Native son returns for summer

SUBMITTED With the city of Boston and Boston Harbor as a backdrop, Decatur natives Cameron Shaffer (left) and brother Ryan take a quiet walk along a beach near Quincy, Mass., in late May 2018. After living nine months in the Medford-Boston area, Ryan Shaffer returned to Decatur to spend his summer months with his family and friends.
SUBMITTED With the city of Boston and Boston Harbor as a backdrop, Decatur natives Cameron Shaffer (left) and brother Ryan take a quiet walk along a beach near Quincy, Mass., in late May 2018. After living nine months in the Medford-Boston area, Ryan Shaffer returned to Decatur to spend his summer months with his family and friends.

DECATUR -- Ryan Shaffer, one of Decatur's native sons, returned to Northwest Arkansas late in May after completing his freshmen year at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., (a suburb of Boston).

Shaffer began his first semester at the east coast liberal arts college in late August of 2017. After completing his first semester, Shaffer returned to Decatur to celebrate the Christmas holiday with family and friends. After spending almost a month at home, he returned to Medford in mid-January to begin his second semester.

Shaffer enjoys a good challenge, and his second semester was just that. With a lot of effort and hard work, Shaffer finished the semester in the top 10 percent of his class, earning a spot on Tufts University's dean's list.

"I took five classes: an introductory education course, a Latin American history course, an introductory statistics course, Spanish 2, and an introductory philosophy class," Shaffer recounts. "I received three A grades and 2 A-grades for a GPA (grade point average) of 3.87."

Shaffer recalls one interesting project that he worked on that related to one of the fields of study he is considering as a major in the coming year.

"In my education course, I had a group project at the end of the semester. We had to create our ideal school and present it to local teachers and graduate students," said Shaffer. "I worked with four other people and I focused on faculty positions, expectations and professional development. Our project ended with a document totaling 40 pages."

To fill his off time Shaffer decided to take on a challenge and began working with young students, helping them overcome problems and work to better their education. He was a big influence on many young Decatur athletes, musicians and others. So it is no wonder that Shaffer picked a program that utilizes his talents in a positive way.

"I joined the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization this semester, so I have a 'Little Brother' (named Robert) that I visit at his elementary school once a week," Shaffer said. "I serve as a friend and mentor to him. We have gotten to know each other quite well."

Shaffer still takes a little time to enjoy one of his other passions, music. He was able to attend seven concerts throughout the semester. He explored different genres of music such as Indie (independent rock), alternative rock and small venue local bands. The biggest named performer that Shaffer went to see was a New Zealand-born singer, songwriter and producer named Lorde (pronounced lord). Lorde is a two-time Grammy winner who oversaw the soundtrack for the hit movie, "Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 1"

A very special visitor from Decatur joined Shaffer while he was on spring break in March, his sister Cameron.

"Cameron and I ate in Chinatown, went shopping in Boston, toured Harvard, went to the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium," Shaffer recalls. "We also went to a Miguel concert at the House of Blues. The food we ate was excellent, and I enjoyed showing her around my campus and Boston."

On his final day on campus at Tufts, Shaffer was once again joined by Cameron and their mother, Anna Wilkins. The duo drove to Medford from Decatur to help move Shaffer out of his dorm room and back home for the summer. Once the trio departed the Boston area, the Shaffer twins and Wilkins did something a little out of the ordinary.

"Mom and Cameron picked me up on move-out day. We had a road trip on our way home," said Shaffer. "We stayed in Boston a few days, and then went to Philadelphia. After Philadelphia, we went to Washington, D.C., and then Nashville. The road trip home was great because we had never done anything like that before."

Ryan Shaffer will return to Tufts University in August to begin his sophomore year. Until then, he plans on working as a lifeguard for Gravette and Decatur pools as needed and enjoy lots of quality time with his family and friends.

General News on 06/20/2018