Buddies Without Borders Reflection by Calla O'Neil '22

Until I came to Whittle, I never realized how narrow-minded my lens of the world was. I had watched and read only American news sources, in school I studied American history, the majority of my classmates were American, and the way I looked at current events was centered around how world issues were affecting this country. One thing that made my Whittle experience so incredible in the first year was the school’s mission to create global citizens; to build members of society who are globally aware and have empathy and understanding for other places and cultures. In only one year I have felt my view of the world expand so much because I am able to interact with students and teachers with global backgrounds, study history and STEM through an international lens, and learn a foreign language through looking at culture and history, not just vocab words and grammar tenses. 

Last spring as the coronavirus began to spread rapidly around the world, what struck me the most was how crucial it was, more than ever before, to have a global perspective. The virus impacted all races, religions, and regions, and it was clear to me that the only way we would get through this pandemic as a world would be to collaborate to identify best practices and find solutions. In July, after months of feeling helpless as I watched our country continue in a downward spiral, Dr. Brown reached out to the Upper School with an opportunity to apply to be a part of a program called Buddies Without Borders, which gathered high school students from across the world to participate in a forum to discuss COVID-19’s effect on students and come up with creative solutions. I knew that this program could be my chance to continue my journey towards building my global perspective and could finally give me the chance to contribute something to the world during a time where it felt like I could do nothing, so I filled out an application and sent it in.

A few days later I got an email from Ms. Mohs, the founder of Buddies Without Borders, saying that I was one of three U.S. applicants accepted into the program (shoutout to JiaJia, my incredible classmate and one of the other U.S. participants) along with 49 other students from 26 countries. From that day on, I spent four weeks immersed in collaboration and discussion with students from all around the world. I attended weekly meetings where I got to listen to guest speakers, give speeches, and have conversations. I also contributed daily to the Facebook Group, where the other participants and I brought up topics for discussion, commented on each other’s posts, asked questions, and shared experiences and perspectives from our own countries. Through talking and connecting with these students, I learned so much about how different countries operate, how they address and solve problems, their strengths and weaknesses as a nation, and what it is like to be a citizen there. Our weeks of discussions in the Facebook Group led to the fifty of us collaborating on a recommendation paper that outlined how schools can support the mental health of teenagers during COVID-19, which was sent out to all of the schools that had students participating in the forum. In the last couple weeks in the forum, we were placed into teams to create a recommendation for the WHO on how to advise schools to safely reopen. I was placed into a team with three incredible girls from India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and we worked together to create a model that gave criteria on how schools should operate based on the community’s COVID-19 infection rate. In the end, our paper was selected by a team of international educators and Andrew Black, a consultant to the WHO, as the “Best Team Paper” and was published on the Global Educations Destination website, which was such an incredible honor and is something I still can’t believe is real.

I gained more than I ever could have thought from this experience. Not only was I able to form friendships with students from across the world and gain so much knowledge by learning from first-hand experiences, but, most importantly, being a part of this program allowed me to do meaningful work during the time where I felt the most helpless and allowed me to stretch and grow as a learner, thinker, and global citizens. After being a part of this program, I knew I wanted to find a way to bring this experience back to my classmates because I knew they would thrive in this environment of students and it would align perfectly with Whittle’s mission of creating global thinkers and leaders. So, I have decided to start one of the eight founding chapters of the Buddies Without Borders Club, which are being started in eight high schools in seven different countries around the world. Buddies Without Borders will be a space for students to come together with other members of the Whittle community to discuss global issues, and allow them to connect with other high schoolers from around the world to get their perspectives and gain greater global awareness. My hope for this club is that it will allow our students to forge new relationships with students from across the world, allow us to work on projects with international students that will help our community grow their global perspective, and leave a legacy through Buddies Without Borders that will allow our students to meet and work with others from across the world long after I graduate.

I am so grateful to be a part of a school that promotes global awareness, supports students in pursuing their interests and passions, and allows them to use that passion to impact the school as a whole.

Link to our WHO recommendation paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E8Ls3ru_pmOtl9B4ZTUTsGOYOXB5EFVk/view