BHS Rhodes Scholars BHS alumnae continue to earn prestigious Award


Five out of the last six Bermuda Rhodes Scholars are BHS alumnae. Torchbearer caught up with each of these outstanding young women to ask about their Rhodes Scholarship experience, their plans for the future and the role BHS played in their educational development.


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he Rhodes Scholarship is a postgraduate award supporting outstanding all-round students at the University of Oxford, and providing transformative opportunities for exceptional


individuals.


Established in 1903*, under the will of Cecil John Rhodes, the Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest and perhaps the most prestigious international graduate scholarship programme in the world. A class of 83 Scholars is selected each year from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica & the Commonwealth Caribbean, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland), United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe.


or Christie Hunter the significance of her 2007 Rhodes Scholarship Award is not so much what she has already achieved but how she can contribute in the future. “For me, being a Rhodes Scholar is both an honour and a responsibility,” explains Christie. “One critical element of selection is finding people who are passionate about their communities and have been both leaders and change makers. The expectation of the scholarship is that we are people who are going to continue to “fight the world’s fight”. Not that she hasn’t accomplished plenty, earning a Bachelors degree from Brown University, a Graduate degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business and two Masters degrees from the University of Oxford during her Rhodes Scholarship.


Christie says, however, that she does not mark her life according to levels or job titles, instead choosing to focus on the impact she can have through those positions and opportunities. “Focusing on impact and outcomes keeps me motivated and accountable to myself, my family, my community and the organisations I work for,” she says. Christie graduated from BHS


Rhodes’ legacy specified four standards by which applicants were to be judged:


• Literary and scholastic attainments; • Energy to use one’s talents to the fullest, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports;


• Truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;


• Moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one’s fellow beings.


The first Rhodes Scholar from Bermuda was selected to come to Oxford in 1904, and since that time nearly 100 students from Bermuda have been awarded this prestigious scholarship. They have pursued a variety of careers in public service, academia, business, law, and medicine, amongst others.


*The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in the United Kingdom did not affect wills, but another Act of Parliament changed the Rhodes’ will to extend selection criteria to include women. In 1977, the first year women were eligible, 24 women (out of 72 total scholars) were selected worldwide.


“For me, the Rhodes Scholarship isn’t just an award but rather an imperative to continue to create positive change.”


- Christie Hunter '01 2007 Rhodes Scholar


in 2001 after attending the school all the way through from from Year 1. She credits BHS with creating an open and comfortable learning environment.


“Engagement was expected and debate and questions were encouraged.,” she recalls. “The teachers were fantastic – encouraging students to challenge themselves and take risks within a safe space.” Presently, Christie lives in Boston


with her husband, also a Rhodes Scholar (Jamaica, 2005). She is a Human Capital Consultant for Deloitte Consulting in the US. In particular, her focus is on Diversity and Inclusion, an area which she has been aware of and wanted to address from an early age. “I distinctly remember at the age of 12, while at BHS, writing my first speech for my public speaking extracurricular on ‘Why women should be allowed to be priests in the Catholic Church’,” she says. “At Brown, I continued this interest, taking courses on diversity, race, and gender equality and at the University of Oxford my Masters degrees both had a focus on women in the corporate environment: one on women and leadership styles; and one on family-friendly company and labor market policies. “My recent work focused on advising a global, Fortune 100 insurer on how they can better attract, retain and promote women, Gen Yers and minorities and diverse talent.”


Despite what is a very busy life, Christie says that she sets her career goals to fit within the broader context of a balanced life, something she says she learned, in part, living in Bermuda. She says life on the Island can provide “a stimulating, challenging and fulfilling


professional career with family, personal pursuits, a vibrant social life and overall work life balance.” And looking ahead Christie would like to ultimately make the most of the opportunities she’s earned to give back to the communities that have supported her: “For me, the (Rhodes) Scholarship isn’t just an award but rather an imperative to continue to create positive change in the communities I am immersed in and, most importantly, give back to the community that raised me.”


L


ucy Hall’s passion for books goes back to when she was a little girl, being


taught to read by her mother. In fact, she can’t remember a time when there weren’t books to happily discover. “I really devoured books at a young age. I wasn’t interested in numbers… reading was just my thing,” she remembers. Books continued to shape Lucy’s life as she grew older, and her accomplishments include a long list of academic awards and top- of-the-chart grades. In recognition of this, judges named Lucy Bermuda’s Rhode Scholar in 2009.


“I think it was just a happy coincidence of what I enjoyed most and what I was best at,” Lucy says.


Torchbearer Spring 2013 19


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