曾经的野马:校友回到梅多斯作为教职员工
More than 20 Meadows alumni are currently employed in the school; hear about what drew them back to Meadows and their experience as an alum-turned-faculty member.
Meadows prides itself on providing its students with world-class education and experiences, and we love watching our alumni in their life and career journeys after their time on the Hilltop comes to an end. After graduation our alumni often find ways to give back to the school in varying capacities, 有时他们甚至会回来当教员!
Hear from three of our current faculty members on their experience as an alum employed at Meadows and what encouraged them to return to their alma mater in a professional capacity.
Lane Harder, B.M. ’99
音乐理论与作曲高级讲师
While Lane Harder was a student at Meadows pursuing a degree in composition, he put his musical abilities to work and performed regularly with both the Meadows Wind Ensemble and the Meadows Percussion Ensemble.
在他读本科的时候, 他在1997年的WASBE会议(施拉德明)上表演, 奥地利)和1997年CBDNA公约(雅典), GA)与梅多斯风乐团和中西部乐队 & Orchestra Directors Convention (Chicago, IL) and at TMEA with the Meadows Percussion Ensemble. 哈德1999年毕业，成为一名自由打击乐手, 钢琴家, 私人教师, 和课堂老师, 开始他的教育之旅.
“即使是作为一个大学生, I always wanted to come back to SMU and have some affiliation with the Meadows School,哈德说。. “It has such tremendous reach into the Dallas arts community in which I had been so active for so long before leaving Texas for grad school.”
在他攻读硕士和博士学位期间, Harder missed the sense of community in Dallas and the mutual support that the arts community offers to its participants. 尽管他与许多地方管弦乐队合作演出, 商会组织, and musical theater companies as a percussionist and keyboardist in other areas, 除了出版获奖作品, 他知道达拉斯的音乐界有一些特别之处.
哈德在其他地方继续以各种身份教学, including a stint as the Program Coordinator and faculty member of the European American 音乐al Alliance Summer Institute in Paris, 法国. 但在他完成博士学位回到达拉斯后不久.M.A., Harder found himself interviewing for an adjunct position in Meadows’ Division of 音乐.
“我仍然相信, 更甚于以往, 在梅多斯推进卓越教育的使命中, 奖学金, and artistic expression while holding to the charge of the Division of 音乐 of devotion to service in the artistic life of our community, 我们的国家和世界,哈德说。. “作为音乐人，为社区服务是我们能做的最重要的事情.”
夏洛特·霍夫曼，B.A. ’03
新闻学兼职教授
2003年从新大毕业后, Charlotte Huffman spent nearly two decades working on TV in markets across the US, including eight years working as an investigative reporter in top five markets. 在她的职业生涯中, 她曾在新闻行业担任调查记者, 锚, 一般分配报告人, 主持人兼制片人.
最近, Huffman worked as the Lead Investigative Reporter for WFAA-TV (ABC) here in Dallas and often returned to SMU as a guest lecturer. 在WFAA工作了六年之后, Huffman was presented with the chance to exit the industry and become the Interim Broadcast Executive-in-Residence in Meadows’ Division of 新闻 in 2022. Knowing she would get to work alongside the professors who inspired her to become a journalist and guide students through the same 程序 she had graduated from, 霍夫曼欣然接受了这个机会.
“Equipping the next generation of journalists with the tools they need to achieve their own versions of success is extremely fulfilling,霍夫曼说。, 他现在是新闻系的兼职教授. “Watching my students grow and set their own careers in motion has been every bit as exciting as breaking the next big story.”
Since her collegiate time on the Hilltop, Huffman has had an exciting career ride. Not only has she had both the privilege and responsibility of telling stories that have changed laws and lives, 霍夫曼还获得过两次艾美奖和三次爱德华·R. 莫罗奖，其中包括她的工作. And now she gets to impart her vast amounts of industry knowledge on to her students, 坐在她20年前坐过的教室里.
“SMU's journalism division is like home to me and returning to the place where my journey began has truly been a full circle move.”
卡特·亚历山大，B.F.A. ’21
驻场舞蹈艺术家
While some faculty members returned to the Hilltop years after their time as students, 有些人实际上是在梅多斯教书的同时获得学位的. Soon after Carter Alexander had begun working towards a degree in art and art history at Clark University in 2005, 他获得了迈阿密城市芭蕾舞学校的教职. The time commitment of his faculty position limited his ability to continue pursuing a degree and he decided to focus on his career in the dance industry.
在迈阿密城市芭蕾舞学校学习之后, Alexander transitioned into the role of 艺术istic Director at both Chamberlain Performing 艺术s and Ballet Dallas for many years. In 2018, when he accepted the position of 艺术ist-in-Residence at SMU Meadows and resumed teaching full-time, 他也决定开始自己的教育经历.
“I knew that having a degree would enhance my credentials and complement my twenty years of teaching in the ballet field, providing a solid foundation for continuing my career in a university setting,亚历山大解释了他参加B级课程的决定.F.A. 程序.
在他参加这个项目期间, he was able to broaden his understanding of dance by collaborating with his fellow dance faculty members at Meadows. 他与舞蹈学生的互动也得到了加强, since he would teach dance majors in the morning and then participate in classes with them later in the day. This dichotomy provided a fascinating experience for Alexander in his dual pursuit of teaching and learning, and he gained valuable insights into the challenges that students face on their own academic journeys.
“拿B”.F.A. at Meadows increased my ability to develop robust connections with the students,” he says. “他们意识到我理解他们的经历.”
他们是否在离开山顶学校多年后重返校园, 以兼职的身份加入教师队伍, 甚至在来新大任教后继续攻读学位, it’s clear that the community built at Meadows inspires alumni to continue to engage with their alma mater.