"VA is the Best of Me"

A Q&A with Brian Schilling '11
Brian Schilling '11 began teaching English literature at Vermont Academy in 2018 after serving as a teaching intern during the previous year. He is a Vermont Academy alumnus and is the son of Lorna Schilling, head of the English department, and Falko Schilling, former faculty member.

We asked Brian to share with us a little about what VA means to him and what his most cherished VA memories are as a student and as a faculty member.


What does VA mean to me? To me Vermont Academy is a lot of things. It's is my home and my childhood--my adolescence and adulthood. Where my parents started a family together. Where my brothers taught me to be tough, loyal, and caring. My sprawling, majestic backyard. My serenity and my stress. My joy and frustration. The place where I learned responsibility and accountability. The place for which I sweat, and bled, and cried as an athlete. The place for which I lost nights of sleep in pursuit of scholarly success. The place that gave me my best friends in the world and the woman I love. VA has given me more than I ever asked of it, and thus I have given all of myself in return.

In many ways, Vermont Academy is like a family member. I have known and been associated with VA since the day I was born, and like a family member, the school has been an ever-present influence on my life. It has been a source of loving encouragement, hospitality, companionship, and transformative knowledge. At each stage of my educational development, VA has been there to provide stability, access, and sanctuary for my evolving needs and interests. VA represents the best of what one might expect in a familial relationship, but so too does it represent the struggle and unavoidable disappointment one might feel toward family. When family lets you down, forgiveness is inevitable, but potentially neither timely nor quick. It is the welcome embrace of a brother and the ever-lingering sting of where he punched you years ago. But so it goes with any meaningful relationship. Devotion without strife is a false utopia--gratification without conflict is a lie. Be not mistaken, VA is the best of me. It is the place where I learned that I did not have to be the best, but that I must always do my best in order to live a good life. It is the place I learned to be on time, to put others before myself, and to practice the essential qualities of leadership.

Before there was the Great Room, Horowitz, or the Nita Choukas Theatre, when the auditorium was on the second floor of Fuller Hall, a meaningful quote adorned the wall to the left of the proscenium stage. It was a quote once spoken by the woman for whom our distinguished alumni award is named, Florence Sabin. The quote read, "Be true to your best self." I remember looking up at the quote as an eight-year-old boy. I spent hours in that auditorium helping my father prepare for the upcoming dramatic productions. I painted sets, set up chairs in the audience, and even used a screw gun when called upon, all the while looking up at those words. The words I would someday live by. They are the words Vermont Academy whispers in my ear when I am struggling to plan a lesson, or feeling too exhausted to grade a slew of essays. The words I hear when I’m running late to soccer practice and fear that I might let down my players, the players that came before us, my parents, my former teachers, my former coaches, and of course, myself. My best self.

My most cherished moment as a Vermont Academy student was being awarded the Robert Long Leadership and Service Award. Growing up I knew all the awards and I knew the names of those who had earned them. They were kids I looked up to. People I recognized as being those who made a difference, those who had made Vermont Academy a better place. It was not the grandeur of the award that I was drawn to; rather, it was to be among those names.

It was a tremendous honor to be recognized for my leadership qualities. Being a leader is not easy, but in my opinion it is also not particularly complicated. I believe leadership is what you do. It’s setting an example and doing your best consistently, both in public and when others are not looking. Leaders are fallible and are often those for whom school and athletics don’t come easy, but leaders are the ones who make up for their deficiencies with effort. I believe that when consistent and dedicated effort is present, leadership follows.

I have not been a Vermont Academy faculty member for long, but there have already been so many cherished moments. With great difficulty I have narrowed it down to three.

As a teaching intern in my first year, I was called upon to co-teach sections of juniors in English and history courses. I have such fond memories and feelings for my first students and mentor co-teachers. It was an amazing opportunity to get my feet wet and work through the initial difficulties of commanding a classroom. For those students and teachers I have nothing but the highest regards.

I have also cherished the opportunity to be working for my mother in the English department. My mom (Lorna Schilling) has been through everything with me and continues to be a primary pillar in both my professional and personal support systems. There are no words to describe how much she means to me and how much I owe to her. She has always been my favorite teacher. She gave me my love of books and the manner by which I make sense of the world through narrative. Through her I learned the world is not so scary when one realizes it is simply a vast tapestry of stories—each asking and answering our own essential questions. Without fail my mom has been there for me my entire life, and it is truly an honor to call her a colleague.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention what is likely my most dearly cherished moment—the night I met Skylar Snyder. Skylar signed on as the assistant athletic trainer when I was an intern, and I fell in love with her immediately. Luckily she loved me back. After a year together she has fostered in me a newfound sense of compassion, positivity, and purpose. I mentioned earlier that Vermont Academy is the best of me. So too is Skylar. I would be lost without her, and I’m so grateful Vermont Academy helped us to find each other.
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Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.