Reclaiming Empathy: Reflections from Peace and Conflict Day
Empathy is perhaps the most overlooked human value. Its meaning has become diluted, and many people have grown desensitized to the injustices around them. Real issues and suffering are reduced to headlines and fleeting sensations. When the importance of empathy fades, being at a UWC offers a unique privilege: the chance to rediscover this essential human value. Beyond simply hearing stories, engaging in conversations with people from all around the world provides an intimate understanding of real-world issues and phenomena, helping us cultivate and practice empathy in meaningful ways.
Exploring Peace Within and Beyond
Special Focus Days are days when, instead of attending regular classes, students participate in workshops offered by guests, staff or fellow students on a particular theme. The Peace and Conflict Special Focus Day on 29th January centred on issues of conflict and peace, both within ourselves and in the wider world. For me, this SFD was especially significant in reconnecting with my understanding of empathy and compassion.
Throughout the day, I attended various sessions. The ones that resonated with me most focused on personal peace and the impact of events such as the Holocaust and Second World War. The session on personal peace stood out because it emphasized that empathy is not only something we extend to others, but also to ourselves. We experience the world and interact with others through the vessel of ourselves; how we treat and understand ourselves fundamentally shapes all other experiences.
Shared Humanity, Shared Responsibility
As someone involved in the Stolpersteine CAS at RBC –an extracurricular service activity in which members clean Holocaust memorial stones around the city and contribute to remembrance efforts – I have come to appreciate this deeply. Although I was raised in a context far removed from the direct impacts of the Holocaust, it has been profoundly important to engage with the emotional and moral weight of the Second World War and play a role in remembrance. This experience has taught me that empathy does not have to stem form personal relatability or direct connection. Rather, it arises from our shared humanity; it is a core human value that binds us together.
The Power of Vulnerable Conversations
My day also included meaningful and vulnerable conversations with members of the community. These interactions reminded me of the power of diverse experiences and the importance of truly listening to them. The issues my peers were no longer abstract news stories, historical facts or distant political conflicts – they were raw, lived human experiences. To live in alignment with UWC values and to contribute meaningfully to the world, I believe the ability to empathise and listen is not optional; it is essential.
