Sydney Wilkins has been exploring the Central Oregon outdoors since moving here with her family when she was 8 years old. As a kid, Wilkins attended Black Butte School in Camp Sherman before transferring to Sisters School District in middle school. Through her schooling experience and on adventures with her family, Wilkins found her passion for being in the outdoors.

“I am that walking Central Oregon stereotype, honestly,” she said. “I love the outdoors, and my parents really wanted us to have engagement in the outdoors growing up.”

Her love for the outdoors has translated into a passion for activism and human rights. Wilkins is an outspoken activist for environmental and climate change action, as well as speaking up against social injustice in her schools.

While not technically graduating from Sisters High School, Wilkins is continuing her general education far away from her hometown of Sisters. Wilkins is entering her second year at United World College’s campus in Wales to receive her International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. It is taking two more years internationally to finish what in the United States we would call high school, but in Europe this would be “college” before attending “university.”

“I heard about the UWC from a family friend, and I knew I wanted to explore the idea of doing something like this,” Wilkins said. “It’s been really eye-opening to become friends with people from all over the world and backgrounds.”

According to Wilkins: “United World College is a global mission for international, intentionally diverse (in all ways) schooling, founded by Kurt Hahn in 1962.

There are now a total of 18 campuses around the globe containing students from over 155 countries.

Around 5 percent of the students come from refugee or war-displaced backgrounds.

This summer we’ve just raised money for two full scholarships for Afghani students to attend AC (shorthand for Atlantic College).

The mission statement of the program is to ‘make education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future,’ which is visible in the many student councils and organizations active within the community.”

Wilkins applied to different campuses including Norway, Italy, and Wales, and got accepted into Wales as her first choice.

“I’ve always had the dream of going into the broader world after growing up in a small community, and I want to just see everything,” she said.

Students take the same six courses for two years in an intensive program. Wilkins is taking courses such as humanities, English, visual arts, and math, all at a high level with no specific major; she just receives her IB diploma at the end of the program.

“After UWC I want to attend a four-year university, potentially in New Zealand, and pursue wilderness documentary filmmaking,” said Wilkins.

Wilkins’ connection with the outdoors and storytelling clicked for her in high school in Sisters — and also during her time at UWC.

“It is now the goal and dream to connect those two things and tell the stories of the wilderness and outdoors beyond my own backyard,” she said.

Wilkins has used her passion for activism and the outdoors to participate and start several programs at UWC in Wales, outside of the academics. She is engaged in the student council, cinema club, debate team, “UWC Values” team, and she helped develop a gym class to promote healthy gym mindsets and confident, safe exercise amongst her peers for the next year she is there.

Wilkins also leads the Kurt Hahn Core, an outdoor experiential group. Wilkins leads her peers on backpacking trips, hikes, and other outdoor activities available to them in Wales to create a sense of community and connection with the outdoors.

“For many of my friends and some of the kids there, it is their first time truly experiencing the outdoors. I was lucky to grow up in it and I want to bring that to them now through this group,” she said.

Kurt Hahn is the founder of UWC and Outward Bound programs and came up with something that Wilkins is trying to teach — and avoid — in the “6 Declines of Modern Youth,” which are defined as:

1. The decline of fitness due to modern methods of locomotion.

2. The decline of initiative and enterprise due to the widespread disease of “spectatoritis.”

3. The decline of memory and imagination due to the confused restlessness of modern life.

4. The decline of skill and care due to the weakened tradition of craftsmanship.

5. The decline of self-discipline due to the ever-present availability of stimulants and tranquilizers.

…and worst of all,

6. The decline of compassion due to the unseemly haste with which modern life is conducted.

“I really strive to create a place where activity and compassion and team building is at the core and bring that connection with the outdoors that I had in Sisters, international,” said Wilkins.

Wilkins’ experience growing up in Sisters and going through the middle school outdoor program ECOs really helped shape her passion and love for the outdoors, and she is now bringing that to Wales. Wilkins’ connection with her fellow students is one that she is eternally grateful for.

“It’s truly been a life-changing experience, and studying in a castle has nothing on the people and friends I’ve made there,” she said.

Wilkins has visited her roommates and friends in Paris and Morocco.

“We call UWC the couch you can crash on anywhere in the world just because we all come from around the world,” she said.

Wilkins is currently on a break at home in Sisters until the end of August, when she will return to Wales to begin her second and final year at UWC.

“It’s nice to be home for a bit and around friends and family and get to explore what’s in my backyard again,” she said.