{"id":3746,"date":"2017-02-18T00:31:11","date_gmt":"2017-02-18T00:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=3746"},"modified":"2018-10-11T13:23:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T13:23:18","slug":"harry-dawes-retiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2017\/02\/harry-dawes-retiring\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Dawes Retiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uttering the word \u201ccollege\u201d in a room full of Fieldston students has a similar effect to shouting \u201cfire\u201d in a crowded theater; panic is soon to follow. So when someone helps to ease the chaos of the college process, people take note. College advisor Harry Dawe provides a sense of comfort for Juniors and Seniors entering a hectic time in their lives. Mr. Dawe has worked in the College Office at Fieldston since 2001, tirelessly helping to place students in institutions where they belong. After 16 years at Fieldston, Dawe, who is turning 81, is retiring next year. \u201cI decided as I entered my eighth decade, maybe the time has come to not be a college advisor day after day and year after year.\u201d Dawe added, \u201cI will miss my colleagues and being in an environment of students who are deeply concerned about doing good…I guess you can say I will miss a liberal environment.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Harry will be sorely missed. Martha Epstein, Fieldston class of 2014, notes that, \u201cHarry was really helpful and comforting. Besides the fact that he is super experienced and knowledgeable, he always had a very calm demeanor.\u201d Epstein added that Harry, \u201ckept things in perspective, something that is usually lost during the college process.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Current senior Matthew DeBoer also had Dawe as a college advisor, and his experience was similar to Martha\u2019s. \u201cI knew that Harry had been in the college field for a really long time, so I was excited to have someone with a ton of experience,\u201d DeBoer Remembered. \u201cDuring my first meeting with Harry, he told me that his students were his top priority, which was nice to hear. He\u2019s been fully invested since day one, which was greatly appreciated.\u201d DeBoer also valued Dawe\u2019s unorthodox approach to the college process. \u201cI had to take the initiative sometimes, which was good. I had to approach him and take charge of my own process. That kind of approach helps in life. I had a great experience with him. He sometimes jokes about being out-of-it, but he is so aware of everything going on.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although at Fieldston he is known for being a college advisor, Dawe has held many different positions over the course of his career. After graduating from Oberlin college in 1958, Harry Dawe planned on becoming an Episcopal minister. \u201cI got rid of that idea pretty soon,\u201d Dawe said. \u201cI had a Sunday afternoon martini with a minister, Episcopalians are not opposed to having a strong drink, and I realized that I really didn\u2019t have the kind of firm belief that was needed to become a minister.\u201d So, Dawe became the head of school at a private school, a job which he said was, \u201ckind of a secular version of becoming a minister.\u201d After teaching and administrating at various schools, and even working at a high school in Istanbul, Dawe ended up back at Oberlin college working in the admissions department, before coming to work at Fieldston. \u201cWhat I have to deal with in my job,\u201d Harry Dawe reflects, \u201cis to take credit for something that I really didn\u2019t do and put up with the blame for something you didn\u2019t do either.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Harry Dawe is beloved by students and faculty alike. \u201cI will miss Harry\u2019s kindness and dedication to his job and his ability to work with all types of students. Harry was really a team player and I\u2019m going to miss him,\u201d says Zoraida Montanez, an Administrative Assistant in the College Office. \u201cI love Harry very much.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Director of College Counseling Laura Clark has worked with Harry Dawe in the college office for 16 years. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve worked with someone for that long, there are no cracks or seams.You can anticipate each other\u2019s thoughts. I will miss our working relationship.\u201d Ms. Clark also noted something that many others also loved about Harry, his seemingly-infinite knowledge base. \u201cHarry is a vastly educated human being. He has <\/span><\/p>\n

read a ton, he is musically super-literate and he is a very philosophical person. The <\/span><\/p>\n

most unusual part, though, is that Harry applies all of his academic knowledge to his <\/span><\/p>\n

love of kids. You don\u2019t meet many people like that anymore. I\u2019m really going to miss <\/span><\/p>\n

him.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After about sixty years working in education, Dawe says, \u201csomething different might be <\/span><\/p>\n

nice, although I\u2019m not sure what that may be.\u201d Whatever he decides to do, there is no <\/span><\/p>\n

doubt that Harry will continue to be a source of inspiration for everyone around him. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a testament to who he is that he has worked almost 20 years past the normal time when <\/span><\/p>\n

someone retires. I hired him when he was 64 years old and he\u2019s basically had an entire <\/span><\/p>\n

other career. It\u2019s hard to do that. You have to be a very special type of person to have <\/span><\/p>\n

the energy, the stamina and the will to do that,\u201d said Ms. Clark. \u201cMost people at 60 years <\/span><\/p>\n

old think, oh, I\u2019m tired of working, I\u2019m going to sit on a beach in Florida. Not Harry, he <\/span><\/p>\n

was ready for a new profession in a new city. That\u2019s just one example of his dedication. <\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s been truly amazing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During his well-deserved retirement, Harry Dawe plans to write a history book inspired <\/span><\/p>\n

by his time in Turkey. He also wants to spend time with his children, two of which are <\/span><\/p>\n

currently homeschooled, and catch up on his reading. Harry\u2019s contributions to the <\/span><\/p>\n

Fieldston community have been infinite, and he has made a lasting impact on everyone <\/span><\/p>\n

he worked with. His dedication, knowledge and kindness will never be forgotten at <\/span><\/p>\n

Fieldston<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uttering the word \u201ccollege\u201d in a room full of Fieldston students has a similar effect to shouting \u201cfire\u201d in a crowded theater; panic is soon to follow. So when someone helps to ease the chaos of the college process, people take note. College advisor Harry Dawe provides a sense of comfort for Juniors and Seniors entering a hectic time in their lives. Mr. Dawe has worked in the College Office at Fieldston since 2001, tirelessly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[],"coauthors":[298],"class_list":["post-3746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3747,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746\/revisions\/3747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3746"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}