Vanina Morrison

I grew up Kingston, Jamaica. I was born and raised there until I was 16 years old by a Jamaican father and a Bulgarian mother, in a multilingual and multicultural home. When I was 16, I was chosen by the Jamaican National Committee to attend United World College in Montezuma, New Mexico. It was difficult to leave home, but knowing the experience that my older brother had when he attended UWC Atlantic College in Wales, I decided to take the chance. UWC sparked my interest in international relations and global issues such as climate change and peacekeeping. This led to me choosing my current major of International Relations at Brown University. Living at UWC with the world at my fingertips, allowed me to engage with and learn from many different people. It also reflected my desire to learn more about my country and my individual place in an ever-changing global society. I was especially challenged to engage when I returned home and saw my home, which I had seen the same way my whole life, through a lens that forced me to change my outlook on the world. I would no longer accept everything for the way it is presented to me, but challenge everything that I encounter.