Victor Navasky, ’50, Publisher and Editorial Director, The Nation Magazine:

My Rudolf Steiner education was out of sync with all of the worst elements of the culture -- commercialism, commodification, materialism, militarism, cynicism, the idea that the arts are soft and don't matter. I wouldn't have missed it and think I'm the better for it.
 

Gertrude Reif Hughes, ’54, Professor of Women’s Studies, Wesleyan University:

As a child I loved language and I planned to write books like Laura Ingalls Wilder when I grew up. At the Steiner School my favorite Main Lessons were Physics blocks in the upper grades, because then we had to write lab reports for our “main lesson books.” It thrilled me to try to capture in words such processes as how a pulley or a prism works, or how you could arrange lit candles to cast colored shadows. The Steiner School integrates arts and sciences into one subject: human knowledge.

I’ve just finished my 38th year as a professor of English and Women’s Studies at Wesleyan University in Connecticut where I almost always recognize the students who have attended the Steiner School or one of the other Waldorf schools: Steiner students expect to be interested, independent, and active when they learn and they won’t settle for less. They ask searching questions, their minds are at home with paradox, and when they encounter really hard material they call on their creativity to help them.
 

Dr. James J. Leichter, ’84, Assistant Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego:

Science careers are also writing careers, and the excellent teaching in English and Biology at Steiner has served me extremely well in entering a career as a research scientist and university professor. [The infusion of art into all of the Steiner curricula created an intuitive aesthetic sense for the connections of art and music with the physical and the life sciences.] I think the drawing, painting, careful handwriting, and general attention to the aesthetic details in all of our school work helped me develop skills that I use now in the visual and graphical representation of my work. In many ways my Steiner education was a unique and excellent preparation.

Raven Metzner ’86, Screenwriter, whose credits include Elektra/Assassin, and an adaptation of A Cool Breeze on the Underground, among others:

All the students in my class, and in the school, were nurtured for their differences, not their sameness. In public school, you're rewarded for your ability to conform. Steiner rewards you for taking different perspectives.  

From the earliest moment I felt the itch to be a writer--in Seventh Grade, I recall--my interest was immediately noticed by my Main Lesson teacher. So I told her, and she took me seriously, suggested books I should read, things I could try. The small class made that close relationship possible. In general, the passion of the Rudolf Steiner teachers was inspirational. They didn't just come to teach by rote. They were completely dedicated to their craft.  

There's a constant thread of storytelling in the Steiner curriculum. That gave me building blocks, understanding of how to integrate and communicate ideas and information. That was vital to my development as a writer.

Kristina Mani, ’87, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Oberlin College:

In honing my own teaching skills I have recognized how challenging it is to create the "learning environment" that Steiner teachers seemed to achieve so effortlessly. My liberal arts colleagues and I consciously strive to create just such an environment for our students. In my opinion, Steiner students are exceptionally well-prepared for learning in a college or university setting and for a lifetime of learning.  

As a professor of political science, I've come to value more and more the solid grounding my K-12 years at Steiner gave me. While the research universities I attended provided the specialized concepts and methodologies I use in my scholarship, Steiner provided the most seminal professional skills I have today. Steiner is where I learned the essence of thinking critically, articulating ideas cogently, interpreting the actions and work of others objectively, and engaging constructively in a community with diverse interests.
 

Patrick Soluri, ’93. Composer, specializing in dramatic orchestral music for ballet, opera and film.(Performed works include the ballet Madame X, and a showcase with New York City Opera of the The Inferno of Dante: Canto V, among others):

At Steiner I learned that with your hands and mind one can accomplish anything. The curriculum combined an incredible depth of exposure in the visual and performing arts with analytical thought in history, math and the sciences. Individuality, ambition and self motivation were rewarded. Later in life I found I could move fluidly between different disciplines and especially within the arts. All of these resources became priceless as I began to compose and produce dramatic works.

André Soluri, ’93, Architect and Designer:

What I've appreciated most about Steiner is the diversity of the study--artistic expression and rational thinking, multi-disciplinary integration of subjects that connected hand, mind, and eye. The biggest thing I learned was how you bring these strands together in creative problem solving.
 

Martina Meijer, ’02, attending Amherst College, where she created a major in Globalization, combining Law and Jurisprudence, Anthropology, and Photography:

The rose ceremony in First Grade is a very fond memory. Our class sat facing each other in a circle, with the other classes and faculty and friends around us in a concentric arrangement. We were being embraced by the whole school community, and that gave me a warm, calm feeling throughout the ceremony. A senior named Ruby walked through the circles and gave me her rose. That memory stayed with me throughout my school years. The moment I handed my own rose to a first grader, I felt a special bond with that first grader as well as with Ruby, who was there for graduation.
 

Inna Shaykevich, ’03, studying at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, with a focus on Finance and Economics:

In my senior history elective, there was a Main Lesson block on Russian History. I came from St. Petersburg in Russia, so I thought I knew it all. But then we started studying, and had so much discussion, I realized everyone had something to say--stories from ancestors in Europe, and opinions. I learned other points of view on what had seemed just common knowledge to me.

* Thank you to the alumni above for providing commentary on their experiences at the Rudolf Steiner School.