From UWCM to London: Henri’s Journey of Connection and Contribution

December 12, 2024

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Henri, and I graduated from UWCM in 2018, six years ago. I’m originally from France, though I wasn’t connected to the French national committee. I attended UWC as a day student and had been at the school since 2005, when my family moved to a place in Belgium near Maastricht. So, I spent 13 years at UWCM. I was five years old when I first arrived, barely spoke any English, and I’m told I cried for about three months straight 🙂 While at UWCM, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go and witnessed the shift in school culture as we became a UWC in 2009.

What have you been up to since you graduated from UWCM, both professionally and personally?

After graduating, I moved to London, where I’m still based. I studied Computer Science at King’s College, which was a natural choice since I already loved computer stuff at UWC. I remember programming a laser tag shooting ranger for my personal project during the MYP and later working on robotics in the DP. I also designed an interactive program about voting structures and the impact of political party sizes on democracy for the International Peace Conference. Looking back, I feel like I was already putting my skills to good use back then.

During my degree, I had the opportunity to spend a “year in industry,” working and learning on the job. That experience was invaluable when I started looking for work after graduation. In fact, I returned to the company where I had interned for that year. Since then, I’ve worked on email security and I dived also into code security, but now I focus mostly on software engineering at Landbay. My day-to-day work involves a lot of discussions around the product goals, coordinating, and designing—much more than coding. It’s crucial to stay connected with clients and colleagues to fully understand what we’re building, and the actual coding part tends to be quick once the groundwork is set.

In my free time, I enjoy catching up with friends, including my UWCM friends Masaki and Rani who are also based in the UK now. Every Thursday, I also volunteer at a local soup kitchen.

Thinking back to your time at UWCM, how would you describe it in three words?

I’d say: understanding, energy, and—though it’s hard to choose just one more—something between duty and ambition. Understanding comes naturally at UWC, as you’re surrounded by people from all over the world with different backgrounds. You learn that not everyone thinks the same way, and that’s okay—you can still form strong friendships. Then there’s the energy. UWCM was always buzzing with initiatives, conferences, and CAS projects. There’s a real spirit of young people wanting to make a difference in the world. As for duty and ambition, UWC instills in us a sense of responsibility to create social change and help our communities. Over time, that duty evolves into ambition—a drive to leave a positive impact. This year’s UWC Day theme, “Together We Change,” really captured that idea.

What do you value most about your time at UWCM?

I loved being immersed in such a diverse community. UWC doesn’t have to push students in any particular direction—it just needs to create the space for growth to happen naturally. You trust the process, and the magic follows. UWC should keep bringing people together from different backgrounds, allowing them to celebrate those differences during culture weeks, conferences, or even just through conversations. The school does not force anything but creates an environment that encourages students to explore and broaden their horizons. In my case, UWC really helped me grow and develop my personality in so many different ways.

You attended the UWC Day celebrations organized by UWC alumni in London. What was that like?

It was fantastic. I reconnected with some UWCM people and met many other UWCers. It was inspiring to see what other alumni are doing, and it really gave me a boost of that unique UWC energy. One of the speakers talked about horticulture, the art of garden cultivation, and it reminded me so much of the UWC experience—you can’t control a plant, but you can influence the environment it grows in. There’s so much we can learn from nature. Communities, like nature, are living systems, and we’re just beginning to realize how interconnected we all are, just like gardens, forests, and farms.

 

You’ve also been giving back to UWC financially, donating 5€ every month since May 2023. Thank you! Why is giving back to UWCM important to you?

You could say 5€ isn’t a lot, right? That’s what I thought too. But while 5€ might not mean much to me, it means a lot to the school, so why not? It’s the cost of a coffee a month. I really enjoyed my time at UWCM, and as I’ve moved through life, I’ve come to appreciate how significant that experience was. I want to help ensure that as many students as possible can have the same experience, regardless of their financial background.

I also understand that when a high percentage of alumni give back, it attracts larger donations from major donors. They see that we, as alumni, value our experience and are willing to contribute, financially or otherwise. No matter how small the contribution, it still makes a difference. I hear that there are over 1,800 UWC alumni now—if each of us gave 5€ per month, we could secure at least three full scholarships every year. Actually, I was thinking about increasing my donation to 10€, so let me do that right away!