Alumni
Renaissance School alumni have a far reach, and can be found all over the world engaged in a wide range of professional, creative, and humanitarian pursuits. With an alumni page on a brand new website, we now have a place to include their news and pictures. Read on.
ALUMNI, WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Drop a line to the Alumni Association at thersaa@gmail.com and let us know what’s afoot — and send along a picture or two if you have a chance.
Doug Hidlay, ‘07, is winding up his college studies in New England. He will graduate from Boston University in May 2010 with a B.S. in Human Physiology and a B.A. in Biology and he plans to enter medical school this fall. When we caught up with him, he was in the midst of deciding between University of Illinois in Chicago and Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. In addition to attending B.U., Doug has been working for the last two years as an EMT and a CPR First Aid instructor. He will spend the summer working locally at Camp Holiday Trails, as he did last year.
Luke Blanchard, ‘04, is completing his B.A. in creative writing and literature at Trinity College. He will graduate this summer and will begin applying to MFA programs in the fall, possibly including a move to the west coast. As Luke put it, “take two years off before college, and you end up an old man by the time you graduate!” At Renaissance we’re not sure that hiking across the country with classmate, Ezra Stewart-Silver, constitutes as taking time “off”…perhaps Luke will regale us with some stories during his next update!
Ezra Stewart-Silver, ‘04, graduated from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA, last year and he has been teaching English in Thailand for the past year. We hope to catch up with him soon so we can hear more about his Thailand adventures.
Kevin Culbertson, ‘08, is a sophomore at the University of Virginia with a soon-to-be-declared major in Foreign Affairs and History (thank you, Mr. Tanner!). Kevin thoroughly enjoyed his winter break adventure working at a park in Puerto Rico helping to clear rainforest trails.
Emily Behler Bidgood, ‘03, earned her Bachelor’s in Biology and is studying for her Master’s in Environment and Public Policy in Ecology at the University of North Carolina. The Renaissance community welcomed Emily to 2009 graduation ceremonies as one of our speakers, and her words inspired students, faculty, and parents alike. Here is an excerpt from her speech:
I wanted to address my remarks to you on this word “change”. Change has been the motto of the past year of our life in America…
We must play an even larger role in the future, in the changes yet to come. I say as a voice from my generation, that I am not content with the world I have inherited. How can we best be part of the change, in making this world more equitable, more just, more healthy, for all living things? This is a question I continue to grapple with. Graduating from high school, I thought that as a biologist, my research could help the environment…but science is a frustrating art, too often isolated and insular. So I then became convinced for a time in college that it was the business world, through buying power and changing consumer habits, that was the main leverage point. But business does not exist in a vacuum; it is policy and laws that shape our systems. If you want to see transformed energy, transportation, health, agricultural and food systems, you must change laws. I am now a scientist wading through the world of policy, learning how to be an active citizen and advocate…
I implore you, please, be active citizens, engaged with your local, state, and national leaders — even become a leader yourself…
Change, work towards a more equitable and just society, happens first here, in our interactions with others in our community. No matter what your age, day job, night job, or major is, if you want to be really edgy, revolutionary, radical, unconventional — if you want to change the world, then act as part of a community, putting others’ needs above your own.
