scholarships are specifically for UWC students and we are particularly grateful for the generosity of Shelby Davis which has greatly increased the opportunities available to our students. It seems likely that fewer than 20 students of the 2005 graduating class of 99 students will pursue Undergraduate University studies in their own country.
A further trend we have noticed over recent years has been an increase in the number of visits by representatives from Universities and Colleges. Between September 1st 2004 and February 1st 2005 there were 30 visitors representing 27 different institutions (3 from the UK, 4 from Canada and 20 from the USA). More visitors are scheduled for spring 2005. The Universities and Colleges clearly value the qualities that UWC students bring to their campuses.
