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Our alumni scholars
UWCSEA STORIES
Julia Schetelig ‘18
Scholar from Germany
Four years after graduating from UWCSEA, Julia is connecting her passion for making a difference in the lives of others with the UWCSEA mission. She has just accepted a new job, leading people operations for Gridware, a tech start-up in the Bay Area, whose technology detects faults in electricity grids early, thus helping to prevent disastrous wildfires.
Born in Berlin, Julia came to UWCSEA passionate about making an impact after volunteering in a kindergarten for refugee children while in High School. As a sixteen-year-old, she just wasn’t sure how she would do it and was torn between her passions of musical theatre and contributing to global peace. At UWCSEA, Julia pursued both interests; helping out with Drama productions backstage and volunteering with the Initiative for Peace (IfP). She found a great deal of satisfaction in playing a supportive role both for the actors in East Campus, rehearsing lines, applying makeup, and providing much needed moral support. And in IfP, Julia enjoyed the challenge of designing and facilitating activities to engage and empower young leaders to become changemakers for peace. Through both experiences, one thing became clear, Julia learned that she didn’t need to be on centre stage or at the head of a conference table, to make a difference. She realised she could be more effective behind the scenes, supporting the passionate actors or youth leaders whose skills deserved to be showcased, helping them make the most of their opportunities. She is particularly excited to be working at Gridware because of its strong internal culture that aims to enable leaders and foster creativity, inclusion and change, and its focus on climate tech. As Julia says, “I’m thrilled to be leading learning and development initiatives, where I can enable talented individuals to grow and thrive, bringing the best minds together to help make the world a better place.” She credits her experiences in musical theatre and IfP for sparking her passion for playing a critical support role in the lives of talented individuals.
UWCSEA STORIES
Hala Hudaib ‘21
Scholar from Jordan
Hala landed at Singapore’s Changi airport in August 2019; homesick but also excited about the UWCSEA experience ahead. She left her family and friends behind in Jordan, ready to join the East Campus community. She says, “Joining UWCSEA was one of the most daring steps I have ever taken.” She would be studying in English for the first time. What she couldn’t have foreseen was that the COVID-19 pandemic would wreak havoc on the world six months later, disrupting global travel and keeping her in Singapore until graduation in May 2021. At UWCSEA, Hala joined a yoga class and a Focus Group, #Grace, where students discussed issues of race as they related to privilege. The group was keen on making an impact on the lives of others and worked with the PSE team at East Campus to implement their ideas. And like many students, Hala was immediately enthralled by the diversity at the College. She remarks, “I never imagined having friends or roommates from Ghana, India, Myanmar, or Thailand.” Some of Hala’s most profound learning came from the cross-cultural exchange of ideas and values in conversations, both after dinner in the Boarding House and the classroom. Her favourite subject was Global Politics and although she struggled at first to learn the correct terminology, once she did, she was keen to contribute. When the class was studying terrorism, she willingly shared her perspective from growing up in the Middle East. She also conferred with the teacher about selecting educational resources and was able to recommend interesting literature for the group. She remarks, ”All of the different conversations that we had discussing political or religious topics were a blessing because it has changed how I approach people; it has increased my sensitivity and awareness of others.” Today, Hala is in her first year studying at Georgetown University in Qatar. She plans to focus her degree on Culture and Politics. Although classes have been mostly online, she has continued to make an impact and joined the student Justice for Palestine group to learn more about what’s happening in her region. She looks forward to meeting her Georgetown classmates in person and continuing to make an impact as part of the university community.
OUR PROGRAMMES
Innovative programmes help the College keep pace with the ever-changing educational landscape. As the world of work changes and it becomes evident that collaborative solutions to global problems will be required to help create a sustainable future, UWCSEA is committed to developing young people who can respond to the challenges.
