Aidan Cunningham: A Year in New Zealand

Aidan Cunningham is a student at Columbia High School and is a member of the Ethical Culture community. In 2013, Aidan spent a year in New Zealand and will be speaking on how his experience shaped him in becoming a young humanist and part of the Ethical Education program. He will touch on four areas that are part of being an Ethical Humanist — care for our democracy, protecting our environment, mindfulness, and community service. He believes that coming into close contact with another culture and, in some ways, assimilating into it, continues to shape his beliefs and core values, and taught him how to be a global citizen and comprehend the ways in which diversity can foster understanding and empathy.

He is interested in music, international relations, and the web-comic xkcd. He likes to travel and read good books.