Roland Allen

Roland Allen was born in Mobile, Alabama, and was raised by his mother and grandmother in a home located just off the campus of Spring Hill College, the oldest college in Alabama and the first Jesuit college in the South. As a child, Spring Hill's campus became his playground, providing endless adventures and inspiration.

One particularly vivid childhood memory was when a section of Spring Hill's campus was excavated to provide dirt for the construction of the Interstate Highway system, including I-10 and I-65. Roland and his brother often wandered over to explore this newly formed terrain. On campus, there was also a swimming hole with unrestricted access, where some of Roland's childhood memories were created.

The heart of Spring Hill's campus is a picturesque quadrangle, centered around St. Joseph's Chapel, built in the Gothic Revival style. It this setting, Roland began to dream of attending college. While other boys his age were collecting baseball cards, Roland wrote letters to colleges and universities across the country requesting their academic catalogs. This was a time long before the internet and glossy college viewbooks, and Roland's youthful curiosity would eventually shape his career in college admissions—a destiny he had yet to realize.

Roland's formative years unfolded against the backdrop of the Civil Rights era's tumultuous events. He witnessed the historic day when Vivian Malone, a fellow Mobile native, and others were denied entry to the University of Alabama as Governor George Wallace famously stood in the schoolhouse door. He also remembers the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that claimed the lives of four young girls who were attending Sunday School. These pivotal moments in civil rights history further inspired Roland's aspirations to attend college, making him the only one among his siblings to have that privilege.

He pursued his undergraduate studies in philosophy at both Spring Hill College and Loyola University in New Orleans, where he was taught by Jesuits who had known Flannery O'Connor and occasionally shared from her writings. During his final year at Loyola, author Walker Percy served as the Bicentennial Professor, further influencing Roland's interest in Southern Literature.

Roland holds a graduate degree in counselor education from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. He spent time at Yale through a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for Secondary School Teachers studying the Origins of Christianity with Professor Wayne Meeks.

Professionally, Roland's life has revolved around college admissions and independent school college counseling. He held appointments at Westmont College, Colby College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. His years in college counseling were at The Branson School in Ross, California, Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, and St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, California.

In the realm of sports and outdoor activities, Roland's participation came later in life. He picked up running in his 30s and progressed to complete the Honolulu Marathon in December of 2000, a race that had been on his "do before you are 50" bucket list. Over the years, cycling and hiking replaced running, with a significant commitment to cycling, including having Franco Bicycles build a gravel bike and later adding a dedicated road bike to his collection.

"A Wise Bicycle" was a project that took Roland by surprise. It began as whimsical reflections stemming from his bicycle rides, but as he continued to write, thoughts flowed freely. Encouraged by friends who found meaning in his musings, he embarked on the journey to transform these writings into a book. The result is "A Wise Bicycle," a fun project that captures the essence of his experiences and the wisdom he's gathered along the way.