Chadi is an 18-year-old student from Rabat, the Moroccan Capital. He left his home and family for the first time to spend two years at UWC Dilijan to get the education he always dreamed of. He wasn’t satisfied with the education at his local school: “All the lessons ultimately come back to one thing, which is doing good in the exams to get into a good university for a good job. I refuted this education. I wanted to be considered as more than an average grade and a rank. I was seeking an education that would help me develop as a person, as a change-maker.”

Apart from school, in Morocco Chadi gave remedial English lessons to blind and visually impaired students at the American Language Center. He started practising Aikido in middle school and got a Black Belt, but didn’t have the chance to go further - he had to focus more on his academics. “I believe martiality doesn’t always mean violence. In everyday life, we need to stand high and proud of our ideas while respecting others. This is the greatest lesson martial arts has taught me.”

Chadi says that UWC Dilijan didn’t just meet his expectations, but exceeded everything he could imagine about this place. “Teachers are amazing, classes are engaging, we get the chance to deepen our knowledge in the subjects that we are genuinely interested in. I felt really engaged in my education, as I have now an impact on my parkour, my choices and my opinions matter! Back home, we have very few room for debating and expressing our ideas. UWC gave me the opportunity to challenge my ideas and look at the world anew.”

Here at UWCD Chadi took subjects like Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Philosophy. His love for math and science and thrive to make an impact on people’s lives made it clear to him that he wants to study engineering in the future. Chadi joined Robotics Club, where he learned about the real-life application of mathematics and physics and participated at the First Global Challenge for Robotics. Chadi believes that languages are essential and very important to understand others’ cultures and believes, and that is why he speaks Arabic, English, Spanish, French and is learning Japanese. He works on giving back to the community in every possible way starting by teaching robotics to local community children and joining the greenhouse and gardening team on campus. “I believe education is about taking and giving; I have the chance to live the UWC experience and it is my duty to give back to the community”.