Round Square

Senior Students Participate in Round Square Global Community Conversation

Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA held their second Global Community Conversation last week on Thursday July 23. The virtual conversation was student-led by the Round Square leaders from BBN, Aanika and Daniel. The discussions are held without input from adults to ensure that students can independently understand each other’s thoughts and experiences on the chosen topic. The theme last week was “Stigmas”. The following SOC students took part in the conversation: William Scott, Joe Clyde, Lucy Chesterman, Millie Duigan, Kate McShane, Theo Ives and Alex Phillips and were chatting to students from South Africa, India and the USA.

Here are some thoughts from the participants:

I found the session today very interesting, I thought the aspect of completely student-directed conversation was a good opportunity for everyone to lead the discussion and open up about their thoughts on the subject. The document given to everyone also helped guide the discussion and keep it on track while still exploring everyone’s opinions. It was also very interesting to hear the different cultural responses to the stigmas discussed, as we spoke to participants from all over India and South Africa which was eye-opening. It was an excellent way to adapt and preserve the Round Square IDEALS and relationships during this pandemic. – Millie Duigan

Today was a great experience. We had people from India and South Africa in our groups today also. – Kate McShane

It was interesting to talk about stigmatised topics using less popular stimulus, as this allowed us to drop our inhibitions and talk openly. – Theo Ives

The topic was very interesting, and the conversations were quite eye-opening to what problems different cultures (specifically Indian) deal with regarding ‘stigmas.’ – William Scott

The conversation was very well organised, had excellent discussion points, and there appeared to be a broad range of countries represented. The breakout rooms worked well. The students stepped up well to get the most out of the time on-line. – Alex Phillips

The call today was very interesting and enjoyable. We interacted with people from India and South Africa. – Lucy Chesterman

Stuart Walls
Round Square Representative