A "Teacher’s Kid" with a Global Passport

By Chad Laws (AES Communications Specialist)

For Rachel Evans (Evans) Hicks, the map of the world isn’t just a geography lesson; it’s a family photo album. Born in the foothills of the Himalayas in Mussoorie and raised across the borders of Pakistan, Jordan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Hong Kong, Rachel arrived at the American Embassy School in New Delhi with a passport full of stamps and a soul shaped by the "global nomad" life. As the daughter of international educators—her father, John, a guidance counselor, and her mother, Lynne, an IB teacher—Rachel didn’t just attend AES; she lived it, quite literally, residing in campus housing during her final two years of high school.

A Renaissance Spirit in the Heart of New Delhi

The AES of the mid-90s was a vibrant, intimate world where Rachel thrived as a true multi-professional. Whether she was leading the student body as SGA President, competing on the basketball court and track field, or finding her voice in the choir and the International Thespian Society, she embodied the school’s "joyful pursuit of excellence." She fondly remembers the intellectual adrenaline of the IB program—moments spent "swooning over delicious poetry" and grappling with the heavyweights of literature, such as Shakespeare and Huxley. It was here, among a graduating class of just 36 students representing 15 different nationalities, that Rachel learned the value of intellectual rigor paired with deep, convivial relationships.

From the Classroom to the Written Page

After walking the graduation stage in 1995, Rachel’s journey took her to The College of Wooster in Ohio, where she traded the heat of Delhi for the Midwest winters to earn her degree in English. Her career thereafter followed the winding, purposeful path of a lifelong learner. She spent years as a high school English teacher, aiming to mirror the passion and expectations her own AES teachers had shown her, and later moved to Chengdu, China, to work with an international relief and development organization.

Throughout these shifts in scenery, Rachel never lost her fascination with the "bookends" of her childhood. That curiosity eventually crystallized into a distinguished literary career. Today, Rachel is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the assistant editor at Mars Hill Audio. Her debut poetry collection, Accumulated Lessons in Displacement (2025), serves as a lyrical exploration of faith, identity, and the rootless, complex reality of being a Third Culture Kid.

Rachel elaborates on the challenges of the TCK experience. “Growing up in several countries has led to my lifelong fascination with the concepts of belonging, identity, home, and displacement. Numerous poems in my collection wrestle with these themes, including “The Exile Speaks of Mountains” (see link at bottom), which specifically focuses on my memories from living in India during the “bookends” of my childhood.” 

The AES Legacy

Now settled in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. (U.S.), Rachel’s life remains a whirlwind of words and wonder. She is often found reading four or five books simultaneously or exploring new cityscapes on foot. Her connection to AES remains a point of pride; in a beautiful full-circle moment, her debut book now sits on the shelves of the AES library, waiting for the next generation of "Tigers" to find their own stories within its pages.

When asked what wisdom she carries from her time in New Delhi, Rachel’s advice is as timeless as the city itself: "Be intellectually curious and be open-hearted with people." It is a philosophy that has guided her from the campus of AES to the global stage, proving that no matter how far a global nomad wanders, the lessons of home never truly leave them.

Rachel’s poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in Presence, Ekstasis, The Baltimore Review, Front Porch Republic, Fare Forward, and other journals. A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she also won the 2019 Briar Cliff Review Fiction Prize. Her debut book of poetry is Accumulated Lessons in Displacement (Resource Publications/Wipf and Stock, 2025), which, according to Rachel, she’s “delighted to know that the AES library has a copy!

Poem: “The Exile Speaks of Mountains”

In the Himalayan foothills during the monsoons

the electricity once stayed off for fifteen days.

Every morning there was chai with sugar cubes

and buffalo milk, delivered to our kitchen door

in tin carafes strapped with thick ropes to a mule.

We kept warm by feeding the stove log after log

and entertained by watching our spit sizzle

on its tin top. My brother held my hand on the trail

to and from school, scanning for leopard scat

or thieving langur monkeys in the trees.

I write this from my brick colonial in Baltimore,

decades removed, drinking black tea with cream and sugar—

the heat of exile churning in my blood.

I drive an SUV, shop at Target, and fight tears

at random moments, like when I open the door

of the Punjab store down on 33rd, suddenly and viscerally

at home among the turmeric and cardamom, Neem soaps,

and steaming samosas under foil on the counter,

while the kind owner offers a mango juice box

to my daughter. Only if I embrace this life

as a perpetual pilgrim do I find solace in remembering

The terraced cemetery in the Himalayan pines

where the mute woman and her donkey guard the graves,

the distant beat of tabla drums, the bounce

of our flashlights on the trail walking home at night,

the thrill of leopards in the dark, the high peak

of Bandarpunch to the north, glowing in moonlight.

Used with permission from Wipf and Stock Publishers: www.wipfandstock.com

Find her online at rachelehicks.com.