| HAVERFORD
SENIOR HEADS TO BRITISH SCHOOL
AS RECIPIENT OF WILLIAM PENN FELLOWSHIP
Senior English major Brian Baillie will
be spending next year teaching and coaching in England courtesy
of the William Penn Fellowship. The Fellowship sends recipients
to Chigwell School, a co-ed boarding school 10 miles outside of
London.
Baillie will preside over classes in English literature and American
history and help coach the soccer, basketball, and track teams (he’s
a current member of Haverford’s track & field and cross
country teams). He’ll live on school grounds with other faculty
members and lend a hand with tutoring, after-school activities,
and class trips.
A native of the Philadelphia area, Baillie first heard about the
William Penn Fellowship from a friend who had applied in 2003. “It
sounded interesting,” he says, “and I had never studied
abroad while I was here, so I decided to go for it.” He also
enjoys working with children; he’s taken several education
classes while at Haverford and helps with a local running camp during
the summer.
After his year at Chigwell, Baillie may continue teaching or pursue
graduate school, focusing on Irish studies—he’s writing
his senior thesis on James Joyce’s Ulysses. Right
now, he plans to make the most of his time overseas, and is already
anticipating visits with family members in Scotland and Northern
Ireland. His grandmother, meanwhile, is using her own girlhood recollections
of England to prepare him for his trip. “She’s sure
everything will be the same as it was in the '20s,” he laughs.
The William Penn Fellowship seeks to encourage a better understanding
between Great Britain and the United States by sharing intellectual
and cultural experiences as part of Chigwell’s everyday life.
The school’s most famous alumnus is William Penn himself (Class
of 1656); the school library was once the room where he was taught,
and his spirit and ideals continue to influence Chigwell’s
education of its students.
|
