Worldwide Ed
From traditional high school to worldwide education
In fact, she doubled the length of her final year when she joined the United World Colleges program. She’s now midway through her second year at United World College Costa Rica, located in a suburb of the country’s capital city of San Jose.
The daughter of Stewart Stout and Jenny Cleveland, she’s one of about 10 U.S. residents at the school. The Americans are part of a 180-member student body representing 60 different countries.
“I came here for the community, to get to know people from all over, and I’m very glad to be part of it,” she said, speaking via Skype. “After this, I can couch-surf literally all over the world.”
She and her family use Skype, an audiovisual Internet program, a few times a month to keep in touch. It gives them a chance to see one another in real time.
Her father can take his laptop out in the backyard to show her what the weather is like, how Felix the dog is doing, or the new soccer moves her sophomore brother, Nick, is learning at McMinnville High School.
Becca, 18, grew up in McMinnville.
She attended the Sheridan Japanese School in her middle school years. Then, after her mother joined the staff of Oregon Episcopal School, she spent her first three years of high school at the campus in southwest Portland.
While she loved her classmates and her school, Becca said she wanted a more international setting for her senior year. “I had always been interested in international relations and political science,” she said.
She applied and went through the rigorous selection process, which included a review of her academic accomplishments and other qualifying data.
There also was an interview period, in which she and two dozen other applicants were assigned a topic to discuss. Their conversation was adjudicated.
Becca said she especially liked that part of the process.
“It showed me what it would be like every day here, discussing and sharing ideas,” she said. “That’s what I really wanted to be part of.”
United World Colleges has programs for high school students all over the world. In addition to Costa Rica, it has campuses in New Mexico, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, India, Singapore, Swaziland, Hong Kong, Germany, The Netherlands, Armenia and Bosnia/Herzegovina.
She didn’t know which of the sites would be her destination when she applied. But she’s happy with Central America.
Coincidentally, it’s a place her parents know well. They met in Costa Rica, when Stout was doing missionary work and Cleveland was improving her Spanish in the course of completing graduate studies.
They’ve both returned to Costa Rica to visit her, and her mother flew again last week for a TEDx conference Becca organized.
During her first year at UWCCR, she was a speaker at the school’s 2014 TEDx event.
Her talk can be seen on YouTube. Search for Becca Cleveland Stout and a talk titled, “We Don’t Need Technology, Just a Few Mushrooms.”
Becca said her talk was based on a research project she’d done while studying in Oregon. She had looked at the problem of mitigating oil spills and the possibility of using fungi as a natural way to clean the environment.
She appreciated the whole TEDx experience — doing her own talk, preparing for months, listening to the other speakers. It was exciting, she said, to hear her classmates and friends, as well as top-level speakers from a variety of fields, share their passions.
When the school asked for a student to join a staff member in organizing the 2015 TEDx event, she jumped at the chance.
“TEDx is an important way to give voice to people,” said Becca, who said she has gained leadership and motivational skills as she’s worked on putting the conference together. She started months ago by selecting and training speakers from her school and finding speakers from the wider world as well.
About 40 students applied to give talks related to the 2015 theme, “Impact.” Becca narrowed the list to eight, then worked with them to perfect their talks and make sure they fit the time limits.
She heard each of the student talks many, many times, she said. But she hadn’t heard those from outside the school.
Speaking three days prior to the event, she said she was eager to sit backstage and listen to the visitors, who included a poet from Minnesota, a Seattle activist, a National Geographic photographer, a sustainability organizer and a Costa Rican journalist. “It’s a diverse group,” she said of the speakers she had found and invited.
Becca also planned to speak at the event, although only briefly. She had a list of people to thank for their help and support during the planning process.
The annual TEDx conference is just one of many activities are her school, Becca said. “Things are always happening here,” she said.
Students from the various countries give presentations about their culture. During North American Week, for instance, Becca joined students from the U.S., Canada and Mexico in a performance that included Justin Bieber songs, “Saturday Night Live” sketches and Mexican dances.
Her next project is helping to direct the school musical, “Chicago.”
“It’s fun being on the other side of the stage,” said Becca, who has been in the footlights in shows such as “Tom Sawyer” and “The Sound of Music” at Gallery Theater.
She and other students also have plenty of chances to visit other parts of Costa Rica, Becca said.
Parts of the country, especially urban San Jose, are similar to the U.S. in many ways, she said. She said she sees more difference in the rural areas.
Some of Costa Rica is covered in rain forest. It’s always hot, she said, whether it’s the dry season or the aptly-named wet season.
“I miss being able to wear sweaters,” she said. That, she said, and having a room to herself.
In addition to activities and excursions, Becca and her fellow students also have classes in math and other subjects. UWC uses the International Baccalaureate Program, a rigorous academic course.
She enjoys her studies, especially history. Class discussions are lively, with students from a variety of cultures expressing so many different viewpoints, she said.
“Most of us are influenced by the place we came from,” she said.
Becca said attending school in another country has given her a chance to examine her feelings for her own homeland. She’s become more patriotic, she said, and she’s learned to appreciate the freedom she has.
Next year, she will start college. It will be in the U.S., but probably not in McMinnville.
“That’s a little too close to home,” she said.
