One of the first topics discussed in our Economics class is the scarcity of resources faced by all nations worldwide. The access to education and information, so widespread in some countries, continues to be a pending subject in many societies of the XXI century. Education represents the expansion and development of the human resources of a country, and that involves both the acquisition of academic knowledge and the acquisition of values.
The opportunity to study in an international school is a privilege in many ways, among which we can include living with people of other nationalities, cultures and religions. As Les Roches students, you are exposed to vast amounts of knowledge as well as values during your time at school. One notable and very important value we instill that is currently in high demand in the world scenario is tolerance.
I am sure that all of you, past and present students, remember your first months at school learning how to interact in a multicultural environment. Coexistence allows not only the knowledge of other positions, beliefs or behaviors but the reasons that cause them. In class we encourage the development of critical thinking as a way of learning; and it is that mindset that characterizes us as tolerant people.
You learn to appreciate that the diversity of opinions and thoughts creates the basis for the intellectual development of nations. Through tolerance we begin to understand that there are other equally valid models of society to our own and that the acceptance of difference, in any arena, helps us to overcome the negative aspects of dogmatism and fundamentalism. Moreover, life experience leaves a deep impression on you that will be transmitted later on to your family and professional environment.
As international hospitality professionals, in many cases you will find yourselves working in countries or environments with different levels of tolerance. But, as students or alumni of Les Roches Marbella, you carry the school’s trademark of tolerance. You are, or will be shortly, professionals who are able to participate in the transmission and application of those values to the societies in which you are integrated.
