Individual Details
Rachel Florence Briles
(9 May 1984 - )
Rachel attended grade school and high school in Birmingham, Alabama, where her parents were on the staff of the University of Alabama Medical School. Along with her brother Travis, she was accepted at and attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts, a boarding and day school that included students from the entire state. Rachel's field of artistic specialty was fiction and poetry. One of the poems that she read at her Senior Reading about a month before she graduated from high school is in the Notes for her father, David Elwood Briles.
The following paragraphs were the introduction for Rachel at her Senior Reading by one of her classmates:
"In the beginning, I saw Rachel Briles, and I knew about things like coastlines, constellations, and magnolia trees. . .but I didn't know that such natural beauty still existed. I could tell she was a collector's item, an antique, in a sense, representing an era of appreciation for pen-pals, geographical formations, and simple chemical reactions--like combustion. I don't know if you know, but I don't think they make that kind of girl anymore.
"And once, in tenth, grade, I heard Rachel get so frustrated she emitted a quiet, clipped curse-word, and I knew I, or someone, must be having a seriously adverse effect on her. Not that I entirely believe her charade of naivety for an instant, but I do believe that her rural charm and effortless generosity should be kept and cultivated, as it has taught me that the real lovely things are not the ostentatious things, the right things are the understated things, and the most delicious things are probably made of fruit and sugar. There are few people I envy so much as I do Rachel, and few people that have floored me with their absolute quality of kindness and character, and inadvertently cause me to watch my mouth. One day Rachel Florence Briles will publish a collection of letters she's written from far-off places, and one day I'll learn how to be so gracious without trying."
Rachel graduated from high school in May 2002 and began attending the University of Texas at Austin in August 2002. Her father and his parents were all graduates of the University of Texas at Austin.
During the summer following her freshman year at the University of Texas, Rachel spent the summer working in Brownsville, Texas, helping with epidemiological research of tuberculosis at the University of Texas Department of Public Health at Brownsville.
During her second semester at UT, Rachel founded a student service organization with the primary purpose of educating people about hunger around the world and secondary purpose of raising money to help eliminate that hunger.
Rachel spent the summer of her junior year in Viet Nam, with part of her time there being spent helping in orphanages.
Rachel graduated from the University of Texas in Austin on December 9, 2006. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Geographic and "UTeach" (education) with minors in Spanish and History graduation. In January 2007, she began teaching science to 6th graders for the Del Valle School District in Del Valle, Texas, a new suburb of Austin.
The following paragraphs were the introduction for Rachel at her Senior Reading by one of her classmates:
"In the beginning, I saw Rachel Briles, and I knew about things like coastlines, constellations, and magnolia trees. . .but I didn't know that such natural beauty still existed. I could tell she was a collector's item, an antique, in a sense, representing an era of appreciation for pen-pals, geographical formations, and simple chemical reactions--like combustion. I don't know if you know, but I don't think they make that kind of girl anymore.
"And once, in tenth, grade, I heard Rachel get so frustrated she emitted a quiet, clipped curse-word, and I knew I, or someone, must be having a seriously adverse effect on her. Not that I entirely believe her charade of naivety for an instant, but I do believe that her rural charm and effortless generosity should be kept and cultivated, as it has taught me that the real lovely things are not the ostentatious things, the right things are the understated things, and the most delicious things are probably made of fruit and sugar. There are few people I envy so much as I do Rachel, and few people that have floored me with their absolute quality of kindness and character, and inadvertently cause me to watch my mouth. One day Rachel Florence Briles will publish a collection of letters she's written from far-off places, and one day I'll learn how to be so gracious without trying."
Rachel graduated from high school in May 2002 and began attending the University of Texas at Austin in August 2002. Her father and his parents were all graduates of the University of Texas at Austin.
During the summer following her freshman year at the University of Texas, Rachel spent the summer working in Brownsville, Texas, helping with epidemiological research of tuberculosis at the University of Texas Department of Public Health at Brownsville.
During her second semester at UT, Rachel founded a student service organization with the primary purpose of educating people about hunger around the world and secondary purpose of raising money to help eliminate that hunger.
Rachel spent the summer of her junior year in Viet Nam, with part of her time there being spent helping in orphanages.
Rachel graduated from the University of Texas in Austin on December 9, 2006. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Geographic and "UTeach" (education) with minors in Spanish and History graduation. In January 2007, she began teaching science to 6th graders for the Del Valle School District in Del Valle, Texas, a new suburb of Austin.
Events
| Birth | 9 May 1984 | Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama |  |
Families
| Father | David Elwood Briles (1945 - ) |
| Mother | Marilyn Jean Crain (1949 - ) |
| Sibling | Travis Crain Briles (1985 - ) |
Endnotes
1. Original Briles Family Genealogy Information Collected by Worthie Elwood Briles, Susan Marie Briles Kniebes, and Sara Jea.