We congratulate the Class of 2025!
Today, we celebrated the Closing Ceremony for the Class of 2025 – 91 students from over 65 countries, the tenth generation at RBC. Over the last two years, they have not only completed the rigorous IB Diploma program but have also learned to live together with young people from all over the world, navigating differences, practicing tolerance, developing empathy and building community. We congratulate you on your efforts!
As our Rector Helen White said in her speech, “it was the learning that happens late at night, in the dayrooms making pasta or rice, or a birthday cake, or on Project Weeks, during Special Focus Weeks” that made you grow. „The kind of learning that happens when you have to say, ‘I was wrong’, or ‘I didn’t know that’, or simply, ‘Can we talk?’
“People like to call these ‚soft skills‘. But let me say this clearly: there is nothing soft about learning to navigate difference with respect. There is nothing soft about staying curious when it is easier to shut down. There is nothing soft about choosing empathy. None of this is soft. It is strength. And that strength is the heart of the UWC mission”.
With an evening of farewell and good-byes ahead of them, we wish the Class of 2025 a good departure from RBC tomorrow. As the tenth generation, you have shaped this place and this community and have, as Helen White says, become a “reflection of what this place has become”:
“You inherited a legacy, but you’ve now reshaped it. You’ve reminded us that inclusion is not a poster on a wall. It’s a culture you create together. You’ve shown us that sustainability is not only about solar panels or composting or eating soil, but about how we sustain each other. And you’ve reminded us that unity doesn’t mean uniformity, it means choosing connection over comfort.”
Watch the Closing Ceremony here:
