RE Log - Fall 2020

8 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2020 “I know Beverly and her mom have a real spiritual connection,” said George “Trae” Williamson ’90 , a longtime friend of Watson since her days at Ransom Everglades. “I always had a really strong sense that there was a bit of her mom in her. Her mom really represented who and what she wanted to be in this world, and she’s brought that forth with grace and completion.” Thanks to their parents’ outreach and generous spirit, the Watson children frequently encountered interesting guests who visited for dinner, weekends or holidays. They mingled with international students from Germany, Pakistan, Brazil and other nations who were attending FIU or the University of Miami, or adopted brothers and sisters from Angola in town to visit. Yet even with a bustling house, a busy career and her dissertation, Rose Watson managed to carve out individual time with each of her children. “Mommy would wake us up early in the mornings on Saturdays; that was her time to have one-on-one breakfasts with us,” Beverly Watson said. “She’d tap you lightly, 6 a.m., and she’d whisper, ‘Come, come,’ so you had to sneak out of the room so no one would hear you, to a special breakfast with one-on-one time.” Watson recalled family prayers in Portuguese, the most common language in Angola, a former territory of Portugal. By the time she entered Ransom Everglades in the 10th grade, she was determined to study abroad to learn more Portuguese and see more of the world. Her poise, sense of purpose and spirit helped her fit in immediately, recalled her friend Trae Williamson. “It was such a breath of fresh air when Beverly came in,” Williamson recalled. “She brought a new energy to the class … joy, energy and perspective without judgment.” Active in musical theater and basketball at RE, Watson traveled to Brazil for a semester during her junior year. She made three study-abroad trips to Brazil: in high school, college and law school. Those trips, her friends observed, seemed to cement her career path. “The trip [at RE] was a game-changer for her,” said Allison Estes Brown, a friend she met on the first day of kindergarten at Henry S. West Laboratory School in Coral Gables. “She really wanted to focus globally at that point.” That focus could be seen most clearly in her work with Global Imprints, an organization she founded in 2007 to connect talented, service-oriented students or professionals with local enterprises in regions around the world where they could make a lasting social impact. She developed relationships with Harvard, Duke, Stanford and Northwestern universities, as well as Yale alumni and others during her tenure at Global Imprints. “When I think about my career and even personal journey, I know it has been influenced and shaped and even inspired by my mom. Sometimes you can step up and become what you model.” – Beverly Watson ’90 Watson family at airport before Beverly departs to Angola in 1994. Left to right: Dad, Bev, Mom, Carlos, Carolyn and in front, cousin Kamne Thomas