Miguel Ángel Silva is passionate about the piano. But also about physics, music, nature, and discovering different cultures. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a great researcher and helping humanity in any way possible. He wanted to be a paleontologist and discover species from the past, and later he wanted to become a doctor. However, for the past four years, his focus has been on science and physics, dreaming of helping to understand how nature on this planet works.  

In his final year of high school at the Institución Educativa Lucrecio Jaramillo in Medellín, he learned about United World Colleges through a friend. He fell in love with the movement and decided to apply.  

Miguel defines United World Colleges (UWC) as “a global movement that makes education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future, inspiring young people to put their talent and energy at the service of social change.”  

UWC is a non-profit organization that helps improve educational opportunities for young people in Colombia by awarding scholarships and placements in international schools within the movement, independent of the Association, as well as through activities that promote and facilitate access for these young people to quality education. 

Getting in is not easy. It requires effort, dedication, and a strong desire to change the world. The selection process includes writing essays, collecting grades, recommendation letters, application forms, interviews, and an analysis of the feasibility of a project that applicants must present beforehand. At the end of this stage, he attended the UWC camp in Bogotá, where he gained a deeper understanding of the experience and the evaluation methods. The final step was a psychological assessment that closed the application process. Miguel Ángel passed all the filters, and United World Colleges reached out to Fraternidad Medellín to support his studies.  

Currently, Miguel is in his final year of the International Baccalaureate in the Republic of Armenia (Asia). He describes this experience not only as a great opportunity to acquire knowledge, but also as the best chance to meet people, cultures, ways of acting, and ways of thinking in a space where respect and intercultural understanding are at the center of human connections.  

At Fraternidad Medellín, we celebrate the perseverance of Miguel Ángel and the five other scholarship recipients who have gone through UWC. Every small action they have taken toward their growth, every night of study, and every effort—along with those of their families—has brought them to where they are today. They are global citizens who carry forward the power of Fraternidad.