Our Alums
I’m just back from a trip to San Francisco visiting BUA alums with Mr. Stone. Over two days, we caught up with several dozen BUA graduates ranging from the class of 1997 to 2018. The trip confirmed a few things for me, aside from the fact that I am perhaps getting too old to function well after a red-eye flight. One is that our alums are doing remarkable and purposeful things with their careers, with a focus on technology given the location: launching a medical-technology company as part of the current Y Combinator startup accelerator cohort; pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence in education; investing in next-generation cancer therapeutics; developing LiDAR systems for use in self-driving cars. They spoke not just of their passion, but also of the ways in which their work will impact society for the better. It gave me a lot of hope for the future.
Another is that many of them credit their time at BUA for their success. I heard about the independence and project-management skills they picked up as part of the senior thesis – especially in finding an advisor or lab, switching gears when they hit a bump, and carrying through on a long-term project. I heard about the confidence and entrepreneurial spirit they built when starting a new club in high school with the support and guidance of their teachers. I heard about how BUA’s strong humanities program – with its emphasis on close reading, analytical thinking, clear writing, and deep engagement around the table – has been a major differentiating factor and reason for their quick rise in STEM fields, where those skills are not as common.
Finally, over and over again alums expressed their desire to pay it forward. They want to be helpful to this next generation of BUA students. So many already help as alumni interviewers, volunteers on the Alumni Council, class representatives, coaches and club mentors, career and college panelists, all-school meeting speakers, and so on. There is a real desire to do even more. In the coming months and years, we are exploring ways to connect BUA graduates – as well as current and past parents – to today’s BUA students for a range of things: informational interviews about career paths, shadow days at work, and more. I imagine that some of those preliminary connections will turn into longer-term mentoring relationships. It is exciting to think about how leveraging our alums’ remarkable energy, generosity, and experience can inspire and accelerate our students’ journeys.