— Alumni —

We thought you might want to hear from some of our Alumni! As of 2011, Westminster Academy has graduated nearly 150 students with nearly all attending four-year colleges. Those who have graduated from college are involved in varied fields ranging from theatre to high finance, from the practice of law and medicine to missionaries and stay-at-home parents. The consistent theme we hear is of their continued love of learning and their deep appreciation for the Distinctly Classical, Distinctly Christian education they received.

What we hear from our Alumni....

I'm at Purdue now and it is obvious what Westminster does well. Westminster does everything well. I'm taking English, Chemistry, Calculus, and several Engineering courses. Right from the start I could tell that everything I learned at WA had been taught well. WA Math really prepared me for college level Calculus; in fact the Calculus 1 here is a lot easier than Mrs. Behnke’s Calculus. I could have easily started in Calculus 2 here at Purdue. The Chemistry at Westminster was taught well, but having taken it three years ago I have forgotten most of it by now. The thing Westminster does the best is the Liberal Arts. When I started English here, my professor thought I was some kind of writing prodigy. Westminster's math and logic as well as physics courses prepared me for the engineering courses here. There is a lot of problem solving in the Engineering courses and Westminster helped with that.

Robert Leffler, ’06, Purdue University

If I had to describe, in one sentence, what Westminster has meant for my life thus far, it would be that Westminster has given me perspective on how to see myself and the world around me. On the one hand, I learned a great deal of facts, ideas and mental skills while I was at Westminster; but perhaps the most important thing I learned was something I came across in New Testament Greek class. Mr. Sullivan was going over Ephesians chapter 2, and going over vv. 8-9 ("by grace you are saved through faith" etc.), and we came to verse 10: "For we are his workmanship" etc. This word, he showed us, was "poiema" - the same word used to translate product, masterpiece or, quite simply, poem. Through creation and His history, God has made us His poem, His story, His work of art. I have since gone forward seeking to see myself as part of this great story.

Joel Avila, ’03, University of Chicago

I'd say one of the greatest impacts Westminster has had on my life is the fact that, because of its environment, I know who I am and I have confidence in myself. At Westminster, I was loved, encouraged, and built up for exactly who I am.

Mary Claire Frazier, ’06, Wheaton College

One of the ways Westminster has impacted me was through Protocol! I had to attend a banquet last Thursday for a scholarship (The Partners Scholarship at Furman encourages fostering a relationship between the donor and the students who receive their financial help). There was a three course meal and the atmosphere was pretty formal. All this to say: I was very glad for my protocol years, and was able to dig into the recesses of my mind and remember how to behave, and what silverware to use, and how to cut up my food, and all those other helpful tips from protocol.

Sara Boyd, ‘03, Furman

The reason I came to Westminster was so that I might be taught how to think and I left there knowing how to do just that. Many (high) schools today do not teach students how to think. Students at best know what they are taught; they do not know how to reason or think for themselves. They simply accept what they are taught as truth, never pondering the possibility of its not being true. They neglect to ask the question, "Why?", a question quite common at Westminster. Students are encouraged to figure it out for themselves and search for truth. Rather than say, "Christianity is true; Islam is false," students explore and study to determine not only if or why Christianity is true and Islam is false, but also why they cannot coexist. One of the harshest realities I have had to face since I got out of school is that many people in this world do not care about truth. The validity of their beliefs is not an important issue to them. They choose their beliefs, because that is what works for them. This is mind-boggling to me, since I am so focused on always seeking the truth in everything. I want everyone else to know the truth too and it is very difficult for me to accept that they do not want to hear it. Beliefs are viewed as private and personal and are not to be discussed. Why not? Wouldn't they want to know if they are wrong? Don't they want to know the truth? When I was at Westminster and then in college, I always assumed the answer to these questions was undoubtedly yes, but yet another harsh reality (similar to the first) for me is that this is quite frequently not the case. This is the point at which prayer and the Holy Spirit must intervene. To close, Westminster encouraged me to be innovative, disciplined, creative, resourceful, and always to seek truth. It helped drive me to reach my potential.