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Chasing the Past with Daniel Wickner


You won't see Daniel Wickner at our 20th reunion, something he regrets. But it's hard to be too broken up about it when the reason is so extraordinary: since graduating college in 2007, Daniel has spent his entire adult life living abroad. "I've kind of been spending my adult life chasing after languages and cultures that felt incomplete in me growing up. Japanese was the first language I ever spoke (my mom is Japanese-born Korean), but I forgot it once I started going to school in English-- so I moved to Japan after college to learn it again and reconnect with my relatives. I then moved to Spain to improve my Spanish after many years of approximating it in school. After that I moved to Korea to learn Korean language and culture, being several generations removed from my family's roots there. While I still have a long way to go to be truly fluent in any of those languages, I feel like I've found deeper meaning and sense of cultural/linguistic identity." In fact, Daniel has made an unexpected career out of helping others find their identities as a teacher and the founder of an international educational consulting business that helps to "inspire research-based educational structures and practices that allow for students' healthy long-term identity development" [editor's note: for more about this very cool practice, check out Daniels's website: https://www.identitycentered.com/].


But when it comes to career, no one was more surprised to find himself building a life in education than Daniel, who earned a degree in electrical engineering from Princeton and a masters' in robotics from Keio University in Japan after graduating from Whitman. Daniel explains, "I've been teaching elementary in international schools in Spain, South Korea, and Hong Kong for the past 14 years and I also freelance as an educational consultant. It's not what I imagined I'd be doing at all (note the two engineering degrees)-- I found my way to the career by chance when I was living in Madrid and I'm incredibly grateful, as I love teaching so much and I'm passionate about education. A shout-out to Ms. Geckos, my 2nd grade teacher at Burning Tree Elementary, for inspiring me!" And lest you worry that Daniel does anything halfway, after his two engineering degrees, he went on to earn his EdM in Educational Leadership from Columbia University.


These days, Daniel lives on Jeju Island, South Korea with his wife, Dahye, who grew up on the island. "We met and got married there, then moved to Hong Kong together for 4 years, and now are back in Jeju for the foreseeable future. Our lives mostly revolve around our dog Dante-- he's a rescue we adopted in Hong Kong who loves to hike, swim, and play. Dahye is also pregnant and due in December!"

[Daniel, Dahye, and Dante]


Question: Hit me with those memories. What was your favorite part of high school?

Answer: Increasingly ambitious lunch period escapades with friends during senior year


Question: Least favorite part?

Answer: Getting up so early.


Question: Any long-held secrets/confessions from back in the day?

Answer: While I enjoyed playing in the pit orchestra for many HS musical productions, I secretly always wished that I had the talent/courage to perform in the cast.


[Daniel, pictured with the Whitman sailing club in 2003]




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