Zander Billings Class of 1997

Alexander ("Zander") Billings enrolled at Hilltop as part of its inaugural middle school class in 1994. Returning to Brattleboro in late summer after having spent the last several years living and attending school in Zambia, Zander, his mom, Allyn, and dad, Jim, signed on to a program that was still very much a work-in-progress, from the curriculum to the basic need to acquire furniture and materials. But enough was in place for Zander to remember that it felt like the right choice for them. The concept of yearly Odysseys, the potential for hands-on learning, and even being located right on Main Street in downtown Brattleboro sounded like a good fit for all, however pioneering it may be.

 As part of Hilltop's only three year middle school class (grades 6-8) Zander remembers being but one of an extremely vocal, strong willed, and talented group of peers, many of whom would become friends for life. He is impressed but not necessarily surprised at the creative and meaningful paths his classmates have embarked upon. He sees his fellow Hilltop grads' travels, studies, work, and service in Patagonia, Mongolia, Russia, the United Kingdom, China, South Africa, Switzerland, and more as them simply taking full advantage of a world that he believes, even in this day and age, is much more accessible than ever for young adults who are curious about what is out there and what the world beyond Vermont has to offer.

And he should know. While Zander calls Brattleboro home, since he was a young boy he has traveled extensively and lived all over the world, from Papua New Guinea to Zambia, from Egypt to Lebanon. And now he is on to his next adventure beginning this January as a graduate student at The Monterey Institute for International Studies in Monterey, CA.

After graduation from Hilltop, Zander spent his 9th grade year at an international school in Cairo before returning to complete his high school studies at Brattleboro Union High School. He remembers this period of stability with great fondness and appreciation. It was the longest stretch of time he and his family had ever been able to settle down in Brattleboro. Those years allowed him to sink roots, make friends, and get to know this community he called home. Zander went on to graduate from Kenyon College in 2005, majoring in International Studies with a minor in Philosophy, and immediately headed west. While in California he set off on a 500 mile bike trip along the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles to San Francisco. As fate should have it, on route he came across the Monterey Institute. On his approach he remembers being struck by how the number of flags flying at the entrance reminded him of the School for International Training.

In his final year at Kenyon, Zander's mother died in Beirut after a long illness. In the aftermath of that event, Zander moved to Beirut in August 2005 to be with his father who had remained. During his stay, he spent time studying Arabic at the Lebanese American University and on home stays with rural Lebanese families where he was fully immersed in the language. While in the small farming village of Kfarzabad he remembers how his host family and their relations made up the better part of the village population and how welcome they made him feel even though the home stay concept was completely foreign and rather lost on them. To let him know how welcome he was, however, one of the villagers told him, "Before you came we were a village of 100; now you are here and we are a village of 101."

As history will have it, though, Zander's stay in Lebanon was ill-timed. He and his dad were soon to be caught directly in the middle of the quickly escalating Israel-Lebanon conflict. In July of 2006 they could see the Israeli air strikes from their apartment in downtown Beirut and eventually were forced to flee the city. On their return they found the city park across from their apartment building transformed into a refugee camp. The country was in turmoil, and Zander and his dad feared for their lives. Fortunately, after finding out that the harbor had been bombed and that there would be no evacuation by ship as planned, they were successfully airlifted to Cypress (an event captured as a front page photo in The Brattleboro Reformer).

Zander's dad has since returned to his work with the United Nations Development Project in Beirut, and Zander is preparing to head west once again. In Monterey he will continue with his study of Arabic as well as his focus in international studies by majoring in either Non-Proliferation or Terror Studies. In reflecting on how Hilltop may have helped prepare him for college and for his graduate work ahead he was quick to point out that "I have never forgotten the current events discussions we had every morning on circle. To this day I always pay attention to what is going on in the world." He went on to add how "that kind of learning environment really suited me…we were family".

Given his global perspective as a student who has attended school on three continents, Zander sees "teaching children the importance of how to communicate as the most essential thing schools need to do well." Included in this is "the importance of being multi-lingual," which Zander believes "…increases appreciation of and understanding between cultures." Furthermore, he believes that improved communication also helps to generate a greater sense of empathy that can serve "as the foundation for building a less hostile world".