Creating a Culture of High Performance
20 November 2025
By Benjamin Hill, UWCSEA School Counsellor and UWCSEA Communications Team
On Wednesday, 19 November, parents, students, and staff gathered at Dover Campus for a candid conversation about a topic that is becoming increasingly urgent in schools around the world.
Can young people pursue true excellence without sacrificing their wellbeing?
Hosted by our School Counsellor Ben Hill, the event brought together a world-class panel with deep lived experience of high performance:
Together, they examined the tension faced by many students today – the drive to excel and push boundaries, alongside the rising importance of holistic wellbeing.
Ben shared that the motivation behind the event was to create space for a conversation schools often shy away from.
I wanted us to move beyond platitudes about ‘balance’ and really look at what excellence costs and requires. Parents told me afterwards that this resonated deeply. People are hungry for honest conversations about the tension between pushing for achievement and protecting wellbeing.
The evening’s discussion challenged the assumption that young people must choose between ambition and wellness. Instead of pitching the two as opposites, speakers urged the audience to think differently about what wellbeing truly means.
A Redefinition of Wellbeing
One of the strongest themes to emerge was that the traditional understanding of wellbeing – comfort, balance, protection from intensity does not align with what real high performance demands.
Ben challenged the audience to rethink the term altogether.
Real wellbeing is the courage to face truth, the self-knowledge to understand your own motivations, and the integration to embrace all parts of yourself – including your ambition and competitive fire. That kind of wellbeing doesn’t just coexist with excellence; it is the foundation for sustainable excellence.
In a memorable moment, the panel discussed the “winner within” – the internal drive to compete and excel that young people can sometimes feel pressured to minimise. One panellist spoke powerfully about the need to help young people integrate this fire rather than hide it. The reaction in the room was palpable.
Parents recognised that ambition itself is not the problem. Suppressing it often is.
What Young People Need from Us
A recurring thread across all perspectives – from elite sport to psychology was the importance of self-knowledge.
You can’t perform well long-term if you’re running from yourself,” said Ben. “Young people need permission to be complex – to be ambitious and vulnerable, competitive and compassionate, driven and human.
Too often, students feel they must choose between binaries:
- Be excellent, but not too intense
- Be confident, but not arrogant
- Be kind, but not weak
The panel challenged this logic, arguing instead that young people must learn to integrate the parts of themselves they have been taught to silence, including competitiveness and the desire to win.
This message was especially meaningful for one of our student panellists, who shared how powerful it was simply to be included in this dialogue. Shreya, Grade 12 Student, UWCSEA Dover, reflected that conversations like this are vital for students navigating both high standards and high expectations:
As a student, getting to be a part of these discussions was a unique experience, one that literally extended our age group into a conversation that usually happens between adults. While I was initially quite nervous, especially seated next to speakers with such accomplished careers, I felt genuinely supported throughout. The other speakers, parents, and teachers helped create a safe space to be vulnerable and share experiences honestly – something we discussed the importance of during the panel and something special to foster further as a collective.
What stuck with me was the discussion around what is considered a healthy approach to achieving our goals, especially as part of a very ambitious cohort of students at our school. I think these kinds of talks are exactly what can help us support all of our UWCSEA community members to go the distance in any field, while keeping our wellbeing, intentions, and balance in mind.
Her words reinforced a key takeaway of the evening:
When young people are given space to speak honestly, supported by adults willing to listen without judgment, both performance and wellbeing are strengthened.
Reflecting the UWCSEA Approach
At UWCSEA, we speak often about supporting the development of the whole person. This event helped give greater clarity to what that looks like in practice.
Holistic development is not about putting academics, wellbeing and personal growth in separate boxes. It’s about helping young people integrate their ambition with their humanity, their competitive fire with their compassion, and their drive for excellence with their need for authenticity.
The event marks the start of a longer journey
The Counselling and Wellness Team is already planning future opportunities for deeper dialogue:
- Panel discussions on evolving themes
- Smaller fireside conversations
- Regular workshops and parent groups, including Tuning into Kids/Teens and Fatherhood sessions
How to Get Involved
Families who wish to engage more closely with these conversations can:
- Attend upcoming panel discussions and community talks
- Join smaller discussion groups facilitated by the Counselling & Wellness Team
- Participate in regular workshops for parents and caregivers
Announcements for upcoming events will be shared through school communications.
This was the beginning, not the end. What matters now is maintaining the honesty and depth we achieved – not falling back into comfortable platitudes.
– Ben Hill, UWCSEA School Counsellor
A Community Ready for Open Dialogue
The discussion reminded us that excellence and wellbeing don’t have to sit at opposite ends of a spectrum. When young people feel supported, challenged in healthy ways, and genuinely understood, they’re able to thrive, to strive, and to grow into themselves with confidence.
This is the work we try to hold onto at UWCSEA. Not a perfect balance, but a partnership: families, teachers, and counsellors working together to help students push themselves in healthy ways while still feeling grounded and supported. When we do that well, young people discover that striving and wellbeing can sit side by side – not because the path is easy, but because they’re not walking it alone.
We don’t need to choose between being excellent and being well. We need both, and they work together when approached with honesty, courage and self-knowledge.