Alumni
Academe of the Oaks graduated its first senior class in 2006. Our graduates have attended national and international colleges and universities, and they now live and work all over the United States and around the world. We love to host annual alumni events, including our Alumni Reunion.
Matthew Alston ’13
Matthew Alston studied Computer Science at Duke University and at Queen Mary University of London; he holds certificates in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Technology) and in Community and Culture. As a freshman at Duke, Matthew performed research in the biomedical engineering lab of Dr. Warren Grill, writing a program to analyze pain and paresthesia maps for patients with chronic back pain; as a sophomore, he interned with Zana, a small Silicon Valley startup, as a growth analyst; and as a junior, he interned as a business software engineer for Goldman Sachs in New York.
“While I was at Academe I had a very different idea of what I wanted to study in college or do with my life than I do now. I’m a computer science major, but besides one computer science elective in my senior year at Academe I never even really considered going into technology. What I took away from Academe were those core qualities that were going to make me successful in anything I pursued: creativity, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to think critically. In a rapidly changing world, these are the skills that I believe will never stop serving me, and I owe a lot of the credit to Academe.”
Emily Friedman ’12
Emily Friedman attended McGill University in Montreal, where she studied art history and English literature. She spent time in Edinburgh and Berlin, where she was an assistant editor for the magazine 032c. Emily has worked at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, The High Museum, and Atlanta’s own ART PAPERS. She is a contributing editor with the independent magazine The Editorial, and she wrote this year’s catalogue essay for South African artist Georgina Gratrix. Emily is pursuing her doctorate in art history at Johns Hopkins University, concentrating on the art of the Northern Renaissance.
“Academe fosters a rare intellectual curiosity. Besides the hands-on professional experience available to seniors—like my foundational internship at The High Museum—the interdisciplinary curriculum (pivoting fluidly between organic chemistry, transcendentalism, and projective geometry) provided an invaluable academic experience.” —Emily, ’12
Laurel Haislip ’12
Laurel Haislip graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia Honors Program with her B.A in Communication Studies and minor in music. She was an active violinist with the UGA Symphony Orchestra and principle dancer with the UGA Ballroom Performance Group. Her passion for promoting the arts led her to jointly found the UGA Chamber Music Society, a non-profit student organization dedicated to providing performance opportunities for students of all majors while benefitting the community at large. As an Honors International Scholar, Laurel completed a six-week intensive study in Paris to further her thesis research on the state of arts in the U.S. and around the world. She currently works as a public relations professional at BRAVE Public Relations in Buckhead, where she manages a client roster of businesses in entertainment, lifestyle, retail and the arts.
“The abilities to form connections with professors, produce strong written content, and deeply appreciate the arts were largely the keys to my success in college. The rigorous Renaissance background that Academe provided set me apart from my college peers, nurturing creativity, verbal expression, and a deep understanding of the world at large. These skills are undoubtedly those I will rely on most in my career.”
Cali Lubrant ’07
Cali Lubrant, ’07, was graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia in December 2011; she is now in her final year of medical school at Tulane University and applying for a residency in radiology. After college, indulging her love of equestrianism, Cali completed a year-and- a-half internship with an Olympic-level professional rider and reached several significant personal goals.
Of her career at Academe, Cali writes: “Attending Academe contributed to my personal and academic successes after high school by creating an accepting and encouraging teaching environment that fostered creativity, determination, and a feeling of concrete support.” After considering emergency medicine, surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology, Cali “finally decided that radiology was my calling.” She hopes to remain in the Southeast as she continues her medical training.