Interview with Xochilt Exué Hernández Leiva (Pearson College UWC, 2004-2006)

Having been selected by her national committee in Nicaragua to study at UWC, Xochilt Exué Hernández Leiva (Pearson College UWC, 2004-2006) has long been fascinated by UWC’s power to connect people through a common purpose. Building on her experience as a peace educator and youth advocate, Xochilt now works as Co-CEO of Peace First, an organisation supporting young people around the world to lead social change in their communities. 

Tell us about your journey to UWC

I always had this interest in social change and I had been exposed at a young age to the realities of conflict, growing up in Nicaragua which was still reeling from the after-effects of a civil war. I wanted to understand what drove people to conflict and I wanted to learn more about how diversity and conflict intertwine. With my dual heritage, my father is Colombian and my mother Nicaraguan, I had some sense of cultural diversity, but I was hungry to learn more. The selection process alone taught me so much. It was the first time I’d been exposed to so many different people from all over Nicaragua. I was honoured to receive one of the two scholarship places, but I also realised there were so many other talented people that deserved the same chance. This is why I later came back to join the UWC Nicaragua National Committee (NC). So really the ‘spice’ for me is not so much about how I came to UWC, but more about how I stayed. And this is what I find so fascinating. There’s incredible diversity within UWC, so inevitably we all have very different connection points, but it’s the way UWCers stay connected, and the momentum this brings in driving the UWC mission forward.