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Welcome to the Juneedition of Alumni News! Scroll below to check out our latest stories!
James Harayda‘16: Sailing to new horizons
We go around the world in 80 days with James as he represents Gentoo Sailing Team this November in the prestigious Vendée Globe race while raising funds for the UWC Endowment Fund. James attributes much of his love for sailing to his time spent at UWCSEA.
Ahana Banerjee ‘17: Top 25 under 30 in the UK’s The Sunday Times
The list highlights the achievements of 25 under 30s in the UK and Ireland across fields from entrepreneurship to sports, politics, and the arts.
Congratulations to the founder and CEO of Clear, Ahana for being on The Sunday Times' inaugural Young Power List for 2024!
Wyclife Omondi ‘13: BuuPass expands to Nigeria and South Africa
Congratulations to Wyclife, co-founder of transport mobility platform, BuuPass for acquiring QuickBus and increasing their footprint in 16 African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and more!
The expansion is set to add over 5,000 new routes to BuuPass’s platform, significantly enriching the network and service offerings for African consumers. The company plans to enter Tanzania next, with a wider goal of entering eight new markets by 2025.
Atiksh Gupta ‘23: National Service honours
A huge salute to Atiksh for receiving the ‘Sword-Of-Honour’ for the Engineering vocation and the award for the Best Knowledge in Engineering at the commissioning ceremony of his cohort at the ‘Officers Cadet School’ (OCS). These awards are a testament to his hard work, dedication, and exceptional capabilities.
Atiksh’s success in being one of the top 9 out of a cohort of over 500 officers at the OCS is a remarkable achievement! What an honour to see our alumni excelling and making significant contributions during their time in the National Service.
Tejaswini Apte-Rahm ‘91: Latest book picks up awards
If you’re a fan of historical fiction, be sure to check out Tejaswini’s latest novel, The Secret of More, which recently won the Tata Literature Live! Award for Fiction Book of the Year 2023, in Mumbai.
It also won a Book-To-Box-Office Award at the NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) Film Bazaar in Goa as one of six books best suited for a screen adaptation. In addition, it was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature, the Atta-Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Award and the Tagore Literary Prize in 2023.
The novel is a rags-to-riches story set in colonial Bombay, against the backdrop of the booming cotton textile industry and the newly emerging silent film industry.
Havishyan Thakral ‘16: Driven by UWCSEA values
We caught up with Havi when he dropped by Dover Campus earlier in the year and learned more about the work he does in promoting an inclusive work environment for persons with disabilities through his social enterprise and being part of a social impact firm that works on accelerating India’s movement towards becoming a developed nation.
Fill us in on the social enterprise you founded in Indonesia.
Enklude Global is driven by the vision to promote sustainable workforce inclusion for persons with disabilities. Recognised as an Enabler member of the ILO Indonesia Business and Disability Network, we collaborated with International Foundations and Associations to provide on-the-job training opportunities for persons with disabilities in the Hospitality industry. We built a talent pool of over 500 candidates, comprising members of Special Olympics Indonesia and the Indonesian Paralympics team, and provided training opportunities to 50+ candidates, all of whom secured permanent jobs.
I’m very much inspired by my father who successfully created an inclusive workforce, where 10% comprised of persons with disabilities, at the international hotel chain he worked at. I hope to spread the same awareness around the ease of creating an inclusive environment for underprivileged sections of society to obtain equal access to the workplace.
You’re now part of a social impact consulting firm in India.
I’m part of Sattva – an organisation that believes in ending poverty in our lifetime. While it is an ambitious goal, the organisation works with corporates, non-profits, foundations, the government and other entities to deliver social impact initiative programmes in India and abroad.
Do you think your time at UWCSEA has impacted your life and your choices in life.
Absolutely! The UWCSEA experience stands out in the way it balances academic rigour with its inherent focus on service, sport, skill development and other aspects. For me, the network that UWC has with Global Concerns is invaluable, for it aids us in becoming more aware about the global issues, and enables us to support causes and think in a solution-oriented manner.
I’ll never forget Rockshow 2015, where I performed as part of the 8-piece band, The Alley Cats. We performed Superstitious by Stevie Wonder, and I can never forget the adrenaline, the energy of the crowd, and the electrifying atmosphere that was created that day. Performing live in front of a large crowd pushed me out of my comfort zone, but the feeling it left me with was just incredible.
Kate Lewis’ Geography classes are another memory I reflect very fondly on, as she brought the subject to life with her enthusiasm while conveying its fundamental importance in different aspects of life. This class also played a key role in my decision to pursue an undergraduate degree in Geography.
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