My name is Mackinley Mallard and I’m from Alberta, Canada. I had the wonderful opportunity to study at the UWC Mostar campus, an open campus in Bosnia and Herzegovina full of amazing people I now call family. Mostar’s campus is like any other, at least for me, because of the beautiful city that you get to experience while studying. Between all the cafes, the music school and events, the river running through its centre, and hiking/climbing trips that help you learn the heart of Mostar and Herzegovina, it challenged me to see what I really wanted to do and be after my two years were done.
I came to a conclusion throughout my stay at UWC that even though I have big aspirations of helping the world in positive ways, my way of impacting the world was never the same as the person sitting next to me. The times I felt most like myself were when I spent time out in the middle of nowhere with a handful people I cherished, exploring and getting to know the land. This was always the same for me back in the Rockies I grew up in but I never had the opportunity to take a leadership role within it the way UWC Mostar gave me. Through my extracurriculars, I found a passion for outdoor leadership and wanted to continue that further.
Mostar Rock School ended up influencing my further education options as well because of the insight it gave me to the musical industry and community. I had the opportunity to have lessons with them for both guitar and vocals. I had an amazing band and because of them, I knew I wanted to find a place that had the same energy and pursuit of music as them.
All that is to say, when I found out about Lewis and Clark, it seemed like the perfect environment to explore all the different aspects of myself further; including the outdoors and the arts. My career aspirations are quite loose at the moment but the goal would be environmental and wildlife conservation of some sort. I’m planning on studying biology and environmental science in hopes that I can learn more about the world I’m passionate about while also diving head first into Portland’s art scene, somewhere I think I will find a lot of solace in.
All around, UWC taught me to love the small moments like hours sitting for coffee, talking to new people. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to join me!