Legacy at Harker

Reflecting on the years she has spent with Harker students, Zink passed on advice to those currently at the upper school in her signature wry style.

“Pick something you’re reasonably good at, hone your skills, and keep your eyes wide open,” she said. “Don’t think that life is a straight line path from kindergarten to the age of 80. Explore. Ten years from now, there will be professions we don’t even have the names of yet. Take a class whether or not you think you’re going to get a great grade. Take a class just to see what that discipline is like.The whole idea is to broaden yourself, not to march down a rigid little narrow path. That idea that there’s only a limited number of opportunities is absolutely wrong.”

At Harker, Zink also served as the director of the upper school’s “Eagle Buddies” program. The idea of having a program at the upper school in which high school mentor younger students came up in a conversation with Head of Upper School Butch Keller. The school that Zink previously taught at had a similar program.

“Mr. Keller and I were talking about building community,” Zink said. “[The Eagle Buddies program is] right up my alley, because it requires huge attention to detail in terms of logistics and tons of communication, and those are two things I do quite well. I’m glad it’s worked. I wish we could have the kids meet more often.”

Zink also mentioned her work as former advisor of the Global Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) club at the upper school as something she was particularly proud of.

Andrew Rule (10), who is currently enrolled is Zink’s AP European History course commented on the his time under Zink’s tutelage.

“She has such a passion for what she teaches; she often becomes very impassioned about a subject and that instills that same sort of passion in her students,” Andrew said. “I remember right before the AP everybody was getting very worried and she was extremely adamant about how it’s important not to stress out and she said ‘you have to stop freaking out, it’s all going to be fine,’ and it made me feel a lot better and less worried going into the ap exam.”

In the coming fall, Zink and her husband Richard Chou will travel through France for a few of weeks.

She added, “Then of course, I’ll spend time with all those grandkids.”

Next March, Zink and Chou plan to move to the town of Holderness in New Hampshire. Zink shared her hope that their two daughters will be stationed in Virginia, which is an approximately 10-hour long drive from Holderness. Zink has four grandchildren of the ages of six years, three and half years, five months and three and a half months.
In New Hampshire, Zink plans on taking courses at the local college, constructing homes with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, playing the saxophone in a community band, “peak bagging,” or climbing mountains, and volunteering.