The Round Square International Conference is an annual global event where Round Square member schools come together to network and discuss contemporary cultural topics. For the first time since the pandemic, the RSIC could take place and was held at Oxford University in the UK on the 19th of September. The seven student delegates who represented Stanford were Layla De Bruyn, Langa Sithole, David Mulder, Anointed Tshivhengwa, Lana Otto, Lungile Sithole-Wiltshire and Laura-Anne Muller; accompanied by Ms Izet Bredenhann and Mr Jack Moshia.
The nine of us set off on an adventure of a lifetime on the morning of the 18th September with much excitement! As soon as we got through passport control, we could relax and officially get excited. We settled into our seats and started the 33-hour journey to Balliol College. We arrived at Oxford and met with delegates from over 150 global member schools for a jam-packed 5 days of events. The previous RSIC that was held in the UK was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 2012. The conference started with a bang as the Chair of Round Square opened by introducing all the attending schools. This exciting event was followed by several others including cultural events, ceilidh dancing, an Alice in Wonderland-themed adventure race through the city of Oxford, special guest speakers, talks from Alumni, interesting Baraza discussions, a theatre show, bus tours of Oxford, trinket shopping and of course, the inevitable hunt for Mr Moshia’s Nando’s.
After saying goodbye to our new lifelong friends from all over the globe, we headed north to Scotland for our post-conference tour. There, we met our tour guide in a kilt, who took us on a Harry Potter walk through Edinburgh. The post-conference was a cultural experience of a lifetime with visits to Sterling Castle, Inverness, a boat ride to see if we could spot Nessy (the imaginary Lochness Monster), a beautiful road trip through the Highlands to end our trip in the city of Glasgow. It was a privilege to be able to represent our school in this way and we are looking forward to doing so again in 2023 at Brookhouse in Kenya.
