Hello, my name is Etoile and yesterday, during our boarding assembly, I had the opportunity to speak about something that lies at the heart of our community: Respect. First of all respect has an important place at CDL, because it is the R in our school values of R(respect)I(internationalism)S(spirit)E(excellence). As we are in an international boarding school we should show respect to one another even more. For me, respect goes beyond being polite; it’s about creating an environment where everyone feels understood, and accepted.
A personal experience that highlights this is when I first moved in with my roommates this year. As we are three in the room we realised that creating a set of room rules was a good way for us to respect each other. As all three of us come from different countries, we obviously had different expectations and habits. So, we sat down together and discussed what respect meant to each of us. We agreed on things like keeping our shared spaces tidy, respecting study times, as well as sleep time. The key for us is to communicating openly about any issues. This process not only helped us in creating a better living environment but also made our friendship stronger.
Living in a boarding school, especially with people from different backgrounds and cultures, makes respect even more important. I think that it’s essential to be mindful of each other’s personal space and emotions as well as enjoying the opportunity that we all have of learning about different cultures and religions. To conclude, I think that we should all work together and put effort to create a community where everyone can feels valued and included.
