From reflecting on her fond LAS memories, working as a storytelling consultant and diversity expert, and attending the LAS 61st Celebration, we loved catching up with alum Christine Taylor, who graduated LAS in 1994!

Years at LAS: 1991-1994

Ski or snowboarding? Skiing, every time. I’m not cool enough to snowboard and spend too much time sitting on my bum!Fondue or raclette? I remember eating fondue at my graduation dinner in Leysin and most recently eating raclette at the 61st Celebration. For me, it’s raclette for the win.

Where are you currently living? Edmonton, Alberta—the northernmost large city in Canada. If you break your leg on the North Pole, you’ll end up in the hospital here! Don’t do that, though...just call and you’re always welcome to stay with me!

What line of work are you in? I’m a storytelling consultant and diversity expert. I help people, often academics, talk about their work for broader audiences, whether that’s colleagues in another department in the university, conference attendees, a non-expert audience, or Aunt Martha at Thanksgiving dinner. I also do diversity work in the form of workshops, advising, writing, and advocacy. My starting point is always that if we want to learn about other cultures, or befriend people who grew up in other cultures, we have to embrace our ignorance. The personal mind-shift to growth and observation is crucial.

What are you working on right now? I’m pretending to be a writer for 2023. I mean, I have always been a writer, but deciding to call myself one has given me permission to do things like join the Writer’s Guild of Alberta, attend workshops for writers, submit pieces for rejection, and pitch articles. I’ve only lived in Alberta since July 2021 and was in the Netherlands for 17 years before that. Deciding to focus on my writing has been a tremendous experience in community building and creativity. 

What are you currently enjoying? The sunshine and warm weather on my front porch. Edmonton has long cold winters with temperatures down to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Spring comes late and happens in a flash—I love to sit on my front porch with a drink and talk to anyone walking by.

What three luxury items are you taking to a deserted island? Book, booze, bikini. Honestly, I’m a full-time mom in my 40s who’s just survived the pandemic, an international move, and a domestic move into a house that's a fixer-upper. My schedule is run by kids and activities and a husband who works a lot. If you put me on a deserted island and I may refuse to leave!

What is your fondest LAS memory?I got stuck on this question for a week because there is no ONE fondest memory—rather a collage of gorgeous moments that I treasure as my LAS experience.

• Walking across the hall to Ang & Amy’s room my sophomore year, knowing they’d always welcome me, listen to me, save me from my sadness.
• Standing at the Pont du Gard in the old square in Provence, traveling to Prague in 1993—both places I returned to as an adult only then realizing how lucky I was.
• Riding the bus at the 61st Celebration, awed at how much everything had changed, and then hearing Chris Saucier say “Christine Taylor” and realizing I’d always have a home in Leysin.

What is your advice to our graduating class about entering the big wide world? Don’t take advice from me—listen to your heart. The world is a big place full of opportunities and possibilities. You will only gain access to those things if you’re out there looking for them and asking for them. Try a bunch of things. Make a ton of mistakes. Meet new people. Have new experiences. Commit yourself fully to doing the thing that feels most right, good, and productive in the world now and it will lead you to the next thing. Keep in touch with people. If you think of someone, even if it’s a decade later or half a lifetime later, reach out. You’ll be surprised how many of them are thinking of you, too. In the end, the most important thing will always be the people. Treasure them.

Is there a faculty or alumni you want to give a shout out to? Gosh, I have had the incredible good fortune to stay in touch with quite a few people and count some LASers among my closest friends. But if there’s one person who made a lasting difference for young Christine, the student, it was Mr. Locke. In 2012, I had the enormous good fortune to visit him in his retirement in France and he was still amazing then. I hope the LAS teachers know what good work they’ve done and what a tremendous impact they’ve had on our lives.