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Seven students and two faculty members traveled to Dubai this month to represent Hotchkiss at the Round Square International Conference. They collaborated with students from around the world on the Round Square IDEALS of international understanding, democracy, environmental stewardship, adventure, leadership, and service.
Hotchkiss is a member of Round Square, which is an international community of more than 280 schools in 50 countries.
Read the delegation's reflections below.
Kelsie Fralick '11, instructor in Latin
One thing we were struck by with our first few hours in Dubai was the friendliness and hospitality from everyone we encountered: the customs agents, the bus drivers, the mall food court workers, everyone was so helpful and kind. We also noticed how intentional everything is. From the furniture choices in a mall food court to the fresh fruit left in our hotel rooms when we checked in, the Emirates have really taken great care in how they have created their 54-year-old country (some perspective as we just celebrated 50 years of girls being allowed to attend Hotchkiss).
Sofia Clark '27
We noticed a huge trend of unprecedented feats in the city, represented by buildings such as the Burj Khalifa, the tallest in the world, and the Dubai Mall, the biggest mall in the world. (For comparison, Danbury Mall is 113,900 square meters large while the Dubai Mall is 1,124,000 square meters!) These shattered records displayed a trait of Dubai: how it can break out of traditional or conventional molds and bring innovation to every aspect of daily life.
Justin Kearse '27 created the above video of the delegation's first two days in Dubai.
Justin Kearse '27
Our tour guide, Jose, was inviting and knowledgeable about the history and culture of Abu Dhabi and the entire UAE. We visited one of largest Mosques in the world, the royal palace in the UAE, and the Louvre of Abu Dhabi! We also ate a ton of delicious food, and for lunch we stopped at a food court and ate a lot of good Arabic food.
The biggest highlight of my day today and the entire trip was learning about the finances in the UAE. AED has a ratio to USD of $1 to AED 0.27, which means that whenever I see a price I divide it by four to get a rough estimate of what I’d be paying. In Abu Dhabi the average citizen receives many benefits. For example, after your first child you get about $600 or AED 2,400 a month.
Without a doubt this has been my favorite day as of yet. Learning about Abu Dhabi and experiencing the young city firsthand was the most fun I’ve had in our journey so far.
Shaan Patel '27
Our first adventure in the dunes was camel riding. Riding the camels felt straight out of a movie. We got up close with a peregrine falcon, which is the fastest animal on the planet. We were able to hold the falcon on our arm and even have it walk on our head. Then came my highlight of the day: sand dune riding. Imagine surfing or snowboarding but on the waves of sand. Just getting to the dunes was an adventure in itself as our driver took us up and down the dunes like we were in a roller coaster. Once we arrived at the top of the dunes, we took some photos and started shredding. The first few runs included a lot of wipeouts but soon enough we were ripping the dunes like pros.
After our fun morning, we headed back to the hotel to rest before the desert dinner at night, the official start of the Round Square conference. We decided to cool off in the pool at our hotel which turned out to be the perfect place to meet other Round Square kids before the conference started. We met a lot of fun groups from New York, Australia, Canada, China, and more.
Finally, it was time for the dinner. All of the students and teachers were grouped in buses and taken to the sand dunes. A huge venue was set up in the dunes with dinner, tables, and a stage. The food was amazing with options selected from a variety of different cultures. Personally, I really enjoyed the samosas that were traditional to Dubai. After eating, everyone crowded around the stage to watch a fire show. The show was definitely my favorite part of the dinner.
Caleigh Lane '27
We headed to one of the host schools (Indian High School) for the official opening ceremony. At the ceremony, we watched traditional dances, some singing, drum playing, and even a robot show, all performed by students at the host school.
We also heard from a keynote speaker who described Dubai as a city built in the middle of the desert that stands strong since it was not built from pride and had a strong leader that took initiative by taking on challenges that neighboring countries didn’t think were possible (such as building the Burj Khalifa). Additionally, he discussed that its success comes from the fact that it embodies aspects of the past, present, and future—all of which are essential to a strong society.
After lunch, we broke into smaller pre-assigned groups called barazzas and played ice-breaker games while also engaging in discussion about the keynote speaker. I was able to make friends with people from all around the world including Australia, South Africa, the UK, Denmark, Bermuda, India, and many other places. It has been really cool exchanging school pins with them and learning about everyone’s unique cultures and school experiences.
Ryan Lee '28
Today was Environmentalism Day at Round Square. We started the day off with a morning bus ride to the Millennium School. We were greeted with a speaker who talked about climate change and introduced us to Climate Fresk, the activity we would be doing that morning. Climate Fresk was a card game where we explored the cause and effects of climate change. After this workshop, we discussed with our groups how the game made us feel about climate change and made a pledge on what we could do to help prevent it.
After lunch, we headed to Adventura Park where we had a wide variety of sustainability activities. We made natural pesticide by crushing soaked Neem leaf in water and straining out the liquid. We then planted Gaff trees and extracted seeds, as well as making artwork with sand and glue. After a short break, we headed to the other side of the park, where we did a scavenger hunt on the native plants to cap off our time at Aventura.
After dinner came one of the highlights of the day: the cultural evening. Delegates from around the world displayed their culture in a rich collage of performances. Some of our favorites were the many cultural dances performed that night. The energy was high, and we had a great time gaining exposure to new, unique cultures.
Wally Rollins '28
Today was Adventure Day in the conference. We started the programming with a keynote speaker who talked about the importance of spiritual sustenance and mindfulness in a leader. We then separated into our small groups and reflected on the ways we can use mindfulness to enhance our leadership skills.
We ate a quick lunch at the high school before heading over to the Wadi Shees Park, a national park in Sharjah, one of the seven Emirates. There were three hikes available for us to go on. The first was a path up a mountain to the top of a dam, where the delegates were taught about the workings and importance of the water management system. The second hike was between two mountains. The last hike was through a local village, where we saw their water collection and distribution system. Each group completed a scavenger hunt along the way.
We assembled in a park for dinner, where the groups also made art out of things found during their hikes. We enjoyed conversation with the other delegates. It was an amazing opportunity to make even more friends within our delegation before we headed back to the hotel for the night.
Margaret Marcum '28
Service Day was full of service and fun. We started off with a trip to a Sikh temple. We later practiced the value of selfless service by sorting through food donations.
We headed over to one of the host schools to learn first-hand about how people with disabilities go through life. There were many workshops that mimicked the difficulties of everyday life that people with disabilities face—navigating with a wheelchair, walking with a blindfold, and attempting to have a conversation with impaired hearing. I really enjoyed these workshops as they gave me a perspective of the world that I had not previously understood.
After the workshops we attended a souk made up of items donated by the delegates. All of the proceeds to the auction went to a local orphanage. The souk was very successful as many of us purchased gifts for back home and got matching henna.
The night ended with a surprising twist: the host school requested us to perform the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance on stage for everyone. We brought up everyone else who knew the dance and performed for the crowd.
