Sharing ideas and experience
19 Oct 2018
Year 12 student Max Heywood has returned from the Round Square International Conference 2018 brimming with enthusiasm and full of ideas about how Round Square at College can grow.
“It was epic, an awesome experience. Round Square really opens you up to what’s happening in the world, to understanding different perspectives, to opportunities to learn and grow, and to the realisation that each one of us has the power to create change.”
With the theme Bring Your Difference, RSIC 2018 gave hundreds of young people from Round Square schools all over the world the opportunity to come together and celebrate and explore diversity in all its forms.
It was an action-packed week of meetings and activities based on the Round Square IDEALS of Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership and Service. Max describes listening to some “amazing” speakers – including former television host Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, wife of the current Prime Minister of Canada; four times gold medal winning Canadian ice hockey Olympian Jayna Hefford; former child soldier turned international recording artist and activist Emmanuel Jal, originally from South Sudan; and an indigenous panel discussing the experiences of First Nations peoples in Canada – as well as the service and adventure activities, which allowed him to see something of Ottawa and its environs, as highlights of the trip, plus simply meeting and hanging out with other delegates.
During the conference, at a ceremony presided over by President and Patron of Round Square His Majesty King Constantine, former King of Greece, Max and Deputy Principal Rob Donaldson were presented with a flag and certificate to confirm College’s status as a Global Member School. Prior to the conference, Max also took time to visit Collingwood School in Vancouver and sit in on one of its Round Square meetings.
“It was very cool, really interesting to see how they run Round Square at Collingwood, as they’ve been members for a long time. Being part of Round Square is to be part of something bigger than College. It encourages young people to make the most of their education and opportunities, put themselves out there, enhance their lives, take the initiative, give back and get involved.”
RSIC 2018 was hosted by Ashbury College, Ottawa, Canada, from Thursday 27 September–Wednesday 3 October.
