Latin School of Chicago

Chris Holinger '96 T hink of Chris Holinger as the boomerang Latin alum: He left Chicago – and Latin – after his freshman year to attend boarding school on the East Coast. After attending Latin for 11 years, Holinger said, he felt it was time to "broaden my horizons." Twenty years later, Holinger is back in Chicago and more connected to Latin than ever, as evidenced by his recent participation in the school's "Once a Roman, Always a Roman" campaign. Last May, Holinger, who is also a member of the Alumni Board, spoke at a special Once a Roman, Always a Roman breakfast reception for middle school students who would be leaving to attend other schools. The message he and others at the event shared with the departing students was that they would always be able to come back and find a home at Latin. "There's no question that my connection to Latin has grown over time," he said. "I attribute that partly to the people at the school who have gone out of their way to keep me connected." Holinger's friends – many of them lifelong – are the foundation of his powerful bond to Latin. "I feel fortunate to be able to count the people I went to kindergarten with as some of my best friends," he said. Today he still plays in the Turkey Bowl, a Thanksgiving football game in Lincoln Park with the same people he lined up alongside in second grade as they waited to leave their classroom for lunch. Memories from those early years of school have stuck with him throughout his life and have had a profound effect. "During such an impressionable time, kindergarten through freshman year of high school, the impact of your friends, teachers, experiences and circumstances is immeasurable." His teachers in particular have had a significant impact on his life and learning. "Each brought something amazing to the classroom every day." Chris Holinger '96 Many of Holinger's Latin-related reminiscences are less than lofty – he remembers "sitting out on the steps of the lower school and trading baseball cards with my boys, playing football at recess, going to dances" – but they are powerful nonetheless. They conspire, after all, to form a chapter in his life that changed him forever. "I would not be the person I am today," he said, "without the support I received from my teachers, the friendships that I forged, the classes I took and the experiences I was lucky enough to have while at Latin." l "I feel fortunate to be able to count the people I went to kindergarten with as some of my best friends." Latin School of Chicago 37

• Cover