One World.

"Pearson College is a Unique two year pre-university school for two hundred students selected from around the worl based solely on their personal merit, potential and demonstrated commitment to engage actively in creating a better world. All students attend on a full financial scholarship and live together while studying the International Baccalaureate program and pursuing explicitly the mission of the United World Colleges to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." ~ David B. Hawley, College Director.

Annually pearson college puts on a "One world" performance where they showcase the talents of the students. This year all 200 students helped with the performance with over 175 or them setting foot on the stage. This years students came from 100 different countries.

My family has been lucky enough to get a chance to be a host family this year, to my cousin, Adam who is attending Pearson College. So this weekend my family and his Mom and his sister all got a chance to see the show.

Im not sure what I had expected it to be like, but I was amazed. Each perfromance was completely unique, mostly dances from each culture. This year Pearson College decided to select students from war torn regions and areas of conflict. There were many speeches through the show that clearly reflected that. Kids spoke of their personal experiences from what they had been told was truth *they have learned that truth is subjective* to devestating stories of abuse, fear, death, young marriage, child labour and one boy from Venezuela told us about how he had survived an abduction a year ago. These are kids, 17, 18 year olds, who have witnessed the most horrible parts of humanity first hand, and here they were telling us about their hopes and dreams for a peaceful future. Two boys stood together on stage, One boy from Palestine and one from Isreal, when they came to Pearson, they were put in the same dorm room.

"Coming here, and sharing a room with him, has not taught me who is right, Only who is left."

The show was mostly dancing, different dances from all over the world. From a war dance from Fiji, a belly dance, latin dancing, throat singing, a middle eastern wedding, music from china and even street beats. Each peice was completely unique and different. I felt like I was getting a chance to see the more fun, beautiful parts of these cultures.

I began to feel that we often hear, or choose to hear, only the negative parts of each culture we encounter. There are always stereotypes, and Im sure there always will be but I feel like as a whole we focus on the negative and gloss over the positive, beautiful, fun parts of each different culture. We are missing out! I am not saying that Im an expert now that I sat through a two hour show of snippets of different lives, but seeing something like that makes me even more sure that there is so much we dont get a chance to see. Either because its not around, or because we arent looking. Or maybe we're hiding from it.