Beaver Reflections:
I came to Beaver from a public school in 7th grade. When I enrolled, Beaver immediately made a positive impact on me. One of my favorite things was the community; it often felt like a larger family. I loved how Beaver really emphasized branching out and taking risks for classes and after-school activities. A teacher I fondly remember is Rob Connor. His presence during my time at Beaver influenced me to be the person I am today. I think the way he taught, motivated, encouraged, and pulled out the best in students really shows the true spirit of Beaver’s teachers and faculty.

What is #happeningnow in your life:
After graduating from Beaver, I went to Harvard and studied biological anthropology. I got really interested in the relationship between culture and health and social determinants of health. After college, I decided to pursue my dream of playing professional soccer. While playing in Brazil, I definitely got involved with the activism surrounding the game. My teammates and I started a collective around gender and justice and looking at women’s rights in soccer in Brazil. I traveled to Sweden to play soccer and also back in the United States for a few years. During my time traveling I also got my master’s from the London School of Economics in Gender Studies. The team I was playing on unfortunately folded due to the league rationing out funds in an unequal way. This led to more activism on gender justice. I stayed in Brazil for around 4 more years and also got a Fulbright scholarship to continue this work looking at embodied experiences in gender on women’s soccer. This work led me to Berlin, where there is a group of “football feminists” where we all worked on activism projects for the 2014 World Cup. I have been staying in Berlin and continuing this activism work.

“It has been tough in Berlin with the Covid-19 pandemic, as it has forced us to abide by the stay-at-home orders. This whole pandemic, losing close friends, and dealing with the loss of in-person activities has further showed me how important gratitude and showing appreciation are on an everyday basis.”

– Caitlin Fisher ’00

Advice to Beaver students:
One of the biggest things I would say is to really try and listen to where your passions are and what interests you. This can be difficult when there are a lot of pressures and social norms.I would, however, encourage students to listen to where their heart is and follow their passion even if it doesn’t match up to normal social expectations and is not clear where it may lead.