by Susan Cano Meeker (Class of 1984)
I am an American who was raised in Bangkok during the 1970’s, which makes for interesting conversation and perspective. I spent my kindergarten through 10th grades at ISB and then our family moved to Mexico City, where I finished at the American School Foundation (ASF, also known as the Colegio Americano). I attended college in upstate New York as an “International Student” then went on to live and work in various cities in Northeastern US. My years in Bangkok were formative and the experiences I had at ISB developed my passion for leadership and community engagement. During the school year and every weekend, we were on campus, which was truly the center of the ex-pat community, with monthly “Hilltribe sales” organized by the American Women’s Club, baseball league games, school dances, assemblies with international artists, and movie nights. I can draw details of the Soi 15 campus from vivid memory, I remember teachers from every year, and I exchanged greeting cards with Phyllis Manning, the student activities director, well into my adulthood. I have such gratitude for my early education that has led to my success and happiness.
The ISB Alumni Network was created in 1983, and I learned about it sometime in the 1990’s, when I was interested in reconnecting with my childhood classmates. At the time, it was about getting access to a database of names and addresses, so I joined, but not much happened from a social connection perspective.
Fast forward to 2009, my high school class from Mexico was planning our 25th reunion and I joined Facebook. I never did attend the reunion in Mexico. Now with the magic of Facebook, I was able to find several ISB classmates and eventually became a “voyeur” (via FB) of the US based reunions (Broomfield, CO and San Jose, CA). It seemed like a lot of older people, and only a few names I really recognized. I finally mustered my courage to attend the Daytona, Florida Reunion in 2016, after connecting on social media with several real friends from those days. Daytona was fantastic – we had a great 80’s bunch. Then in Nashville 2018, I was able to lead a community service event, assembling Clean Birth Kits for Global Health Charities, which is a non-profit run by a fellow ISB alumna.
The 2021 ISB reunion in Tucson, Arizona was a little different, due to pandemic timing and concerns. The numbers were smaller than typical reunions, and there was an intimacy to most of the events, hanging out talking and dancing. I loved getting to know Thondup Saari (class of 1986), over a meal, and comparing notes about Mexico City, where his family also moved after Bangkok! The Thai dinner, which is usually optional and in a local restaurant, was catered by a local Wat and Thai Community, and really kicked off this event with our shared love of Thai food! I don’t know how many of us really appreciate that there are Thai Buddhist Wats here in the US and there are communities of Thai people to celebrate Loy Krathong, Songkran, and other festivals. Several alumni groups in different cities have those connections and I was inspired to look into that for my home city.
We assembled Clean Birth Kits again, and now I am on the Board of Directors for this organization, so I had a more specific role. Volunteer alumni help set up and work The Shack – which is a retail space with amazing merchandise from Thailand and proceeds go to our ISB Network Foundation which provides scholarships in Thailand. We also have incredible Archives, much more than a pile of yearbooks, which are set up in a conference room to browse and learn about our school’s history. I spent more time intentionally getting to know the alumni who are older than me, such as Jan Urquhart (class of 1973) and learning about their experiences during their time in Bangkok as well as later in the journey of life. We have so much in common yet have so much to learn from each other.
The alumni of the 1960’s and early 70’s love the House Games, which are modeled after the four Intramural “houses” which the school organized because there weren’t many other teams to play sports against. The Reunion House Games are always hilarious and silly, with great fun and new memories made, including props like balloons, water, laughter and music. The “Teen Club” (named for a place on Soi Asoke) is a spot to hang out during the day and then at night, we have some fabulously talented alums to entertain us with live music and dancing well into the wee hours. The Saturday night banquet brought back the local Thai community with dancers for entertainment, before a DJ took us down memory lane again.
We also spent some time talking about how this alumni organization will be evolving in the years to come. As the school itself has transitioned a number of times, most recently in January of 1992, we need to recognize that our alumni base in the United States may be looking for different Reunion programs in the future. We are seeing more interest from alumni from the 1980’s and 90’s and want to find ways to connect with our younger alums, including recent graduates that are attending university in the US. The school was also predominantly American during those early years; younger generations are spread out into Europe, Australia and Asia and thanks to the new use of Zoom, we are able to connect more easily. We are all excited about returning to Daytona, Florida for our next big reunion in 2023!
Alumni connections make a difference – validating our childhood experiences, representing our pride in the community and networking for professional or personal passions. With so many ISB alumni, all over the US and the world, we should be able to stay connected as proud Panther’s wherever we roam. The Foundation allows new graduates to join for free for their first several years, so there is really no reason not to sign up. Reach out on our website, www.isbnetwork.com, join us to add your contact information and stay connected.
GO PANTHERS!
Suzanne Cano Meeker
Class of 1984
VP, ISB Network/Foundation Board of Directors
The ISB Alumni Network was created in 1983, and I learned about it sometime in the 1990’s, when I was interested in reconnecting with my childhood classmates. At the time, it was about getting access to a database of names and addresses, so I joined, but not much happened from a social connection perspective.
Fast forward to 2009, my high school class from Mexico was planning our 25th reunion and I joined Facebook. I never did attend the reunion in Mexico. Now with the magic of Facebook, I was able to find several ISB classmates and eventually became a “voyeur” (via FB) of the US based reunions (Broomfield, CO and San Jose, CA). It seemed like a lot of older people, and only a few names I really recognized. I finally mustered my courage to attend the Daytona, Florida Reunion in 2016, after connecting on social media with several real friends from those days. Daytona was fantastic – we had a great 80’s bunch. Then in Nashville 2018, I was able to lead a community service event, assembling Clean Birth Kits for Global Health Charities, which is a non-profit run by a fellow ISB alumna.
The 2021 ISB reunion in Tucson, Arizona was a little different, due to pandemic timing and concerns. The numbers were smaller than typical reunions, and there was an intimacy to most of the events, hanging out talking and dancing. I loved getting to know Thondup Saari (class of 1986), over a meal, and comparing notes about Mexico City, where his family also moved after Bangkok! The Thai dinner, which is usually optional and in a local restaurant, was catered by a local Wat and Thai Community, and really kicked off this event with our shared love of Thai food! I don’t know how many of us really appreciate that there are Thai Buddhist Wats here in the US and there are communities of Thai people to celebrate Loy Krathong, Songkran, and other festivals. Several alumni groups in different cities have those connections and I was inspired to look into that for my home city.
We assembled Clean Birth Kits again, and now I am on the Board of Directors for this organization, so I had a more specific role. Volunteer alumni help set up and work The Shack – which is a retail space with amazing merchandise from Thailand and proceeds go to our ISB Network Foundation which provides scholarships in Thailand. We also have incredible Archives, much more than a pile of yearbooks, which are set up in a conference room to browse and learn about our school’s history. I spent more time intentionally getting to know the alumni who are older than me, such as Jan Urquhart (class of 1973) and learning about their experiences during their time in Bangkok as well as later in the journey of life. We have so much in common yet have so much to learn from each other.
The alumni of the 1960’s and early 70’s love the House Games, which are modeled after the four Intramural “houses” which the school organized because there weren’t many other teams to play sports against. The Reunion House Games are always hilarious and silly, with great fun and new memories made, including props like balloons, water, laughter and music. The “Teen Club” (named for a place on Soi Asoke) is a spot to hang out during the day and then at night, we have some fabulously talented alums to entertain us with live music and dancing well into the wee hours. The Saturday night banquet brought back the local Thai community with dancers for entertainment, before a DJ took us down memory lane again.
We also spent some time talking about how this alumni organization will be evolving in the years to come. As the school itself has transitioned a number of times, most recently in January of 1992, we need to recognize that our alumni base in the United States may be looking for different Reunion programs in the future. We are seeing more interest from alumni from the 1980’s and 90’s and want to find ways to connect with our younger alums, including recent graduates that are attending university in the US. The school was also predominantly American during those early years; younger generations are spread out into Europe, Australia and Asia and thanks to the new use of Zoom, we are able to connect more easily. We are all excited about returning to Daytona, Florida for our next big reunion in 2023!
Alumni connections make a difference – validating our childhood experiences, representing our pride in the community and networking for professional or personal passions. With so many ISB alumni, all over the US and the world, we should be able to stay connected as proud Panther’s wherever we roam. The Foundation allows new graduates to join for free for their first several years, so there is really no reason not to sign up. Reach out on our website, www.isbnetwork.com, join us to add your contact information and stay connected.
GO PANTHERS!
Suzanne Cano Meeker
Class of 1984
VP, ISB Network/Foundation Board of Directors