SHS grads go international

Three years ago graduates of Sisters High School's Class of 2008 set out in a number of different directions. So where are they now? All over the world.

What they've all gained is a stronger idea of who they are and what they were born to do.

Slater Smith's interest in Middle Eastern politics compelled him to spend the past semester in Ifrane, Morocco. A junior at Willamette University and a political science major, Smith said that when his college didn't offer coursework in the United States-Arab conflict, he decided to study abroad, taking classes at Al Akhawayn University.

"I learned a ton," he says.

The classes were challenging and professors top notch, including a former U.S. intelligence officer. He made friendships with other exchange students that he expects will be lasting.

He visited the cities of Marrakesh and Fes hoping to see expressions of Moroccan art and instead found the culture heavily focused on education and economic development.

Smith happened to be in Fes during the Muslim celebration of the Eid al-Adha, and he witnessed the traditional sacrificing of lambs to commemorate Abraham's great act of faith.

The former Americana Project student and performer had the opportunity to play and write music while abroad; he purchased a guitar while on a side trip to Tangier.

And he spent his birthday visiting museums in Madrid, Spain.

But, Smith says, as enriching as the academic and cultural experience was, he especially valued the four months of autonomy which allowed him to take a "deep breath" and reevaluate his life.

He says, "When you're stuck inside your own head with no ties to home you have time to reconceptualize yourself."

He now plans to move to Portland after he graduates in 2012, to pursue a different passion: music. And beyond that, he may join the Peace Corps.

Another takeaway for Smith was social perspective. "I see that every culture has its issues. It helped me to appreciate being home."

Riley Gilmore would agree, based on his time spent in Great Britain last summer with Biola University's Torrey Europe program.

Gilmore's class read the works of poets including Wordsworth and Coleridge ahead of time to prepare for the theme of study for the trip: Romanticism and Nature.

They stayed mostly in the Lake District, soaking up the literary and intellectual traditions borne of the Romantic Era, saw a performance of a Jane Austen play, and made a side trip to Scotland.

In Stratford they watched a performance by the Royal Shakespeare company.

They toured churches and cathedrals and spent time, says Gilmore, "wrestling with the idea of the high (Anglican) church versus the low church in America and making peace with what the church is about."

His conclusion? "It's not in the ceremonies; it's in the heart."

Reflecting on his first experience overseas, the former Mr. SHS said, "It was good to see another culture ... to experience how much bigger the world is."

And like Slater Smith, he says, "I realized that I like my life in America. There are a lot of bad things here, but there are also a lot of good things."

Gilmore expects to graduate next year with a physics major and a math minor. Then he may apply for the Teach For America program, a two-year commitment to teach school in high-need urban areas.

Kanoa James says that living for the past five months in Dunedin, New Zealand, "was by far one of the most influential experiences of my life. I will never forget the times I had there or the people I fell in love with."

Hard work scored James a scholarship from the University of Denver to cover the study abroad program. His "absolutely phenomenal" experience included classes in Maori dance and Maori history and society alongside his general studies in digital media.

And he was so inspired by the beauty of New Zealand that he got involved in photography.

"I grew so much as a person and learned vast amounts about relationships with other people," he says.

James reports that he's on track with his dream to own a design firm and art studio. He's been designing T-shirts since high school.