Terence is rowing solo across the Pacific from California to Hawaii, covering 2,500 miles, all in support of UWC.
Across the world, many of our lives have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Many of us have been required to: stay at home, avoid going to work, and stop seeing friends and family. Many of us have found this extremely challenging. With this experience in mind, imagine what it would be like to spend three months, by yourself, living in conditions like the “inside of a washing machine”, with no in-person interaction, and no distractions, all while undertaking an immensely demanding physical challenge – this is what our alum Terence Steinberg (UWCAD 04-06) has decided to do. You may be asking yourself, why would anyone choose to do that? Terence is rowing solo across the Pacific from California to Hawaii, covering 2,500 miles, all in support of UWC. So, why would anyone choose to do this? For Terence, UWC is the answer.
At UWCAD we are extremely proud of the achievements of so many of our alumni and friends. We are particularly excited to celebrate alumni, such as Terence, who are going above and beyond to give back to the UWC movement. Keep reading to learn how you can be a part of this journey.
Terence studied at UWCAD between 2004-2006 on a full scholarship. Prior to attending UWCAD, Terence had never been overseas, his flight to Italy was his first trip to Europe. Terence found that Duino soon became his home, despite some understandable initial nerves about the academics and missing home. Later in life, Terence found a passion for endurance sport and he is now an avid endurance athlete with over ten years of experience. He’s a two-time Ironman with top-5% finishes, competes in ultramarathons, has solo cycle-toured the UK and Ireland, and has completed a Nordic ski marathon (on borrowed skis and with only 12 training sessions!).
Terence is very vocal about the positive impact his UWC experience had on him: “attending UWC was the most transformative experience of my life”. Given his debt of gratitude to the movement and his passion for paying forward the experience, in 2017 Terence launched the United World Challenge initiative to support the UWC movement. The United World Challenge is about enabling more students to experience the benefits of a UWC education by fundraising for scholarships. It is under this banner that Terence is undertaking this immense rowing challenge. This will be the longest duration endurance event Terence has attempted and only 7 people have ever completed this particular challenge. Terence often says that attending UWC is like rowing in an ocean: it pushes you into a place of deep growth, teaches you to face your fears, and shows you that human differences are smaller than we commonly think. Terence set off in July 2020 and he is currently facing some of his fears, he compares living in his boat to being “inside of a washing machine”, but he is growing and learning as he solves problems and troubleshoots along the way.
Terence is inviting all UWC alumni and friends to join him in his journey. Terence loves connecting with others via podcasts and social media, he is using these platforms to share his journey across the Pacific, you can find out more here: https://unitedworldchallenge.org/. If you would like to contribute to Terence’s incredible fundraising efforts, you can donate here: https://www.uwc-usa.org/united_world_challenge/. (For tax purposes all donations are going through UWC-USA website.) So, now we hope you understand why someone would choose to live inside a washing machine: for Terence, UWC is the answer.
