Moments of: The Blog
The View From Here: SA on the Road!
My life flashed in front of my eyes. At least the last 20 years. And it was good. So good.
Thirty-five SA alumni joined me, Kim Eber, Lily Thompson, and Megan Malone in Greenwich Village last night for our very first official, Sonoma Academy east coast gathering.
It was kind of like fireworks kept going off. As they entered the room, singly, or in small groups, each was this amazing little pop of excitement. Making a connection between the young student I had in my mind’s eye with the poised young adult who walked into the room was a colorful explosion. And then, as the alumni walked in and saw who else was there, more explosions of excitement to see and connect with each other. The sky kept filling up with more colors, more electricity, more color, more magic. Some of them have been in touch all along, some of them were unaware that there were so many Sonoma Academy kids now living and working in New York. The energy all evening was fun and electric, inspiring, and engaging, as they shared their journeys up to this point, talked about their college experiences and careers, and generally just basked in each other’s presence.
Over and over, we heard how they stay in touch, in different ways. One group connects through Google Hangout. Two young women from graduating classes six years apart (Samantha Woo ‘18 and Rose Martin ‘12) told us how they had met serendipitously in a swing dancing class when Sam told Rose that she looked remarkably like her good friend from high school… Grace Martin,‘15! Two other members of the Class of 2015 (Zoe Risher and Noah Baughman) were making plans to go to the gym today and we learned that a few of them were still together with their SA sweethearts!
Late last night over a burger, and sitting in a cafe this morning over coffee, we are still waxing on about the magical evening and how much fun we had. Guess what? The proof is in the pudding and SA alumni are everything we would hope for; we would be happy to meet them out in the world and especially happy to hire them! To a person, they were delightful, unpretentious, warm, curious, connecting, kind, interesting, intelligent, accomplished, motivated, self-aware, and open. We want to stay connected with them forever; we want to do this again. And we will.
To that end, we talked to them about their ideas for how to keep and build that connection and are building out exciting plans for how to stay engaged in a meaningful way with our NYC alums and Sonoma Academy alumni across the country and the world.
Sonoma Academy Is...
...the only private, independent, college preparatory high school in Sonoma County. On our beautiful campus nestled at the base of Taylor Mountain in Southeastern Santa Rosa, our students are able to explore their interests and passions in a rigorous and inspiring environment that develops a lifelong love of learning and prepares them for college and beyond.
Sonoma Academy admits students of any race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability, to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and tuition assistance programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
