Katie Meredith
Walking into her high school English class, alumna Alanna Sadeghian (’10) recalls looking up at the board and seeing the beginning of a sentence or just a handful of words. Her teacher, Mr. Harper, regularly challenged his students to write their own short stories. His teaching helped Sadeghian to become an excellent writer and creative thinker — skills that served her well in high school and beyond.
Sadeghian (maiden name Dillon) started attending Bellevue Christian School in 9th grade. Her mom, Sylvia Dillon, earned her Master’s in Teaching in 2006 and got a position at Three Points. She worked there for nearly a decade, teaching elementary and after school art.
In high school at BCS, Sadeghian felt engaged in her classes both academically and spiritually. Growing up in a church with just a few other kids, building faith with peers at school was refreshing. She felt that Dr. Ribera’s Bible classes fostered faith conversations and her spiritual growth. She remembers benefiting from a faith exploration assignment, where students were tasked with researching other faiths and religions.
“It was great for me to participate in dialogues about faith. I grew up with a lot of friends who had other faiths. A lot of my peers at BCS didn’t have that experience — maybe they had always gone to BCS or had grown up surrounded by other Christians. We had lots of interesting discussions in his classes.”
In addition to Bible classes, Sadeghian thrived in English with Mr. Harper, Mr. Ulstein and Mr. Delamarter, taking extra English classes because she enjoyed the subject. She was involved in performing arts as well, taking choir classes under the direction of Mr. Ulrich. She has fond memories of performing in the Madrigal Feast with Kantorei, which was an annual event featuring a holiday dinner and performance. Her sophomore year, Sadeghian appeared as a unicorn (this was a two-person role – she was in the back, and Tannah Slover (’10) was the front!)
In the theatre program, Sadeghian’s first role was as the narrator in Our Town. It was the perfect way to help her get connected and make friends, coming in as a new 9th grader. She loved participating in theatre for all her years at BCS, performing in multiple shows each year. “I did hair and makeup in theatre as well, for all my years at BCS and it was so fun. Eden Cooke (’07) was doing hair and makeup before me; she was a graduating senior and I was shadowing her. At the time, Hannah Fenske (’10) was helping with props and costumes.”
Through choir and theatre, Sadeghian’s creative strengths continued to develop at BCS. Beyond the arts, she felt well-prepared for the future – not just academically, but also in her life skills. She remembers working on the research paper in both Mr. Harper’s and Mr. Ulstein’s classes and going to the University of Washington on a field trip to do research. “I felt like the research paper really prepared me for college and the workforce,” she said.
After graduating from BCS, Sadeghian went to Seattle Pacific University where she majored in Art and minored in Art History, where her skills in writing and research were an asset. By focusing on printmaking and graphic design, she found her way to a career through internships and work study opportunities.
While studying at SPU, she did graphic design for local non-profit and arts organizations, including the Outdoors for All Foundation and the Seattle Art Museum. Her first marketing position was at the corporate office of Rairdon Auto Group, which later became her first full-time job.
For students who are preparing for careers, Sadeghian encourages them to look for internships and jobs to determine what career path would be the best fit. “Try many different things to figure out what you are most interested in, and what you enjoy. When you’re young, it doesn’t matter if you hop from job to job. Take all of the opportunities that are open to you as a young adult.”
Sadeghian reconnected with a childhood friend after high school, who she later married and now works as a Senior Account Executive, Integrated Marketing at PAN Communications, a public relations and integrated marketing agency in Boston. She also does freelance graphic design and marketing consulting through her business, Aarrow Marketing.
