Seamus Burpee, Class of 2011

Hometown: Rye, New York and the World
Citizenship: USA, but born in Suva, Fiji
High School: Rye High School
Major: Undecided

My parents have led an amazing life. They left New York in 1982 on their thirty-seven-foot sailboat determined to do a circumnavigation of the globe in five years. They then expected to return to the USA and settle down. Five years later—after a trip through the Panama Canal--they found themselves in French Polynesia with “only 18,000 miles to go” to complete their journey. Clearly, experiencing the world cannot be rushed--a lesson that has guided my family for the duration of our travels.

I was born in 1989 while my parents were in Fiji. After a few days in the hospital, I began my life on Quickstep, our sailboat. Within two years, my parents needed to stop and work for a while in order to continue the journey. So for four years we lived in Guam. Afterwards, we resumed our trip, traveling through the Mariana Islands, Yap, and Palau before reaching the Philippines where we stayed for nearly a year. In Southeast Asia we traveled around the island of Borneo, visiting Malaysia and Indonesia before stopping in Singapore where we stayed for another year. Later we traveled between Java and Sumatra and crossed the Indian Ocean with stops at Cocos Keeling, Mauritius and Reunion before arriving in Durban, South Africa.

After living in South Africa for six months, I went to Rye, New York with my Mom because my parents, who had home schooled me, decided that I should be educated “in a more traditional setting.” With my Mom and me in New York, my father continued the journey.

Every year after returning to the US, I have taken off several months to visit my Dad on Quickstep--for 3 months in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe; another time for a few months in Manaus, Brazil; again in Trinidad and Tobago; and most recently in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

As a TCK (Third Culture Kid), Lewis & Clark has been an amazing fit and an easy transition. I am currently living in Akin, the Multicultural Hall, and surrounded by people from many nations and cultures. On my floor alone Peru, Mexico, USA, Botswana, Finland, Sweden, Costa Rica, Nepal, Holland, Hawaii, Japan, and China are all represented, giving everyone an opportunity to share stories, cultures and perspectives without having to leave campus. Even though I have spent more than half of my life traveling, I enjoy the opportunity to expand my horizons by meeting these fellow students.