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Kaleigh Harris ’15 In The Field With Alumna Sarah Silliman ’01

Sarah Silliman ’01 and I met in her Brooklyn home on a beautiful Monday morning. She made us coffee and we talked in her sunny backyard. She asked what my itinerary for the day was, and when I told her I was going to see Shelby Chestnut ’06 afterwards, she said “I know Shelby! I see her on the train.” It’s funny that even Antiochians who may not have gone to school together know one another and stay in touch.

Growing up in Yellow Springs, the last place on earth that I wanted to go was Antioch—partially, I didn’t think about it, my parents weren’t involved in the school, it wasn’t really in my sphere. But once I hit that time of wanting to go to school, I wanted to travel, I wanted to see different places. I applied to a lot of colleges on the west coast, and then slowly Antioch crept into my vision, because it was an opportunity to travel and do a lot of different kinds of things and shape what I wanted to do. And not just go to one place, but go to many places. At that time, it was one of the few places that really valued practical and applied learning. Not just that you did it for one summer, but that it was really a part of your evolution. It has a reputation and a standard for actually using your experiences in new ways. When I entered, the last thing on my mind was studying economics, but Antioch kind of wove all the experiences that I had within the classroom and then back out. It wasn’t like they were directly related, but it was a journey that I felt really brought me to a certain place I don’t think I would have been able to choose when I just walked in the door my freshman year.

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<p>Kaleigh Harris was a member of the Class of 2015 at Antioch College. Her most memorable co-op was as a Digital Liberal Arts Specialist, traveling the U.S. and interviewing Antioch Alumni about their Antioch experiences. She is a documentarian, independent writer, photographer, videographer, and blogger. Kaleigh is passionate about social justice and creating positive change in the world. She majored in Literature with a focus in creative writing and media. She hopes to combine these two concentrations to help capture and share unique narratives that help to shed light on various acts of systemic violence against minorities, as well as personal narratives that help to create empathetic understanding among people. Kaleigh's work has appeared in several galleries, and she hopes to utilize the internet as an educational platform and a way of sharing impactful stories. She grew up in Eugene, Oregon with her 4 siblings and single mother.</p>

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