Raleigh Anne Blank Gray '03

If life is an hourglass, the people, places, and experiences that make us who we are, are the sand. Sifting through time, making their impact, then settling, buried below whatever comes next.

In my hourglass, Harpeth Hall is one of the largest, most impactful grains, having left an indelible mark, never truly settling, somehow always coming to the surface. Few of my memories, failures, or successes, do not begin at Harpeth Hall. You can say I have garnered my intense want to transmit this world "not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to (me)" from my amazing mother, Peaches Blank, but you can also point directly to our Step Singing pledge to know these traits were reinforced when wearing the plaid.

Innumerable opportunities would have passed me by were it not for the education I earned at Harpeth Hall. I was a stronger participant in student government at the University of Virginia because I was taught the importance of active leadership at Harpeth Hall. I was a more diligent classmate at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management because of what I cultivated in Harpeth Hall's classrooms. Throughout my career at ESPN, Twitter, and Wasserman, I have applied the lessons I learned as a soccer-playing, track-running Honeybear, to be a more dedicated teammate and friend.

It is for these reasons, and more, that including Harpeth Hall in our estate plans was one of the easiest conversations I have ever had with my wonderful husband, John, of two years. He understands the importance of this place and knows that, regardless of where we live, I will forever be tied to the hilltops of dark magnolia green. I consider my status as an alumna of Harpeth Hall a great privilege of my life — one I am proud to sustain for others, even when my hourglass runs out of sand.