PenDragon - the official magazine of Lyford Cay International School PenDragon Vol 1, Spring 2015 | Page 26

ALUMNI NOTES
An Interview with Kevin Bente
(LCIS 2013, University of Miami 2017)
By Rebecca Massey, Development Coordinator
Bahamas. It was my first in-depth
research project into the field of my
passion. It convinced me to pursue
this area of study in university and to
major in Meteorology.
Why are you focusing on
tornadoes in your studies
and free time?
Why do you have a passion for
meteorology?
I was first interested in weather
when I was a kid. When my family
lived in Atlanta, we had occasional
thunderstorms associated with cold
fronts. One night, I was awakened
by my parents and told to quickly get
downstairs because a tornado had
been reported a few miles away. The
adrenaline and anxiety of that night
propelled me to start watching The
Weather Channel. It’s still something
I watch all the time even as a student
in college.
How did Lyford Cay International
School help fuel this passion?
The geography and weather of the
island nation fueled my passion for
weather by exposing me to more. I
had always wanted to experience a
hurricane, and we got tropical storm
Hanna right when we moved to The
Bahamas in 2008. My first actual
hurricane was Hurricane Irene in
2011. LCIS was closed for 3 days
for this storm. Luckily, we averted
disaster as the eye moved about 50
miles to the east of Nassau. LCIS
also fueled my passion for science.
With the help of my mentor, Dr.
Maxwell, I wrote my Extended Essay
on hurricane preparedness in The
There weren’t many tornadoes in The
Bahamas, but there were a lot of
waterspouts that I had witnessed.
They continued to fascinate me and
whenever major tornado outbreaks
were occurring in the United States,
I would be glued to the computer
looking at radar data. This happened
a lot in the spring of 2011. It was
unbelievable to watch so many tragic
events occur. I was mesmerized.
Tornadoes are the most unique and
powerful phenomena in the whole
realm of meteorology. You can see
the whole structure of a tornado and
you can see it live from birth to death
in such a short period of time. There
are also so many different types of
tornadoes. All of this sparked my
interest in storm chasing.
What has been your best
experiences to date with weather?
On March 15, 2008, just before
moving to The Bahamas, my house was
under a very powerful thunderstorm
that dropped hail the size of golf balls
and even a few hailstones as large
a traditional egg! The sound of the
hail hitting the house was about as
loud as anything I had ever heard.
That same storm dropped a tornado
just a couple of minutes after passing
my house.
Have you ever been scared?
I’ve been scared multiple times. I’ve
had many close calls with lightning
strikes during the summer months on
the beach. The scariest moment of my
life due to weather would probably be
24
the time I was on a boat during a thun-
derstorm. You have no protection and
you are also the tallest thing around.
It sets up perfectly for disaster. Luckily
the boat was not struck, but I learned
my lesson about not getting near a
storm on a boat.
What are your plans for
the future?
My goal is to get into graduate school
at either Texas A&M or Colorado
State University. After this, I will
work towards a PhD in Meteorology
and start working for NOAA or one of
the National Weather Service offices.
My goal is to eventually become a
lead forecaster for either the National
Hurricane Center or the Storm Prediction
Center.