Age: 23

After Touchstone what schools did you attend? Grafton Middle for 7th/8th grades, St. John’s in Shrewsbury, and Brandeis University where I majored in theater arts and creative writing.
 
Current endeavors (professional, hobbies, family life): After graduating in May 2007, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career writing for film and television. A long ladder to climb, but an exciting challenge. I’m currently a page at the NBC Studios in Burbank.
 
Favorite Touchstone memory: We did a mock election in Polly’s class in the fall of 1996 to coincide with the presidential election that year. Our two candidates were Bili (“bee-lee”) the Dinosaur and some kind of moose... I don’t remember if he had a name. I think it just might have been "Moose." I also don’t remember either if these candidates had any particular party affiliation. A third of the class was on each campaign, and the other third was the press. I was a member of the press corps, and I think I actually wrote “Press” on a piece of paper and stuck it in the brim of a black fedora that I had and may or may not have worn to school that day. I was a special kid. I remember I was assigned to interview Bili on camera, and I hammed up the interview so much (compared to whoever had interviewed the moose) that I was accused by the other campaign of not being an impartial member of the media. I had to apologize to the class.
 
The year I was in Susan’s class as well, the class was moved en masse by an entrepreneurial spirit, and everyone started little businesses. We rented scissors and white-out to people for actual money! We had rates for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, etc. I can’t believe Susan let us do this, it must have been extremely disruptive, but I think a few of us made a fortune.
 
So, those and the sand table in Tamara’s class. Other notable TCS alumnae Michella Bedrosian and I generally frightened off anyone else who tried to play there.
 
How did Touchstone prepare you for what you do today? I don’t think I understood the full impact of my seven years at Touchstone until I was actually in college. My time there provided me the freedom and encouragement to be an independent person and independent thinker from an extremely young age, and TCS’ unique methods of problem solving, experiential learning, creativity and the closeness of the community spoiled me. In spite of myself, I have sought this closeness in every community I’ve been a part of subsequent to Touchstone. Because of Touchstone's influence, [I have] known how to create it.
 
Touchstone has always been a little secret weapon that I carry with me – a reservoir of strength that I can draw on when I really need to. As I have grown older and increasingly come to understand Touchstone’s progressiveness and its unique place in the landscape of elementary education, I appreciate more and more every day that I was able to be a part of it.