Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/96440
Four years out . . . When asked if she would choose the same college again this time around, recent graduate Alice Baumgartner ���06 never hesitates: ���Absolutely. A million times over. I loved Yale.��� Her feelings were similarly strong and unhesitating when she picked Yale University more than four years ago. Something about her campus visit and interactions with other students just clicked. Alice couldn���t quantify what she was feeling, but she didn���t let that bother her. ���It is easy to discount such reactions, but trust your gut,��� Alice says. ���It���s usually right.��� The similarities between Yale and Latin ��� in particular, small class sizes and dynamic, passionate professors ��� played an important role in helping her decide. Alice wanted to learn from the top minds around, and she got that chance while at school. A history major and member of the Writing Concentration program, Alice found herself in classrooms taught by such noted authors and poets as Anne Fadiman, Louise Gluck and Caryl Phillips. Since graduation, Alice continues to build on her literary interests. A summer internship at the New Yorker found Alice reading the poetry slush pile ��� unsolicited submissions from agentless writers. Here she encountered a number of characters including a man with the pen name ���Speed Limit��� and a woman who mistook herself for a rabbit. She drew on lessons learned in high school to manage her workload. ���Latin taught me attention to detail, which has served me well not only reading the submissions, but in addressing rejection slips, which sometimes go to the wrong poet.��� While at Latin, Alice sampled broadly from the school���s offerings. She ran cross-country and track, edited Latin���s newspaper and championed global social action through her work with LIFE [Latin���s Initiative for Ethics] and later STAND [Students Taking Action Now for Darfur]. Alice founded STAND after hearing Samantha Powers speak during assembly, an experience she still ranks among her most memorable. Each of these passions grew while at college through her work with the Yale Daily News. Now that school is over, Alice wants to take her work further. Most recently, her interest in community brought her to Bolivia, where she worked as a public health coordinator for a free medical clinic. She���s not settled on a career yet but wants to expand her love of writing, editing and social justice. For students starting the college search who may be similarly undecided on their path, Alice advises patience and faith. ���The decisions that seem the hardest are often the easiest to make. Deep down, you know. The best advice is the advice you give yourself.��� n ��� Tiana Pyer-Pereira ���03 ���The decisions that seem the hardest are often the easiest to make. Deep down, you know. The best advice is the advice you give yourself.��� Editor���s Note: At press time it was announced that Alice has been named a 2011 Rhodes Scholar. Read more on our website at www.latinschool.org/news. Latin School of Chicago 35