Rustic Spirit Spotlights: Christian, Alastair and Eloise

There’s certain qualities and attitudes we see in Rustic Pathways students year after year. They’re empathetic, community-oriented and positive impact-minded. They have Rustic Spirit!

But Rustic Spirit spans far beyond our programs and students. Young people around the world are working to create positive change in their communities.

The following changemakers embody Rustic Spirit and bring the values we hold dear out into the world.

Christian Calonder
Age 17
Littleton High School
Colorado, United States

Christian is involved in many different service projects in his community through various organizations and a weekly youth group. Most recently he has packed brown bags for unhoused individuals and joined a team of high schoolers that run and organize middle school retreats. Christian has also been a partner athlete with the Special Olympics to help children with disabilities share a love for basketball and football.

As a high school senior, Christian is currently seeking to major in criminal justice and criminology. He hopes to have a good work and life balance with a job that supports the family he wants in the future. Christian enjoys hanging out with his friends for just about any activity. He especially loves playing spikeball, baseball or any street sport.

Christian encourages others who want to make an impact to take life day by day and seize opportunities that present themselves.

Alastair Deng
Age 17
Benjamin Franklin High School
Louisiana, United States

Although the city government and various nonprofits and recycling organizations of New Orleans claim to recycle, Alastair has discovered all recyclables collected end up in the landfill. To remedy this, Alastair collects glass waste from his neighborhood every week and drops it off at Glass Half Full, a local glass recycling center. So far he has picked up over 2,000 pounds of glass that has been turned into sand and other glass products that are used for coastal recovery and eco-reconstruction.

As founder of the NOLA Green Teens, Alastair also leads a volunteering group every Saturday to assist Glass Half Full and other environmental protection organizations.

In college, Alastair plans to major in biomedical engineering or molecular biology. He aspires to pursue a PhD and a career in science research. In his free time, Alastair enjoys reading fantasy books and watching musicals.

For Alastair, the most challenging part about getting involved with his community was taking the first step. He advises to just try!

Eloise Ayotte
Age 18
Brentwood High School
Missouri, United States

Eloise is a changemaker who looks for opportunities to make the world a better, more equitable place. She’s involved with various feminist and sex education programs that educate teens. Eloise is a nationally published writer that spreads the word on controversial issues and educates people on modern problems.

She participated in environmental research with the University of Tulsa to establish more effective green real estate incentives and was a 2021 SDG Changemaker who worked on a feminist speaker series highlighting powerful local women. Eloise also volunteers weekly at Equine Assisted Therapy, a physical therapy opportunity for children with disabilities to exercise through horseback riding.

Eloise plans to major in environmental studies and aspires to be an environmental lawyer in the future. She loves to write and bake vegan treats, but her absolute favorite thing to do is hike with her family and dogs.

When wanting to make an impact, Eloise says there’s no such thing as being “too young” or “too inexperienced.” When people stay true to themselves and their ambitions, they can achieve anything.

Nominate a Student

Do you know a student doing valuable work that deserves to be recognized? Nominate them here! Are you making an impact? Tell us about your work here.

Make Change

Interested in creating change in your community? Check out our guide and learn how to make an impact as a student.

At Rustic Pathways, our goal is to make positive contributions to the communities we visit through responsible travel operations and community service projects that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.