The Bush School Celebrates Career, Service, and Joy Day

“Seeing so many alums spanning such a variety of professions and experiences come back to campus to support current students was inspiring,” said Alumni and Donor Relations Manager Tiffany Kirk. “Alums have such a wealth of knowledge to offer, and as former students, they have such unique and relatable insight to share with Upper School students. Upper School Assistant Director Sara Fischer and Director of College Counseling and Student Success Melissa Lanctot did such thoughtful work planning the day—I'm lucky to be engaging alums alongside these Bush legends. I'm happy so many alums were eager to return to campus to support students, and I know they've inspired today's students to do the same when they become alums."

Alumni treasured the moments they spent back on the Bush campus and were excited to share their individual stories of success with students.  

“It was great to return to my high school and reflect on the entrepreneurial path that brought me here—from early experiments to building companies at the intersection of AI and privacy,” shared Jesse Proudman ’03. “The students asked excellent, sharp questions that pushed me to think freshly about what I do. Really enjoyed seeing the next generation of entrepreneurs already poking at what's possible.” 

The event-filled day kicked off with an inspiring and heartfelt keynote from Bush parent, former Families Association President, author, and speaker, Urs Koenig, who emphasized the importance of building one's career portfolio, developing cultural fluency abroad, and dedicating oneself to always learning something new. While sharing his own career journey, he encouraged students to continue learning new skills and to adhere to his rules for life: commit to a career for three to five years, reassess your happiness and fulfillment in every stage, and do not be afraid to ask for help along the way.

“This was a hugely valuable day for the students to hear different perspectives from people on how they navigate their careers,” Urs said. “The experiential education learning of Bush ties into the philosophy of programs like the Cascades and Internships, which makes the college-prep experience come alive.”

In the Seattle area, Blazers also lent a hand to local animal shelters and participated in beach and green space clean-up efforts, which taught them the importance of building connections by cultivating community. They also got involved in a service learning project in which they paired with First Grade students to create blankets and scratch toys, which were donated to animal shelters. Continuing their partnerships with Seattle organizations Teen Feed and All Pilgrims Church, they served local food banks and other meal-distribution organizations.

“Working with unhoused and financially unstable people was a really wonderful experience,” said Upper School History faculty Chase de Saint-Félix. “Days like this are important because the students often develop two minds: their academic brain and their everyday life brain. Students often keep these two parts of their minds separate and don’t always apply the lessons from one to the other. Taking time to teach them about careers, volunteering, community engagement, and moments of joy helps, in some small way, to bridge the gap between these two selves and to further our goal of teaching the whole child. We don’t want to just create good students. We want to create good people, too.”

The day ended on a joyful note–with student and faculty-led workshops centered on self-care, cooking, painting, and crafting. During this replenishing period, students shared smiles, henna designs, and scouting skills to connect with one another and nurture their open minds through hands-on activities. Students had the opportunity to share passions and exercise their leadership skills amongst their peers.

As Career, Service, and Joy came to a delightful close that afternoon, Upper School students reflected on the words of wisdom offered by the many experienced faculty, alums, and parents who each have blazed their own successful trails. The students learned how to tackle life's challenges and be more courageous in the face of its uncertainties.