Sreya Atluri

Highly-Recognized Scholar, Leader, Entrepreneur & Difference Maker

I loved every part of my Nysmith experience! I was definitely involved in a lot of leadership and service activities at Nysmith, as well as STEM! I really enjoyed serving as the National Junior Honor Society President and the Nysmith Gazette Editor-in-Chief, as well as my involvement with the SCA! I also did MathCounts, Math Olympiad, Craft Club, Musical Theatre, and various science and math clubs over the years! I also enjoy dancing Kathak (a traditional Indian dance) as well as singing, both of which I have been involved in for 12 years.

After Nysmith, I had the privilege to attend Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and graduated in 2015!

In high school, I was able to explore my interest in STEM by serving as:

• a Fairfax County Coordinator for the USA Science and Engineering Festival
• an X-STEM Coordinator
• a Research Intern at the National Institutes of Health

I’ve also pursued my passion for leadership through serving as:

• Secretary-General of Model United Nations
• Co-President of Bioengineering Projects for the Future
• Co-Founder and Co-President of X-STEM
• Advisory Board Member of Tomorrow’s Women in Science and Technology
• Senior Coordinator of BigSibs Mentoring Program

I actively sought to make an impact in the community through my role as an elected representative of my school on the Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council, my work as a representative on the FCPS Student Human Rights Commission, and my presentations at STEM and leadership conferences.

In high school, I took Summer Chemistry after my freshman year so I could take AP Biology and AP Chemistry as a sophomore.

I then spent two summers as a Research Intern at the National Institutes of Health, where I initiated a mathematical and computational modeling research project in the lab to investigate the mental fatigue phenomenon.

I presented in 2014 & 2013 NIH Summer Poster Day and had my work recognized at the White House Science Fair as well as various other science fairs, and a research paper in currently in the process of being published.

I also served as the Director of Student Services Student Data Analyst for a short period of time during my sophomore year, where I was responsible for statistical analysis of job survey data related to athletics and activities, and I presented effective research presentations to Directors of Student Activities at district meetings.

The summer after my freshman year of college, I interned at the Good Work Network in New Orleans through the Robertson Program! The mission of Good Work Network is to help minority- and women-owned businesses start, grow and succeed. It envisions a community where the economy is diverse and inclusive and where all dedicated and competent entrepreneurs have access to the resources they need to succeed. As an intern, I interacted with clients, consulted with Good Work staff, developed effective training material and techniques, developed feasibility analyses of various enterprise options, developed business plans (including financing plan) for viable options, and assisted with developing funding requests for grants.

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of making a difference in the community, and currently serve as the CEO and Founder of Creating Awareness in Research and Education (CARE) and a former Executive Director for Growth and Inspiration through Volunteering and Education (GIVE), both non-profit organizations striving to address educational disparities across varying socioeconomic dimensions.

In college, as a Robertson Scholar at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill/Duke University, I’m double majoring in B.S. Business Administration and Economics, with a minor in Entrepreneurship. I’m interested in sustainable community development within the context of interactions between government, businesses, and society and promoting economic opportunities by leveraging education to build stronger, more resilient communities.

I’ve pursued my interests on campus as the Chair of Student Programming & Outreach for the Student Government Cabinet, Director of the Robertson Community Coordinators, and involved in numerous business school organizations, including as Vice-President of Communications on the Operations Club Executive Team and Director of Internal Development on the International Business Executive Board.

I’m fortunate to serve as Treasurer on the International Relations Association Executive Board and Director of Finance & Sponsorships on the American Mock World Health Organization Executive Board.

I’m also involved with community service and leadership and STEM conferences.

Last summer, I interned at the Good Work Network and was a Teaching Assistant for the TOMODACHI Toshiba Science & Technology Leadership Academy, and continued expanding CARE’s operations and impact.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be recognized through the years:

• I had the honor of meeting President Obama and other distinguished officials as a 2015 White House Science Fair Honored Guest and 2015 Women and Girls in STEM Discussion Student Roundtable at White House Science Fair!
• I’m also incredibly proud to be a 2015 Coca-Cola Scholar and in the Carson Scholars Hall of Fame Top 20 under 30.
• I met and spoke with with Jacob J. Lew, Secretary of the Treasury; Rosie Rios, Treasurer of the United States; Megan Smith, Chief Technology Officer of the United States; Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President; and a host of other dynamic individuals at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Women in Finance and Technology Symposium.
• I was recognized as a 2014 National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing VA/DC Affiliate Winner and a 2015, 2014, and 2013 National Runner-Up.
• I was excited to be chosen as a 2016 TOMODACHI Toshiba Science & Technology Leadership Academy Teaching Assistant & 2014 Winner.
• I was a 2015 US Presidential Scholars Program Semifinalist.
• I’m very honored to be recognized as a 2015 Apple Scholar.
• I received a News Channel 8 “Pay It Forward” Feature for outstanding service to community.
• I was part of the 10th Congressional District Young Women Leadership Program.
• I was recognized as a 2014 Nordstrom Scholarship Program Awardee.

It has been an absolutely phenomenal and rewarding experience having my commitment to community service recognized as a:

• 2015 Recognized Carson Scholar and 2014 Scholar
• 2015 Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student and District Nominee
• 2015 William E. Beals Scholarship Awardee
• 2015 Burger King Scholar
• 2015 Zonta Young Woman in STEM Award
• 2015 Thiel Foundation Summit Invitee
• 2015 AXA Achievement Community Scholarship Program Achiever

Other recognition I’m honored to have received:

• “Premio de Oro” (Gold Medal) & “Premio de Plata” (Silver Medals) in the National Spanish Exams
• 2012 Regional ExploraVision Winner (1 of 6 teams in US)
• highlighted in as an “Inspiring Woman Leader Spotlight” feature by Women LEAD for community and STEM outreach
• American Mathematics Competitions Certificate of Achievement and Certificate of Distinction
• Represented USA on All-American Model United Nations Team in China for WEMUN Expo
• Global Tech Leader at Global Tech Women representing the US

I’m also very honored to be named:

• a 2015 & 2014 National AP Scholar
• a 2015, 2014, & 2013 AP Scholar with Distinction
• a 2015 & 2014 Volunteer Fairfax Benchmark Youth
• a participant in the 2014 West Point Leadership & Ethics Conference
• an invitee to the 2016 Clinton Global Initiative University
• an invitee to serve as a Campus Representative for the Clinton Global Initiative
• to the Fall 2015 Dean’s List and the Spring 2016 Dean’s List (both semesters I’ve been in college)

Nysmith has had such a significant and long-lasting impact on my life, and has left an indelible impression that resonates with me to this very day. I still remember the first day I walked into Nysmith, and the emotions and memories flow over me as I think over not only my 9 years physically with the community, but the over 14 years that I’ve had the privilege and fortunate of being part of the Nysmith family – because it is truly a family and a community. The passion that Nysmith community shares to excel and give back to the community, the dedication demonstrated, the amazing relationships formed, and the desire for change so richly characterizes a place that has become a second home.

Nysmith has given me the opportunity to grow and learn, not only with regards with academics, but also in terms of character development and becoming a human being. While the academics at Nysmith propelled me to embark on a lifelong journey of learning and gave me the opportunity to attend Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Class of 2015) and currently explore The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University as a Robertson Scholar, I would say that the development of my persona, as well being able to invest in the values and goals that meant most to me is a shining aspect of Nysmith. Ultimately, the relationships that you form and the people that you meet are among the most impactful and meaningful experiences that you can have, and this is something that Nysmith instilled in me. Values such as integrity, communication, relationships, and people were reinforced throughout my Nysmith experience, and I could not be more thankful for the constant support, encouragement, advice, and sense of warmth, which would not be possible without all of the time, energy, and efforts of the administration, staff, teachers, mentors, students, and supporters! Thank you all so much!

When asked what advice I would give a current Nysmith student student, it would be to find your passion and really explore it – commit to it and allow yourself to become fully invested. Appreciate and cherish your own individuality – all of you are incredibly special, talented individuals, and I know that if you set your heart to a task, you will achieve beyond anyone’s imagination. Cherish that individuality that so uniquely characterizes you, and you will shine. Make sure that you love what you’re doing, and keep this drive and desire to give back, create change, and have an impact burning bright, because it will continue you to motivate and encourage you, and give you the power to do things you would have thought otherwise impossible.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip:  Numerous trips to D.C.! Also the 4th grade trip to Gettysburg and Antietam, which I got to relive again as a “chaperone” with my sister, Sahithi!

School play:  You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown!

Science fair project:  “More Sun, More Power” (6th grade)

Place to hang out at Nysmith:  Silver Pod! Really anywhere – the entire school feels like home!

Book you read for one of your classes: Pride and Prejudice (one of my favorites to this day!)

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I genuinely cannot choose just one story, but I do think that the sense of family that resonates within me every time I walk into Nysmith, and how I still go back to visit everyone at Nysmith demonstrates my true love and passion for the school and community.

After school club: I can’t just choose one! I loved the National Junior Honor Society, the Nysmith Gazette Newspaper, the Student Council Association, MathCounts, Math Olympiad, Craft Club, various science and math clubs over the years, and so many more!

Memory:  Graduation is one of my most emotionally poignant memories – I had attended Nysmith since Kindergarten, so I was graduating with friends that had become family over the nine years we had known each other. It was an amazing experience in that I was so excited for everyone to go to high school and continue to do absolutely phenomenal things, but I also knew that I would miss each and everyone so so much, but that we would stay in touch, with each other, and with everyone at Nysmith!

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  Yes I do!

What state were you?  Oklahoma!

Alex Sands

Matt Steffanina

Amazing Race Winner, Dancer, Choreographer & YouTube Sensation

Before, During, and After Nysmith (as told by his mom)

Matt came to Nysmith by accident; in hindsight, it was a very good accident.  When he was a toddler, I needed child care for him.  I found a daycare center that was close by our Arlington condo, and I took him for a visit.  The very sweet owner, Barbara, said that he wasn’t qualified to come to the center because it was for mentally-challenged children.  But Barbara and I got to talking.  She showed me around, and I was really amazed by the cleanliness and the overall happiness of the center.  As we talked, Matt interacted with the children. They liked him.  They seemed to even be learning from him.  The owner realized that he could be a good helper for her, so she let him come to the daycare center.  He attended that center for two years, until he was ready for preschool.  Barbara and I stayed in touch.

When Matt was about to enter first grade, she called one day to chat.  I told her that he would be going to the local public school.  She said, “Oh no, Cathy.  This child is gifted.  You’ll ruin him.”  I told her that he was just focused, and he’d be fine.  But Barbara insisted that I have him tested, and she was right.  Then she said, “There is only one school that he will be happy attending: Nysmith.”  I’d never heard of Nysmith, and it wasn’t close to our home or work.  But she insisted that I go meet with the Director, Carole Nysmith.  Well, five minutes into our meeting, I was sold.  I’d never been in such a wonderful educational environment.  I signed Matt up, and it was a perfect match.

Matt loved Nysmith, and he thrived there.  He particularly loved math and computer classes, so we all assumed that he was Thomas Jefferson bound.  He arrived at Nysmith for early care and left when aftercare ended.  As an entrepreneur, I needed as much support as I could get.  I always knew that he was in good hands.  In fact, I asked him if he wanted to have shorter days when his brother was born, and he said, “No.”  Aftercare was the highlight of his day.  In many ways, it shaped his future.

Learning during the day was formal and fun; aftercare was still learning, but it was more fun.  It spoke to him in a deep way.  We both became interested in the concept of unschooling.  It was clear to me that Matt processed things uniquely.  He learned most effectively when it was experiential and enjoyable.  When I sold my business, and we moved to Wintergreen, VA, we decided to try unschooling.

At first, it was difficult.  The challenge of unschooling is to allow the child to have any resources they want, but to avoid teaching them.  You want to foster their ability to figure things out on their own, to only step in when they ask.  That was hard for both of us.  We were both used to more traditional education.  But we worked through it slowly.  We learned to trust his natural desire to learn what he really needed to know.  It’s an amazing thing to witness unschooled children.  It’s like they gravitate to that which is part of their bigger life plan.  Often it makes no sense at all; trusting that inner plan isn’t always easy, but it is necessary.

Matt had always loved sports, and so he began to focus on his golf game after Nysmith.  He got very good and started winning tournaments.  But then he lost interest.  He also took up martial arts, but quit as soon as he got his black belt.  It was as if he loved the learning process, but mastery bored him.  He then became a snowboard instructor and took up competitive snowboarding.  He got very good, and then moved on to guitar.  By this time, I just trusted him.  This was leading somewhere.  I just knew it.

Then dance hit him.  There were no good dance studios nearby.  The internet wasn’t a good resource as YouTube wasn’t yet a thing.  So we bought hip hop dance videos.  He’d practice what he saw on the videos until he learned the moves.  Then he’d ask for another video, and another.  We found some weekend workshops in big cities.  He’d attend the workshop and learn a dance.  I’d videotape him as soon as he left the class so he’d be able to practice when he got home.  He was improving, but slowly; so he started taking gymnastics classes.  Those helped him a lot.

Matt learned what he needed to know in his unschooling years, and he still had a strong fondness for computers.  When he wasn’t doing a sport or dancing, he was learning something about the computer.  We also talked about business a lot.  Matt had often come to work with me from the time he was a baby.  He liked the idea of working for himself, just like he liked the idea of learning for himself.

Unschooling doesn’t mean not schooling; it means schooling as a way of life.  The un- part just means that it’s not in a building, a school.  It’s about learning how to learn on your own whatever you need to learn, whenever you need to learn it.  It’s great training for an entrepreneur.  Matt went to college for a semester, and did very well.  People don’t realize that many colleges are quite fond of the unschooled child.  They tend to be focused and self-starters.  But he was bored.  So he quit.  He knew he could learn whatever he needed to learn on his own.

One day, Matt said that he wanted to teach a class.  So he made a flyer on his computer, created a routine, and taught about four people at the local recreation center.  Suddenly, it became obvious what he really took from his six years at Nysmith…the love of teaching.  He had the very best teachers at Nysmith, who could take any subject and make it interesting.  He saw their enthusiasm for their subject, and their love for their students.  Today that is who Matt is for the world of dance.  People constantly tell me that he is a great teacher because he knows that his students can learn.  He challenges them.  He brings out their untapped potential.  He seems genuinely happy when he is teaching.

Slowly, Matt made a name for himself in Charlottesville as a hip hop instructor.  He kept learning and improving.  Oddly, the kid who left school was even on the UVA faculty.

Then six years ago, Matt moved to Los Angeles.  His first LA job was on the Jay Leno show.  But getting work was slow.  He needed to differentiate himself from others who had been dancing since they were two.  Matt didn’t start dancing until his late teens.  But he knew computers, and so he started making videos and putting them on YouTube.  He started making dance tutorials.  He didn’t make a cent doing that for a long time.  But he had a goal to put up at least one video a week.  His unschooling training came in handy.  He was a self-starter and very focused.  He had to learn how to film, how to edit, and how to manage his channel.  He had to learn to deal with legal issues and how to market.  But that was normal for him.  As an unschooled child, when you need to know something, you just look it up.

Today, Matt has the largest, free, on-line dance studio in the world.  He has students from every country that can view YouTube…over 5 million subscribers and still growing.  He seems to have remembered where he came from…a boy who wanted to dance but lived in a rural area where no instructors existed.  So his subscribers are the most diverse group of people in every way…race, nationality, age, sex, and even size.

Recently, he created DanceCon.  DanceCon auditions dancers, teaches them a routine, and makes an epic dance video in 48 hours.  This allows new, up-and-coming dancers to have their chance in the spotlight.

I now laugh when people ask their children, “What do you want to be?”  That was a question that would have been impossible for Matt to answer, since YouTube didn’t even exist during his childhood.

Matt has traveled the world.  He gets more requests than he can fulfill to choreograph and teach classes; and he loves every minute of it.  But the challenges don’t end, they just change.  As they arise, Matt just figures out what he has to do next.  That’s part of the fun.  He’s got more ideas than he can possibly do; I never know what he’ll do next.

His most recent big adventure was entering the Amazing Race with his then fiance.  Before the Race, they were given IQ tests, and Matt scored very high.  They asked him why he wasn’t a scientist or mathematician; wasn’t he wasting his IQ?  His partner in the adventure answered quite bluntly, “His IQ is the reason he has the largest, free on-line dance studio in the world.  You have to be smart to figure out how to do that so well.”  They did the Race to challenge themselves and to travel the world; and in the end, they won.  He said that it changed him.  It was the hardest thing he ever did.  Since he has returned, I’ve noticed that he has lost his risk aversion.  He gets an idea, and he just does it.  When I asked him what he wanted to do with the money he won, he said that he wanted to invest it in his dance business and give more people the opportunity to experience a life that they love too.

Matt can compete with the best of them, but he’s not really that competitive.  He sees plenty of room for everyone.  Nevertheless, he loves a challenge.  I’m sure that began at Nysmith.  Matt’s values, problem solving skills, and love of learning was established at Nysmith. He gained the confidence and the courage to do what he does today.  He got much of his caring and ability to lead from Nysmith, not just intellectual material. But it also was so valuable that Carole and her staff saw gifts in my children that often I didn’t see. They helped the children to express those talents.

Matt entered daycare thirty years ago by accident.  He came to Nysmith by accident.  He started unschooling by accident.  And even YouTube seemed kind of like an accident.  In a way, his whole life has looked a bit like accident after accident.  But those seeming accidents have lead to something pretty amazing in every way.

If you look up Matt Steffanina on the internet, you could be viewing for days.  But this is one of my favorites, The Making of DanceCon Episode 3:  //youtu.be/zO11uVycQCg

Other places to learn more about Matt:

//www.youtube.com/user/MattSDance

//www.youtube.com/user/DanceTutorialsLIVE

//www.mattsteffanina.com

AJ Smith

Award-Winning, Chart-Topping Musical Artist

“When my parents asked how I liked the school, I told them, ‘I need this place.'”

During my time at Nysmith, I was the President of the Chess Club, a member of Rocket Club, and was the SGA Treasurer. I still play a game of chess every day!

After graduating from Nysmith, I went to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology where I was active in student government, orchestra, drama, and the captain of the lacrosse team. I participated in the mentorship program with the Naval Research Laboratory and was hired on as a part-time contractor while I was in school at the conclusion of the internship. My work at the Naval Research Lab lasted through college and I was responsible for writing the code that helps analyze and correct nighttime imagery for the Navy’s large-format infrared sensors! I was also a violinist in the American Youth Philharmonic and a Young Associate to the National Symphony Orchestra.

After TJ, I went to New York University for both my undergrad and my masters. As a University Scholar, I was involved in many on and off-campus programs, including our annual community-service initiatives, highlighted by trips to work at an orphanage outside Puebla, Mexico and assist on Habitat for Humanity projects in Oakland, California. I was a three-year captain of NYU’s lacrosse team, the Vice President of the sports committee, a Resident Assistant, and in 2013, I was actually named one of NYU’s most influential students, which was such an incredible honor.

While at NYU, I began to professionally pursue my music career, leading to awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, being named a Carole Bayer Sager Songwriting Scholar, and my first show on a major stage when I opened for The Eagles at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Since then, I’ve headlined my own tours in addition to serving as support for artists including Lindsey Stirling, Emily Kinney, MisterWives, and more. One of my songs, “Summertime” charted internationally, reaching #3 in Australia, and my 2016 EP “Brooklyn Nights” (which I co-produced with GRAMMY-winning producer Scott Jacoby and my bassist Lloyd Kikoler) has recently been featured on iHeart Radio, DC101, Z100, and other regional and national major radio stations!

I was asked to share with you my college application story, so here it is. Auditions and college applications can be very stressful, though I always had the attitude that the right school and I would “want” each other.

Johns Hopkins was difficult to rule out because I had been given a very generous scholarship by their engineering school, but when Peabody (the conservatory) admitted to mixing up my music theory entrance exam scores with another Andrew Smith who was given my acceptance letter (can’t imagine how…not like it’s a common name or anything, right?), they claimed the only solution would be for me to re-apply as a student from within the engineering school in the fall, seeking a second degree in the conservatory.

As I dug a little deeper and received my acceptance letters from other schools like NYU, I realized that Peabody was not the right fit for me and that I wanted to study in an environment where I would have the full support of the faculty, not always feel one administrative error away from disappointment. I don’t say this to take away from Peabody – they have an excellent reputation for a reason, but after visiting New York City again and touring the music and physics departments, the choice for me was clear.

Regarding my time at Nysmith, I still vividly remember the first day that I visited. I was in second grade and my family was getting ready to move from Rockville, Maryland to Great Falls, Virginia. In Math class, we started off with the “Magic Minute” multiplication tables and in Logic, we solved complex “whodunit” challenges. I remember feeling refreshed after being challenged and, when my parents asked how I liked the school, I told them, “I need this place.”

Nysmith taught me how to learn, how to be both a leader within and also a member of a community, how to dare to be different and ask challenging questions. My teachers encouraged to use my creativity to solve seemingly non-creative problems, pushed me to be a better writer and critical thinker, and I credit this early development for the authenticity of my voice in my lyrics. I know that I’m not alone when I say that I met my best friend to this date at Nysmith over fifteen years ago. 

I have two pieces of advice for current Nysmith students. First of all, try not to worry so much over dates to school dances or party invites – focus on building friendships and make the effort to stay in touch through high school and college. Be genuinely kind to everyone and don’t be afraid to embrace and nurture the qualities and talents that make you unique.

Second, remember that high school and college applications can turn your qualifications into numbers, but your experiences will always stand out – so feed your passions with a diet of excitement, discipline, and perseverance. There are many other paths besides TJ, Exeter, Madeira, or the numerous other high school choices you will have that will lead you to happiness. Never forget that out of our seemingly biggest failures can come our most triumphant successes.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip:  Gettysburg or Camp Silver Beach

School play:  Grease

Science fair project:  I don’t remember the title of the project, but it was one of my first explorations into the world of optics, experimenting with different polarized lenses and light sensors.

Place to hang out at Nysmith:  The soccer fields

Book you read for one of your classes: 1984 or The Giver

Classroom story involving one of your teachers:  In Mrs. Stephens’ 8th grade class, we wrote alternate endings to A Tale of Two Cities – I went a little overboard with mine and ended up writing over 40 pages. I got so creatively woven into my own ending while simultaneously reading the rest of the novel so that when we had a quiz that week, I blanked for a moment and couldn’t remember what events had actually happened and which I had invented.

After-school club:  Chess club

Memory:  The Renaissance Fair – we had life size chess!

Places to follow AJ’s music and adventures:

//www.ajsmithmusic.com

//www.pandora.com/aj-smith

//www.youtube.com/ajsmithmusic

//www.instagram.com/ajsmithmusic

Press coverage of AJ:
//cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/glenn-frey-by-barron/?_r=0

//www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2013/aug/07/smith-takes-stage-jammin-java/

//timelinedc.com/blog/2014/08/aj-smith-performs-tysons-corner-center-music-photographer/

//dcrocklive.blogspot.com/2016/08/aj-smith-bailen-grace-fuisz-jammin-java.html

//pelonkeyinc.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/aj-smith-to-bring-some-brooklyn-nights-to-dc/

//www.nyunews.com/2012/12/13/smith-2/

Andrea Li

Inventor, Patent-holder, MIT Student, Google & Goldman Sachs Intern

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith? Were you in any activities here?

I loved math in elementary and middle school. It was a subject that I thought Nysmith gave me an incredible foundation in; it was taught in an exciting, fun, and understanding way, and gave me the skills and a love for math that I have carried with me through the years until now. Other things I was involved in at Nysmith included Odyssey of the Mind (OM), Math Olympiad/MATHCOUNTS, and other miscellaneous after-school clubs.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I went to Thomas Jefferson HSST in Alexandria, and continued studying math, but also took up a love for biology and medicine. I got really involved in biomedical research, first in senior research labs at school and later working at NIH in the National Eye Institute. During my junior year, I was working at a senior research lab in school to study the effect of a group of proteins on the proliferation of breast cancer and leukemia cells. I ended up winning Grand Prize First Place at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair, and went on to win Category First Place at the International Science and Engineering Fair. In high school, I additionally got more interested in invention, and during my junior and senior years, I became involved in and eventually led our school’s Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam. We received a ~$5,000 grant from the Lemelson-MIT Program to create an invention of our choosing, and we developed a novel assistive device for individuals with autism spectrum disorders to help them with emotion recognition using a machine learning algorithm. It’s been a long road, but we have officially gotten our invention patented!

The assistive device I worked on in high school spurred an interest in computer science. I am now a junior at MIT in Cambridge, MA studying computer science and hoping to apply these computer science skills towards solving interesting problems, especially those that are medical in nature. At MIT, I participate in a number of activities including Women’s Club Ice Hockey, Sloan Business Club (the largest undergraduate business club on campus), my sorority Kappa Alpha Theta, and TAing and grading computer science and economics classes.

Tell us about your summer jobs.

I strongly believe that summer internships are an amazing way to get exposure to a wide variety of experiences and places. To this end, I have tried to explore something very different each summer/externship. My freshman year, I worked in a biomedical lab at MIT and took a class during IAP (our January period during which we can do jobs/externships, take classes, pursue individual projects, etc.). The summer after my freshman year I worked as a software engineering intern at a start-up in the San Francisco Bay Area. During my sophomore year, I spent IAP at Goldman Sachs experiencing finance as a securities strats extern. I found that I wasn’t as interested in the finance life, so the summer after my sophomore year, I worked in software engineering at Google in Seattle on Google Maps for Android. As a junior now, I have not yet decided where I will be for IAP this year, but I do know that I am going to go back to Google (in Mountain View this time) as an associate product manager intern to experience the differences between working on software at Google versus product management.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith taught me how to work hard, and almost more than that, how to work hard and succeed in a group setting. Nysmith taught me to be an overachiever and that if I apply myself, I can really reach and potentially even exceed everyone’s and even my own expectations. Nysmith allowed me to reach as far as I could (for example in the math classes I was able to take), and I think that this fostered a dedication towards high achievement and hard work. I also felt that through the many group projects and especially through Odyssey of the Mind, I was able to learn and foster the skills necessary to work successfully in a group setting, to think creatively in a group setting, and to bring together the skills of different individuals to create a stronger group overall.

What advice would you give a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

I would definitely recommend participating in Odyssey of the Mind. I did OM 5th-8th grade, and I think it single-handedly built up my creativity, mental and intellectual maturity, leadership skills, confidence, building/technical skills, and teamwork skills. It was also a ton of fun! Worlds is the best experience ever and I’m honestly still amazed by some of things we made/thought of. OM has completely transformed the way I think about and approach problems, and it was an absolutely incredible experience. I also think that English at Nysmith built up an incredibly strong foundation in communication and writing which I have yet to find in school since then, and I wish that I had further fostered my English and writing skills while at Nysmith.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip:  Williamsburg overnight trip!

Science fair project: extracting DNA from grapes

Place to hang out: Stephens’s room

Book you read for one of your classes: To Kill a Mockingbird

Favorite classroom story: in 5th grade Algebra, we went outside on pi day and threw hot dogs on a grid to estimate the value of pi!

After school club: OM

Memory: OM Worlds!

Craig Haseler

Senior Systems Administrator, U.S. Department of Energy

While I loved all of my classes at Nysmith, Computer class was always my favorite. I also did an after-school Programming Club, and learned how to program in the BASIC computer language. This would end up serving me really well when I got to high school, and eventually led me to my degree in Computer Science and my job working for the US Government managing their computer systems. My days in the Purple Pod computer lab, and then later in the (brand new!) Silver Wing lab served me very well.

After Nysmith, I went on to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. My time in the computer labs at Nysmith helped tremendously, as I immediately moved into their Accelerated Computer Science course, and took my Advanced Placement Computer Science Exam at the end of my Sophomore year. As a Junior and Senior, I took advanced courses in Artificial Intelligence and Parallel Computing. While my three younger brothers (who also attended Nysmith) would all eventually attend TJ, we all focused on different aspects of the “Technology” that the school had to offer.

Following my graduation from TJ, I began studying at George Mason University, where I continued to focus on Computer Science. I found some excellent internships in the area working for Sprint, the American Lung Association, and a small healthcare company called The Burgess Group. Since then, I have worked for several contractors in roles with increasing levels of responsibility at the US Department of Energy. These days I am a Senior Systems Administrator managing one of their large computer systems that helps the government decide when, where, and how to build things ranging from new power plants to nuclear storage facilities.

These days, I live in my own home out in Leesburg with my fiancé, who spends a few days a week substituting at Nysmith! Some of you may know her as Ms. Reynolds.

In addition to the strong academic foundation Nysmith gave me, the encouraging environment helped me discover my love of computers and programming outside of the standard elementary and middle school curriculum. After-school clubs and knowledgeable and enthusiastic teachers meant I could explore well beyond what we covered in class. Being able to get that head start as far back as the 6th grade meant I was set on a great path all through high school and even college.

My advice to current Nysmith parents and students would be, don’t stress about things. It’s okay not to know where you’re going to college (or high school!) in 7th grade. It’s okay to explore new areas and decide what you’re going to do later. Take advantage of the awesome teachers at Nysmith to ask all kinds of questions, and when it comes time to make the big decisions, you’ll have all the information you need.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: Camp Silver Beach, 6th grade

School play: Grease!

Place to hang out at Nysmith: The hallway at the entrance to the Silver Wing

Book you read for one of your classes: Hamlet in Mrs. Stephens’ class

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I got to go out for lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Stephens because I wrote the best scary story in the class for Halloween. I can’t remember the details of the story, but it took place on a ship and ended up with the Captain’s head being served for dinner!

After-school club:  Computer Club with Mrs. Doyle

Memory: I was in 8th grade when the Silver Wing opened. I still remember our first day back – everything was so shiny and new! I remember it taking a few minutes for some of the teachers to realize they were supposed to write on the windows since they were whiteboards.

Janice Park

Highly-Distinguished Scholar and Future Physician

In the years before I graduated, I took Musical Theater as my elective and really enjoyed being a part of The Music Man, Jr. in 7th grade and then taking on the role of Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. in 8th! I was also in the Chess Club, the Art Club, and Nysingers, which was a choral group that performed Broadway songs mostly. Outside of school, I took piano and violin lessons and joined the Loudoun Symphony Youth Orchestra as well.

After graduating from Nysmith, I attended TJHSST for high school. Some of the major activities I did included working in the Neuroscience senior research lab, being on the crew team for 3 years as a coxswain, and continuing to play violin in the Loudoun Symphony Youth Orchestra. I was also a member of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl team, and we won the regional competition twice while I was a member, going on to win 7th at Nationals one year. I was a National Merit Scholar and took 11 AP exams, which allowed me to come into college with 40+ credits. (Nysmith’s advanced teaching definitely gave me an advantage in those AP classes!)

I went on to the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar (recognizing high-achieving applicants) for undergrad and graduated in 2015 with high distinction as a part of the Distinguished Majors Program in Biology. I wrote my thesis on the potential use of stem cells to treat blindness in patients with diabetes, which I had been investigating in an Ophthalmology lab. Other highlights of my undergrad career included singing in the Virginia Women’s Chorus (and eventually becoming Assistant Student Director in my fourth year), volunteering at the Cancer Center playing violin in a quartet once a week, and working as a Healthcare Administration Intern at the Charlottesville Free Clinic for one summer. I was also inducted into the Raven Society, an honor society at UVA which recognizes academic excellence and involvement in the university community.

I was very fortunate to be accepted to the University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVASOM), where I have been learning to be a physician for the last couple years! It feels so rewarding to finally be on track to my dream job. Because the curriculum is so science heavy, and I’m not quite willing to part with the humanities, I have found ways to stay involved with music, history, and the arts. I was accepted to the Hook Scholars Program in the UVASOM, which allows four students in each year to pursue more opportunities in the medical humanities through research and electives. I am also the leader of the Sloane Society, which encourages medical student participation in arts and humanities events in the Charlottesville community, and recently joined The Arrhythmics, our very own (not very serious, but very fun!) medical student a cappella group. It has been a crazy ride since my days at Nysmith!

Regarding my summer jobs, in my latter years of high school and throughout undergrad, I spent most of my summers researching in a science lab. I also interned at the Charlottesville Free Clinic the summer after my third year of college. This past summer (my last!), I did medical history research for the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities at UVA through the Hook Scholars Program.

When thinking about how Nysmith impacted my life, many of my teachers imparted their love of learning to me during my time at Nysmith, and for that I am forever grateful. Very few things make learning easier and more fun than true curiosity about a subject, and the excitement and enthusiasm that the teachers at Nysmith showed was infectious. They really set me up to be a life-long learner, and happily so.

When asked what advice I would give to current Nysmith students and parents, two things come to mind. First, I know and understand very well that grades and test scores can feel like they are the be all and end all. They’re scary, they can factor into certain components of your (or your child’s) future, sometimes they don’t end up the way you want them, and sometimes they feel completely arbitrary or unfair. Don’t let them bog you (or your child) down. A 4.0 GPA is not the end goal–what you got on your report card will be unimportant in the years to come. The end goal is to learn a lot and be a better person for it! You’ll get lots of good grades and some bad grades, but all in all, school is supposed to be a learning experience, not a competition. Focus on taking in concepts and ideas in a way you enjoy, and the grades will follow. They’re just numbers; you’re at school to become a learner, not a number.

Second, don’t lose sight of the things you enjoy doing. You can keep adding activities that look great on your resume, but if you’re not truly passionate about them, they’ll start to become a chore. Have at least one or two activities that you don’t do for your resume, but you just do for you–whether that’s a sport, music, exercise, reading for pleasure, photography, making videos, what have you. Keep an activity in your life if it keeps you grounded and refreshed. If you get really excited about something, that will end up showing through on your resume anyway, and you’ll be able to talk about it with sincerity in interviews down the road.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: Gettysburg

School play: The Fiddler on the Roof, Jr.

Book you read for one of your classes: Othello

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I still remember that every time the Tennessee Titans won a game, Mr. Stephens would give everyone a 5/5 on our grammar quiz that week. When I was in 7th grade English with him, the Titans only won a game once or twice. We could never tell if he was actually a fan of the Titans or whether he just picked the worst team in the NFL to tease us.

After-school club: Nysingers

Memory: Oh, there are too many to count, let alone pick just one! 🙂

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  Yes!! I still sometimes sing it in my head if I ever feel the need to rattle off all 50 states.

What state were you?  I presented on New York!

Matthew Royer

“Nysmith truly has made me the person I am today.”

While at Nysmith, I loved all the classes and was particularly interested in our history and computer classes. I learned a lot of applicable skills in those classes that I have taken with me my whole life. Also, I remember being the lead defense attorney in our Frankenstein mock trial in Mrs. Stephens’s class in 8th grade. When I was thinking about what I wanted to do for a career, I thought back to that time and in a way it inspired me to eventually pursue the major I chose at JMU, Intelligence Analysis, and pursue my law degree in the future.

After graduating from Nysmith, I attended Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, Maryland. I was a 4-year varsity athlete on the Swim Team and was elected team captain my senior year. We won back-to-back Metropolitan titles my first two years, 3 consecutive league championships, and 4 consecutive conference championships. I also played varsity rugby for 3 years starting my sophomore year, played lacrosse, ran track, and threw discus.

While at Georgetown Prep, I was heavily involved in campus ministry and community service. I was a religious retreat leader for the sophomores when I was a junior and for the juniors as a senior. I volunteered for KEEN Swim for 3 years, helping kids with mental and physical disorders learn to swim. I worked with Habitat for Humanity down in New Orleans building housing in the Hollygrove neighborhood.

After I graduated from Georgetown Prep in 2012, I attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. I majored in Intelligence Analysis and minored in Criminal Justice. Through my major, I learned how to be an analyst in both a government and private sector entity. I learned how to analyze big data, social media profiles, HUMINT, SIGNT, and GIS information. Also, I conducted research on current intelligence and political issues. During my sophomore year at JMU, I conducted research and briefings for the Defense Intelligence Agency in Charlottesville, VA and presented competitive intelligence to Siemens my senior year. My Capstone Project team partnered with Toffler and Associates to conduct research, analysis, and scenario generation for the Cybersecurity of Autonomous Vehicles in the future and presented our findings to the board of the Intelligence Analysis department at JMU.

At James Madison, I continued to play rugby with Madison Rugby for all 4 years. While on the team, we won 4 consecutive conference championships, and went to the final four for the DII national championship 2 years in a row. Our 7’s team won the 2015 DII National Title in 2015 and our 15’s team moved up to DI that very same year. I graduated with my Bachelor of Science degree in Intelligence Analysis with a minor in Criminal Justice in May of 2016.

Regarding my summer jobs, for a few years, I was a lifeguard and swim instructor for ESF Camps at Georgetown Prep.

I also had an internship with the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi in January 2014. My good friend from high school, Rami Bedewi, built a car that could travel on 1 gallon of gas from New York City to DC. Two of my friends and I were invited out to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to help Rami build a model of the car for the students at the institute who were going to race cars like this one around the go kart track next to the Yas Marina Formula One Track. We were invited to test out the track for the race as well.

In the summer of 2015, I had an internship at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston with the Financial Support Office. I conducted research, budget and financial analysis for the FSO, who oversee the budgets and finances for all 12 banks in the Federal Reserve System and work very closely with the Boston Fed Vice President.

Directly after college graduation, I worked as a Financial Analyst and Pricing Expert for Deltek Systems in Herndon, VA for about 3 months.

I now work at a grassroots campaign firm in Georgetown, Five Corners Strategies, as a Digital Advocacy Associate. I do political intelligence and social media scanning for several clients in different aspects of Politics all across the country.

When thinking back on my time at Nysmith, I now appreciate the diversity of the student body that I was a part of. After leaving Nysmith, I never realized how lucky I was to learn about so many different cultures and backgrounds from all kinds of people I met between preschool and 8th grade. I have friends now who never were exposed to this and don’t have that same appreciation for the people of the world that are different from them. It has been helpful when dealing with different groups in my line of work and my travels around the world and to fully comprehend who they are and what they believe in.

I also know now how important it was in those years to have the support and the interest of my teachers in what I did not only in the classroom, but what I wanted to pursue outside of academics. Having that type of support and interest from my teachers boosted my self-confidence to a whole new level, and to this day, I continue to remember and apply their advice in my life, as well as think back on all the memories. I feel that I wouldn’t have been able to have that experience anywhere else and I have to thank the Nysmith administration and my teachers while I was there for opening me up to these experiences in my formative years.

If I were to talk to my former self, while I was at Nysmith, I’d have to say, “Don’t take anything you have here for granted.” You have a very unique environment you are in at this school, something that a very small percentage of people have. Take advantage of that. Don’t just cast it aside because kids your age think school is a drag and that makes you nerdy to be invested in school work; if you do, you will never be able to have teachers that care so much or can show you your full potential. It took me a while to realize this, but as I got older and went through schooling, I realized just how lucky I was to be at the point I’m at today and that started the very first day I walked into Nysmith’s Busy Bees pre-school class when I was 4. It truly has made me the person I am today.

If there is something that interests you and there is something at the school that can help you towards your interest, by all means take the chance to do it. Sitting at my 8th grade graduation, I wouldn’t have thought I would be where I am today and doing the kind of work I am doing now. But I wouldn’t have known what I even wanted to do if I hadn’t taken advantage of the resources around me outside of the classroom.

So ask questions, be curious, join a club, join the band, tryout for the play, apply to that high school that you think you have no chance of getting into, take the chances that you have the opportunities for now, so you can truly find who you are and what you want to do with your life. It won’t just fall in your lap later on. You have to make the opportunities happen for you now. I had that advice given to me from one of my former teachers and it made a lasting impact on my life.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: Gettysburg

Place to hang out at Nysmith: The courtyard next to the Silver Wing

Book you read for one of your classes: The Giver in Mrs. Tyson’s 6th grade class (I have read it several times now for high school, college, and for my own personal reading)

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: Mr. Stephens once made me and another of my classmates do the Irish jig for the entire class because we had been distracting the class by doing it in the back of the classroom. Needless to say, I have never done that dance since.

After-school club: Nysmith Jazz Band

Memory: The Holiday Sing-A-Long every year in the gym. It was one of the traditions I looked forward to for almost 10 years.

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song? I can get to Nevada and then I get terribly lost

What state were you? Pennsylvania

Mira Holford

At Nysmith, I was involved with both Mathcounts and Odyssey of the Mind. Our Odyssey of the Mind team went to World Finals two years in a row! I also played soccer for almost all of my time at Nysmith.

After Nysmith, I attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, VA. At TJ I managed the Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team, and focused in particular on studying Computer Science and Physics. Now, I attend University of Virginia and am studying Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science. When I have free time, I attend Gymnastics Team practices, and work to develop technological solutions for UVA Hospital.

Regarding summer jobs, my first internship was after my sophomore year in high school. It was at my dad’s work, Zeta Associates, writing code for geolocation. While at TJ, I also interned at NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology) and NASA doing other software engineering related projects.

After my first year at UVA, I interned at a small healthcare startup, helping to develop a system of sensors to monitor motion after orthopedic surgeries. I spent last summer in Seattle, WA, interning for Google, working to implement Machine Learning algorithms to help understand failures in Google’s Data Centers. I will be returning to Google next summer, but I don’t know where or what I will be doing yet.

Academically, Nysmith prepared me to confidently take on the challenges presented in high school. Nysmith also taught me how to study effectively and manage my own time, which made the transition to high school very natural.

In the 10 years I spent at Nysmith, I made many close friends that I still keep in touch with. Just last summer, I lived in Seattle with a good friend who attended Nysmith with me who also happened to be interning at Google. It’s been really exciting seeing what my friends are up to since graduation on Nysmith’s Alumni Facebook page; people are doing amazing things in all different disciplines all across the country.

When asked what advice I would give to current students, I would say don’t go crazy worrying about getting into a specific program, high school, or college. If you are honest and work hard, everything will work out. Focus on finding what excites you, and building your skill sets in that area.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: 8th Grade New York Trip

School play: Dobdinob

Book you read for one of your classes: The Giver

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: Jaidan singing a song he wrote himself, “Sometimes M-R Stephens…”

After-school club: Odyssey of the Mind

Memory: Dressing up as Albert Einstein for Famous American Day. I looked fabulous.

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song? I could probably get through at least the first half 🙂

What state were you? I was Nebraska!

Clancey Stahr

On Forbes’ 2017 “30 Under 30 for Venture Capital” List

After graduating from The Nysmith School, Clancey attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and then went on to Stanford University.

While at Stanford, he took advantage of the Silicon Valley location and worked at a small venture firm, ZenShin Capital. During his senior year at Stanford, he began a start-up venture capital firm called GoAhead Ventures and closed $55 million dollars in funding before graduating.

Business Insider wrote about Clancey in “15 Incredibly Impressive Students at Stanford”:

“At 21 years old, you’re probably more likely to expect Clancey Stahr to be pitching to venture capitalists, rather than being one. But Stahr has been working at cross-border venture capital firm ZenShin Capital for the last two years, advising startups on product design, business strategy, intellectual property, and general legal advice.  School doesn’t stop for the Management Science and Engineering major, who still manages to get all his coursework done while working anywhere from 30 to 40 hours a week in Silicon Valley.”

Clancey graduated from Stanford in May of 2015 with a B.S. in Management Science and Engineering.  He is currently a Managing Partner at GoAhead Ventures, which has backed 12 startups so far, led by VideoAmp, Ready Stream and Oohlala Mobile. With a large investor base in Japan, he travels to Tokyo regularly.  Additionally, he sits on five boards.

//www.forbes.com/30-under-30-2017/venture-capital/#18e3575910e0

//www.businessinsider.com/impressive-students-at-stanford-2014-9

Clancey told us, “Nysmith does a great job creating an environment you’re both comfortable in and challenged by, even as a grade-schooler.  The small class sizes made it easy to make friends as well as have a personal relationship with all of your teachers.  Even stacking it against the sunny campus of Stanford in California, I look back on Nysmith fondly.”

Sophia Vasiliadis

2nd Lieutenant, United States Air Force

Sophia attended The Nysmith School from preschool through second grade.

My life since Nysmith:

After Nysmith I started attending public school in Northern Virginia, which included Forest Edge and Colvin Run Elementary Schools, Cooper Middle School, and Langley High School. While at Langley, my grandfather, who had served as a fighter pilot in the Air Force during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, encouraged me to apply to the Academy. So, after high school I attended the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO.  I originally applied to the Academy because of my grandfather; however, I decided to stay at the Academy and commit to my original five (now ten) years of service for one big reason; and that was, and still is, the people. At the Academy I was surrounded by people, all from different backgrounds, but also with so much in common. Almost everyone was extremely motivated, intelligent, and selfless. The Air Force community has become such a large part of my life, I cannot imagine what it would be like not be in the service.

I graduated with a B.S. in Operations Research in May of 2015 and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Air Force. For the last year I have been at Sheppard Air Force Base, TX. I am currently a student pilot in the Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program, and upon graduation in February, plan to become a pilot in the US Air Force. I do not know where I will be stationed next or what airframe I will be flying, but I am excited to find out!

How Nysmith impacted my life:

Because of my five years at Nysmith I was able to get into a GT (gifted and talented) program in elementary school, which I believe set me up to do well in school, ultimately opening up the opportunity to attend the Air Force Academy.

Advice I would give to current students:

The only advice that I would have for current Nysmith students and parents is to work hard and keep your options open about what you want yourself (or your child) to do in the future. I never in a million years would have predicted that I would end up in the military, and even though I wouldn’t want to change anything now because it all worked out for me, it would have been nice to learn about it earlier on.

Note: Sophia was too modest to include this but we think it’s awesome: during her last semester in the Air Force Academy, as a senior cadet 1st class, she was appointed the Cadet Wing Commander, where she led the entire student body of 4000+ students — a remarkable achievement. Her command lasted through her 5/28/15 graduation.

UPDATE: On January 27^th, 2017, Sophia got the F-22 Raptor assigned to her. She will go through training in Panama City, FL, and then, hopefully, Langley AFB in Norfolk, Virginia. The F-22 is only in Hawaii, Norfolk, Alaska, and Panama City.  On Friday, February 17^th, Sophia received her wings!

Fun Fact #1: According to Lockheed Martin, the F-22’s maximum speed is 1,498 mph with a range of 1,839 miles. It can get up to Mach 2!

Fun Fact #2: The F-22 Raptor has been in service for the past 11+ years and Sophia is one of only FIVE female pilots ever to fly it!  We could say “the sky’s the limit” with Sophia, but maybe it’s not!

Naren Tallapragada

From MIT to Harvard to a future in cancer research

After Nysmith, Naren attended Thomas Jefferson High School For Science and Technology. While at TJ, Naren was involved in Model United Nations, Quizbowl, and Cross Country. He was also very interested in Theoretical Physics. During his summers while in high school from 2007 to 2010, Naren worked at MITRE in McLean, VA in the Nanosystems Group. His research there in the summer of 2008 led to his selection as one of 40 finalists in the 2009 Intel Science Talent Search. (Approximately 1,600 high school seniors entered the Intel Science Search his year, from whom 300 semifinalists were chosen. From the pool of 300, 40 finalists were chosen.) He won 4th Place and received a $25,000 scholarship for his project, which was to find ways to simplify complex models of atomic and molecular interactions. At the time of his project, he hoped to one day create “mini-computers” that could be used, for instance, to create automatic insulin pumps inside diabetic patients. He has since changed the direction of his research, but it continues to be in the biomedical field. To date, Naren has authored or co-authored six publications.

On the lighter side, in 2008, Naren competed in the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament and reached the semifinals. You can still see clips from his show on YouTube!

After TJ, Naren was accepted into Harvard and MIT for his undergraduate studies (among other schools). He ultimately chose MIT and had a very successful 4 years there, graduating with a double major in electrical engineering and physics. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, and the Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity. While at MIT, Naren started The Forum, a non-partisan group to foster discussions about politics and current events. Naren was also an editor of the MIT Undergraduate Research Journal.

In college and graduate school, Naren has immersed himself in research, politics, and public policy.

Here is an explanation of Naren’s undergraduate and PhD work in his own words:

“I’ve always been interested in the intersection of engineering and biomedicine. At MIT, I studied electrical engineering and physics, which laid the foundation for my current research as a PhD student in systems biology at Harvard. I study how the intestine repairs and replenishes itself over a person’s lifetime. (Fun fact: 90% of the cells in your intestine are replaced every 3-5 days. That’s way faster than your hair or skin or nails grow, all because the gut is under constant assault from spicy food, stomach bugs, and everything in between!) I’m using math to make sense of the complicated ‘blueprint’ that intestinal cells follow to maintain healthy adult tissue. If we can understand what works in health, we can identify what fails in diseases like colon cancer and new ways (beyond chemotherapy) to treat these diseases.

After graduation my plan is to start or join a biotech company that develops cancer treatments. In the meantime, as a first foray into entrepreneurship, I’ve co-founded a company called gomango to reduce food waste in developing countries like India by making it cheaper and easier to refrigerate food on its way from farm to market. I’ve also been involved in politics and public policy. Back in 2011 I worked for Sen. Mark Warner on Capitol Hill, and I recently published a paper on the high price of off-patent prescription drugs (think EpiPens and Martin Shkreli).”

Another interesting fact about Naren is that in 2014, he was awarded a “Certificate of Distinction in Teaching” for excellence in co-teaching a section of 30 undergraduates in the popular class Science and Cooking at Harvard University.

During a recent visit to Nysmith, Naren shared some of his advice with 7th and 8th grade students. His top tip for them? “No matter where you go to high school or college, you’ll turn out just fine. At Nysmith you’ve learned to think critically and communicate persuasively. These skills will serve you well whether you become an artist or an aerospace engineer.”

Naren reminded all the students to thank their families for the opportunity to attend Nysmith (and to reassure their parents that there is more to life than the TJ test!) Naren thanked Nysmith for the unparalleled education in both science and the humanities by teachers who rewarded his creativity instead of suppressing it. Again, in his own words: “Seriously, I encountered concepts in freshman chemistry at MIT that I first learned in Mrs. Carlivati’s 6th grade science class. And where else as an 11-year-old could I have learned about quasars and written poetry in the same afternoon?”

We got to hear a few more of Naren’s fondest Nysmith memories, like the tour of the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier on the 7th grade trip to Norfolk and his perennial struggle to run a full mile (since resolved). Naren remembers about half of the 50 states song, but he knows he was Utah.

Jeffrey Miller

“(Nysmith) seemed almost self-paced, which definitely taught me the lesson that the harder you work, the greater the reward.”

Tell us about your life since Nysmith.

After Nysmith, I went to high school at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. In 2007, I graduated from TJ and went on to attend UVA where I earned my degree in aerospace engineering in 2011. I also did ROTC throughout my time at UVA, always knowing that I wanted to follow in my parents’ footsteps and become a Naval Officer after college. Upon graduating college, the Navy sent me to my first ship out of San Diego. I did my first tour as a Surface Warfare Officer on USS WILLIAM P. LAWRENCE (DDG 110), where I worked in engineering and in the weapons departments. The tour culminated in a 10-month deployment for pretty much all of 2013, highlights of which included port visits in Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. Some good sea stories!

One of my goals since before joining the Navy was to go to Basic Underwater Demolition/Seal training, (BUD/S) to become a Navy SEAL, but the 2013 deployment showed me that I didn’t enjoy spending that much time away from home. I was accepted to BUD/S after that tour/deployment was over, so I went to that for the next few months. After deciding that my priorities had changed and pursuing a career as a SEAL was no longer my goal, the Navy sent me back to a ship, this time out of Everett, WA, just north of Seattle. My second tour on USS SHOUP (DDG 86) as a Force Protection Officer (now renamed Anti- Terrorism Officer), where I was program manager for the ship. It also happens to be the place where I met Riza, the wonderful woman who would eventually become my wife!

I left the Navy at the end of June of 2016 and took some time off to travel for the rest of the year. I got to see some amazing places in the US and abroad, including Cambodia and the Philippines, where I got engaged! At the end of 2016, I came back home to work in Reston for a cloud computing company called Akamai, where I am a shift manager for a team that provides cloud security (among other things) for government networks. Riza and I got married on September 2nd, 2017 at the Naval Academy (her alma mater) and we are looking forward to starting a family sometime in the next couple years.

How did Nysmith impact your life?

I’d say that at Nysmith, students were encouraged to learn not only the advanced concepts taught in the classes, but also at as great a rate they could take them in. In that regard, it seemed almost self-paced, which definitely taught me the lesson that the harder you work, the greater the reward. This applied in French, mathematics, computer science, etc. while at Nysmith, and to pretty much every facet of academic and professional life beyond. So in addition to providing the academic leg up, I feel like I was imbued with a strong work ethic from an early age, which I also attribute to my parents as well as Nysmith.

What advice would you give to current students and/or parents?

I think that the three biggest pieces of advice I can give young people are the following. First, focus on making the best choices and applying your efforts to making the best future from it. With every single big decision after Nysmith (where to go for high school, college, what major to select, what job to take, whether to stay with that job), it will always seem like there is no 100% right decision. It is never black and white. The best you can do is make a decision with the information at hand and go from there. Once the decision is made, don’t look back. The second sort of follows from the first: Work Hard, Stay Positive. This was a mantra that kept me going on a daily basis in the Navy when times could get pretty tough. And lastly, have a plan. Direct your efforts towards making that plan a reality. It can take time and sometimes plans change, but it is always good to have a  goal in mind.

Darby Nelson

2nd Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps

Tell us about your life since Nysmith.

I went to Westfield High School after graduating from Nysmith. During my first few years at Westfield, I began to want to attend a service academy and formed my high school experience to best help me achieve my goal. I took multiple advanced placement (AP) courses and started rowing as a new sport. Nysmith set me up for immense success in this goal because I was well ahead of my peers in nearly every field of study. During my senior year at Westfield I was taking college level math courses as well as leading the rowing team as captain. Rowing allowed me the opportunity to be recruited to the Naval Academy and my academic record, thanks to being set on the fast track early in life at Nysmith, allowed me the opportunity to attend the institution.

At the Naval Academy, I also had success both in the classroom and on the water. I rowed all four years and was selected as captain of the team my senior year. Academically, I earned my Bachelors of Science Degree in Operations Research, completed a yearlong independent study on how gender impacts performance evaluations within the Academy’s system which is awaiting publishing, and graduated 69th in my class of over 1,000 officers. During my senior year at school, I was selected to become a Marine Corps officer upon graduating and receiving my commission. In June 2016, I began training at The Basic School, the Marine Corps entry level training for all officers in Quantico, Virginia. (Editor’s Note: Just this week, Darby was assigned her Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), which is Ground Supply Officer. Her role will be to lead and train marines in coordinating the equipment and material for mission requirements including supervising the purchase and contracting of supplies, managing budgets and developing spending plans. Darby will soon begin her specialized training at Camp Lejeune!)

How did Nysmith impact your life?

Personally, I think that a lot of who I am has changed since going to Nysmith; however, most of the changes have formed me into the person I am today. I can easily, and often do say, that Nysmith was one of the most influential parts of my life. The school sets each child up for far-reaching future success in whatever fields they choose to partake in. All of my fellow graduates attended prestigious universities, but more importantly are now in the working field using that intelligence and dedication to learning to give back to society as a whole.

If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that problem solving is one of the most important factors in the education process, but one that is rarely taught. It’s a skill I’ve used anywhere from taking my high school math tests to figuring out how to manage a rifle squad during field exercises. Nysmith was a formative part of my life because every subject drills in how to problem-solve within their specific disciplines, which allows learning to occur far past the memorization stage that many public schools utilize. I believe that problem-solving skills that are taught at Nysmith allows the students to become so successful within their careers long after they leave EDS drive.

Besides academic successes, I believe the character development that occurs at Nysmith stems from the dedicated teachers who care about their students long after they have left their classroom. Because my mother and stepfather taught at Nysmith while I was there, I had a lot of opportunities to develop personal and developmental relationships with my teachers before and after classes. Nysmith teachers are incredible role models, so these relationships had a huge impact on me personally. The teachers are constantly encouraging their student’s to become the best versions of themselves they can be. In this type of environment, hard work, integrity, and discipline become ingrained in the students, which is consequently carried with them throughout their lives.

What advice would you give to current students and/or parents?

I’d simply say to make the most out of every opportunity you have. The teachers care about the students so much that the students need to take advantage of this and question how they can continue to get better. Education is not merely a check in the box but a constant element in life. If you take advantage of the opportunities Nysmith provides between the academic courses, friendships, and teacher mentors, you will continue to be set-up for success in life in whatever you choose to do.

Stephanie Swift

Professional Dancer and Actor

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I was actually very involved in the SCA for a lot of my time at Nysmith. I didn’t really continue that sort of interest at all after I graduated, but it was always important to me while I was there, I think because of my introduction to it. I will never forget how on my very first day at Nysmith in 1st grade, when I felt like I was the only new kid and all of the other kids already knew each other, the class voted for me for class representative. I was totally surprised (I don’t think I even knew what it meant) but it just meant so much to little 6 year old me that the class had thought of me and chosen me 🙂 And so for the rest of my time at Nysmith I tried to stay involved with the SCA, I think because I continued to feel so connected to my classmates and wanted to do what I could to make them feel as happy and important as they made me feel that first day. I also caught the theater bug thanks to our 5th grade field trip to NYC, and the times I spent working on the class musicals in 6th and especially 8th grade were definitely major highlights of my time there. Judging by my theatre degree and current performing career, they were pretty influential too 😉

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith I went to high school at The Madeira School, which I absolutely adored. I was VERY involved in theater, performing in almost every single production they put on during my time there, and was the vice president of their theater club. I was also an apprentice to the Loudoun Ballet Company through most of high school and performed a lot with them, so overall I was very busy. Between my junior and senior year of college I was accepted into the musical theater pre-college program at Carnegie Mellon, which has one of the best musical theater programs of any school in the country. That was a great experience because it got me out of my tiny Northern VA theater bubble, and it solidified for me that I wanted to pursue a theater degree. So I went on to study and graduate from Christopher Newport University. I graduated cum laude from their honors program with a B.A. in Theatre, with a concentration in Musical Theatre, and a dance minor. I was also able to get work as a performer every summer during college, which set me up for success after graduating 🙂

What were your summer jobs?

I spent a lot of my time during the summer taking vacations with my family, and working my way through the seemingly TONS of summer reading Nysmith assigned us every year!! But I did always look forward to volunteering for a week or two as an assistant counselor at the Girl Scout camp I had attended most summers when I was younger.

What are you doing now?

I always knew growing up that I wanted to be a performer, but I kind of went back and forth on what kind. I am so incredibly lucky to have parents who support me 100% in all of my dreams (I know a lot of aspiring performers are not so lucky) but since no one in my family had any real experience or connections in the field, my parents and I had to make it up as we went along. So though I didn’t wind up at any big name arts schools, I found that the smaller theater program at CNU gave me the one-on-one attention and opportunities that I needed. It also put me within driving distance of Virginia’s two main theme parks, Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens. My freshman year at CNU I saw an audition posting for King’s Dominion’s summer shows and figured if nothing else it would be good experience. I went, sang my song, read a monologue, learned a dance combination, and then went back to school and put it out of my mind. To my surprise, I got a phone call a few weeks later asking me if I would like to be the swing performer for the kids’ shows at the park that summer! I accepted, rearranged my summer plans at the last minute, and went into rehearsals for “Dora’s Sing-Along-Adventure” about a week later (This was also the beginning of my now almost 10 year friendship with Dora the Explorer 😉 ).

I know it sounds corny, but from almost the very first rehearsal something clicked, and through the rest of that summer I learned that I really, REALLY liked performing for kids and families. I went back again the next summer as the main show host for the Dora show, as well as the swing for their musical revue at a different theater in the park. Two years later, the summer after I graduated, I worked as a performer at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I started as a performer in their Sesame Street shows, but by the end of the season moved into their mainstage shows as a dancer for Howl-o-Scream and Christmas Town. I absolutely loved those shows, but I was worried that less than a year after I graduated I had already done everything I wanted to do in VA. So once I decided I wanted to move, Orlando seemed like the obvious choice because it had performance opportunities similar to what I had loved doing in VA, but probably bigger and better!

Moving to Orlando was pretty scary because I had no job and knew almost no one in town, so I did the only thing I could do and auditioned for anything and everything. My experience at King’s Dominion with the Dora show got me my first job performing as a show assistant in the game shows at the Nickelodeon Hotel, and my experience at Busch Gardens got me another job in the Sesame Street shows at Seaworld. Neither of them were exactly what I wanted to be doing, but they got my foot in the door and got me making connections with other performers in town. That, coupled with pure luck, led me to audition for a “secret” dance project at Universal Orlando, which was rumored to be their first ever daily parade.

Most of the time in this town when you learn a new role you start in what they call a “sub” position, which means you’re kind of on standby until one of the full time performers needs a day off, and you’re not guaranteed any hours. But because this parade was a new product, they needed all new people, so I was offered a full-time position as a dancer with the Dora the Explorer float (I told you, I can’t get away from her!) right off the bat. If you haven’t heard, a full-time job (with benefits) as a performer is very rare in any town, so once again I have to say that I am incredibly lucky. Having a full-time job with guaranteed hours gave me the stability to use my extra time to audition for other roles in town that I wanted, instead of having to work survival jobs just to pay the bills. And so over the past 4 1/2 years I have auditioned and been cast in a few other roles at Universal, including at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and in their holiday musical “Grinchmas,” and also as a dancer/actor at local dinner theater called Capone’s, a seasonal actor in roles at Seaworld, and a dancer on the dance team for the Orlando Solar Bears Hockey Team (it’s minor league). While it is not uncommon for most performers in town to have multiple jobs, I have to admit I am still considered a bit of an overacheiver by a lot of my friends, but I just love all of my jobs so much I can’t imagine giving any of them up!

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

For me, I think the most lasting lesson from Nysmith was that as long as you’re willing to put in the work, there’s no reason you can’t set any goal you want. I came up with some really outrageous ideas throughout my time at Nysmith, and my teachers and friends were always 100% supportive of me. But because of those outrageous ideas, I also learned a lot about time management and planning ahead, which were very important lessons that got me through my increasingly busy schedule in high school and after. So that was probably the most important lesson I learned from Nysmith, followed closely by a thorough education in the rules of grammar, which is something I still highly value today. 😉

What advice would you give a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

To enjoy every minute of your time at Nysmith, and not take anything for granted. Nysmith is truly unique, and nothing you do after this will be anything like it. But, on the other hand, don’t be afraid to move on. I was absolutely terrified of graduating, I practically had to be dragged off to high school kicking and screaming. But Nysmith does such a fantastic job of preparing you for high school and beyond that there is nothing to worry about. Instead you should look forward to what comes next, and embrace any opportunities you are offered, because you can definitely handle it and it just keeps getting better from here!

Any advice for those in either our current or alum community who may be interested in getting into the entertainment industry?

The main thing (which I heard over and over again in school and is definitely true) is to only go into the performing life if you love it. It sounds like I’ve gotten a lot of opportunities, and overall it’s true that I have, but I still hear “no” A LOT more than I hear “yes.” Make sure you love what you’re doing so that even when it seems like all you’re getting to do is audition, which will happen, at least you still love those auditions! That leads me to my next point: Audition for everything, and if you get the role, accept it if you can. Even if you’re not sure you’re quite the right fit, or it’s not exactly your dream role, still try it. At least when you’re first starting out. It’ll get you a foot in the door, build your resume and experience, and help you make connections that will hopefully lead you to the jobs you really want so in the future you can afford to be more selective. An exception is if it’s non-paying role, but that’s a whole different set of issues, haha. Finally, just always be prepared. Be organized, know your schedule, always have a monologue or song ready to go, and take classes as much as you can, because you never know when an audition or offer will present itself. One of my least favorite feelings is knowing I missed out on an opportunity because I wasn’t ready for it. But if you love it, and you’re willing to put in the work, then that one lucky opportunity will come along that will make everything else work out, even if you don’t recognize it at first. I mean for me it came in the form of Dora the Explorer of all things, so you just really never know!

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: Definitely NYC in 5th grade!

School play: Pirates of Penzance in 8th grade! You guys created a monster when you cast me in that! 😉

Place to hang out at Nysmith: In 8th grade, my best friend Kate and I would go out during recess and just walk laps around the track while we talked about anything and everything

Book you read for one of your classes: Hamlet! (I’m a cliche, I know)

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: There are so many! A good one was when I was in Ms. Tyson’s English class in 6th grade we had a project in which we had to create some sort of doll that represented the main character of the book we read. Everyone else made a normal sized doll, but, because I always felt the need to go overboard, I decided to trace my little sister and make a life sized doll. Ms. Tyson was so amused by it that she kept it hanging in her classroom for ages, much to the chagrin of Mr. Stephens, who was assisting her that year, and my classmates who kept running into it as they moved around the classroom.

After-school club: I wasn’t involved in many after school activities, but there was a dance team for a year or two that I was very excited about.

Memory: Pretty much every moment from 8th grade

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song? What state were you? The 50 states song hadn’t become a thing yet when I was in 2nd grade (boy do I feel old!) but my state was Hawaii and I thought that was SO COOL.

Tessa Muss

Harvard Medical Student

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I thought that going on overnight field trips was really fun and a great bonding experience. We got to see so many interesting locations in the US in a fun way – much better than reading about them in textbooks. In terms of activities, I absolutely loved doing musical theater with Mrs. Stephens. Musicals have a special place in my heart and I still jam out to Broadway soundtracks. It was a real pleasure to be able to dress up as the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz!

What did you do after Nysmith?

I went to high school at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) and was really interested in pursuing robotics and computer science. However, after coming to college I realized that I was more interested in medicine.

I am currently a junior at Harvard majoring in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology and minor in Computer Science. I was on Women’s Varsity Rugby freshman year, and I am now captain of the Women’s Club Lacrosse Team. I am also on a hip-hop dance team called Expressions. Additionally, I am passionate about community service and served as a Program Coordinator for Strong Women, Strong Girls, a program that mentors young girls in the greater Boston area to create cycles of mutual empowerment for women. I also joined Pets as Therapy, which is an amazing program where we bring therapy dogs to nursing homes and visit with the residents. Lastly, I serve as the Vice President of Technology and Engineering for Harvard Undergraduate BGLTQ Business Society, which organizes discussion panels and networking events for marginalized groups entering various industries.

In terms of post-graduation, my ultimate goal is to go to medical school so that I can work as a reconstructive plastic surgeon. However, I do plan on taking a gap year (or maybe two). In that time, I either plan on continuing tissue engineering research or entering the tech industry.

What were your summer jobs?

In high school I worked at Lockheed Martin, where I investigated the use of nanobiomaterials in artificial photosynthesis to create an alternative energy source for commercial lighting. Fortunately, my project was presented at the NanoTech World Conference and Expo in 2013. I also worked for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where I created grasp metrics and algorithms in C++ to classify the dexterity of industrial robotic hands. In college, I worked as an independent researcher for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, where I developed 3D printed scaffolds with multi-walled carbon nanotubes using a sterolithography bioprinter to enhance the adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation properties of neural stem cells. I was able to present my findings to researchers at the National Institute of Health! Currently I am working on my senior thesis project, and am an independent researcher in the Vacanti Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital. This lab focuses on tissue engineering and does incredible work with stem cells.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Since I went to Nysmith all the way from Blue Butterflies to Eighth Grade, Nysmith gave me the most supportive, tight-knit community I’ve ever been a part of. I am still good friends with the people I graduated with and am so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet them. I think that going to Nysmith and being exposed to such caring and wonderful people helped me make friends more easily, gave me the confidence to talk to adults, and encouraged me to push my limits and try new things.

What advice (if any) would you give a current Nysmith student and/or parent. Kind of like, if I only had known back then what I know now.

Have fun! One bad grade won’t kill you. I know I stressed way too much over really trivial things. You’re young and you should enjoy all that Nysmith offers.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: NYC 8th grade!

Place to hang out at Nysmith: Silver Wing Atrium ☺

Book you read for class: Midsummer’s Night Dream

Memory: Releasing the butterflies after they’d hatched from their cocoons while I was in the Blue Butterflies!

Briana Broccoli

“I learned a lot more through activities we did in class rather than a lecture.”

Tell us about your life since Nysmith.

After Nysmith, I went to Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, VA. During high school I ran cross-country. I helped my team win WCAC titles all four years. I was awarded the Virginia State Triple Crown Girls Individual Champion metal. I also ran track, swam and rowed crew during high school. During my sophomore year I helped lead and design the first Virginia Girls Summit to help young girls become leaders. During my Junior year I started an Italian American cultural club. Through that I started a pasta drive to collect pasta for the local food drive.

Now I attend the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY. I’m currently a plebe, or what you would normally call a freshman. I’m going to major in marine logistics and intermodal transportation and I will graduate with a coast guard license as a third mate and a commission into any branch of the armed forces as well as a Bachelor of Science degree. Part of being a Kings Pointer also means I’m in the United States Naval Reserve. My biggest involvement at USMMA is cross-country. I have been named the 2016 women’s cross-country rookie of the year for the skyline athletic conference and ECAC DIII Metro Rookie of the week.

During my time at USMMA I’m looking forward to becoming a New York state EMT and responding to calls on campus and in Great Neck. Mostly, I’m excited to go out to sea during “sea year” which means I will spend 4 months during my sophomore year traveling the world on a ship and 8 months during my junior year. I’ll get great experience of what it’s like working on a merchant ship and hopefully I will see all 7 continents by the time I’m 21! After graduation, I want to sail on a NOAA ship.

How did Nysmith impact your life?

The biggest way Nysmith impacted my life was how challenging it was for me. It taught me to be a hard worker and never quit something academically. I can remember whole weekends kicking and screaming because I wasn’t allowed to leave the computer until I finished a book report. I learned that it is rewarding to learn and as much as I didn’t want to believe it, Nysmith made learning fun which is how it’s supposed to be. I learned a lot more through activities we did in class rather than a lecture.

What advice would you give current students and/or parents?

Probably the biggest thing I realized coming out of Nysmith and going to high school that I didn’t appreciate when I went there was how friendly the teachers were and how that really made a difference in the environment. Saying “hi” to students and getting to know them went a long way in how we acted in the classroom. I also didn’t appreciate the student body. I was surrounded by other students who wanted to learn which kept me motivated to learn.

At Nysmith we did a lot of public speaking and other activities that would help make us comfortable speaking in front of others and voicing our opinions. That was really important to me. If I ever had something to say it would be heard. Plus it made class a lot more interesting. We would always discuss novels we read in class together and everyone would participate.

Brad Yoho

“Nysmith taught me the value of hard work.”

Do you have any special memories while you were at Nysmith?

I am grateful for having been a Nysmith student from Kindergarten through 6th grade. While it has been quite some time, I believe the years I attended were 1985-1991. My special memories include Field Days, class trips, talent shows, and the friendships I forged in my formative years. Also, one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Weaver, helped develop my love for creative writing that still exists today.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I attended The Potomac School for middle school and high school. I attended Penn State for my undergraduate degree in Business Management and then received my MBA with a concentration in Marketing from American University.

I held many summer jobs as a youth from an employee at a driving range to a door-to-door salesperson. One of the life lessons I learned early on from my summer jobs was what I had a passion for, but maybe more importantly what was not a good fit for me.

At Penn State and American University I served on the Yearbook committee as an editor. It was here that I developed an eye for correction and detail that has served me well in my professional career.

Tell us about your job.

After graduate school, I had a number of opportunities available to me in the field of marketing; however, I ultimately decided to go into the family business as I felt that it gave me the best opportunity to use my creativity to immediately foster change.

Dave Yoho Associates is a consulting firm that works with companies who sell products and services in the home. We help them improve their sales skills, hiring practices, lead generation, and overall management.

We employ a team of consultants who conduct business overviews, we run seminars, and we sell a full line of training products.

My job as the Director of Marketing is to oversee all internet marketing that takes place, to handle the promotions of our products, and to manage the seminars that we conduct. However, as a small business, I frequently have to help out in other areas, from sales to communications. Communications in particular gives me an opportunity to utilize my creative writing skills which is highly enjoyable.

Why did you decide to enroll your daughter at Nysmith?

From Kindergarten through 4th grade, my daughter was enrolled at several schools, none of which were a good fit for her. After talking it over as a family, we decided to give Nysmith a try.

One thing that served me well during my time as Nysmith was that it was an excellent balance between creativity and structure. My only concern was that the school had undergone so many changes since my time there. For example, our graduating class in 6th grade only had 9 students, a far cry from the number of students it boasts today.

Upon interviewing with them, as well as speaking with several parents, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that this balance still existed. Furthermore, we knew that our daughter would benefit from a smaller class size as well as a “two teachers per class” standard. Most importantly, we felt that our daughter’s gifts would not be fostered as well at any other school that we were considering.

We enrolled her at Nysmith and watching her grow over these last four years confirms that we made the right decision.

What advice would you give to current Nysmith students and/or parents?

I would have two pieces of advice for current (and future) students of Nysmith. First, go into each class with an open mind. You never know what will end up becoming your passion later in life. When my daughter began at Nysmith, math was one of her most challenging subjects. Now, as she wraps up 8th grade it has become one of her strengths. while it is true that she spent a lot of time and effort in making this happen, it never would have occurred had she not had an open mind.

Second, take the time to participate in as many extracurricular activities at Nysmith as possible. Not only do they look good to high schools (and colleges) but staying busy challenges you for what lies ahead in the coming years.

For parents, the best advice I can give is to stay involved in your child’s education but know the point where you need to pull back. As my daughter has grown older, we have made the decision to pull back from harping on her daily about what needs to be done. There comes a point in their lives where it is more important for them to plan and schedule their time than having everything done perfectly. My daughter certainly went through some growing pains with this, but she has benefited greatly in the long run.

How did Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith taught me the value of hard work and I have tried to apply this throughout my educational history as well as my work. Also, I think the fact that Nysmith fosters diversity is an important value and it has taught me to respect people of different backgrounds.

Melissa Dickt

Accomplished Musician and Music Instructor

I attended Nysmith for eight years from first through eighth grade. During my time at Nysmith, I loved my music classes as well as Language Arts. Band had not started while I was at Nysmith, so I wasn’t able to take it! I also participated in Odyssey of the Mind for one year. One of my favorite activities was the May Day Festival each year, where we acted out parts of the plays that we were reading in class.

Since my mom is a piano teacher, I’ve been surrounded by music all my life. In 8th grade, I was a finalist in the Music Teacher’s National Association national competition.

After graduating from Nysmith, I went to Oakton High School because of the amazing band program it had to offer. In high school I participated in numerous flute solo competitions, was a member and soloist with a renowned woodwind ensemble, and was a soloist with the marching band my senior year as well as the Symphonic Band. During my freshman year, I was in the top eight flutes in District Band, first chair All District Orchestra in 2005, and played in the 2007 All State Band.

I was accepted to the University of North Texas as a flute performance major, and went on to study with the two flute professors there, as well as adding music education to my degree. I joined the professional fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon where I had the privilege to serve as Fraternal Educational Officer in the fall of 2010 and then President in 2011. I am still involved in my fraternity and enjoyed performing at recitals with my family. In February 2012 I also became a Jazzercise instructor. I graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Music Education in December 2012 and moved to Ohio where I taught flute lessons, Jazzercise, and tech with a marching band.

While in Ohio, I met my future fiancé, Garrett. (Our wedding is planned for November 12, 2017 in Bethlehem, PA). In 2014, I moved back to Texas (Garret eventually joined me) to teach at a flute studio located in the Azle Independent School District, in addition to teaching Jazzercise as well. A little over a year ago I started my Mary Kay Cosmetics business and will soon become an Independent Sales Director with the company and earn my first free car!

Nysmith helped me so much in my high school and collegiate career. I was able to crank out ten-page papers in no time for my classes without being stressed because of the foundation my teachers at Nysmith gave me. My classes in high school were much less stressful because I knew a lot more about the mechanics of the subject going into the classes than some of my colleagues.

To the current students at Nysmith, I want to give you the advice of “just keep working.” I will be the first to say I was the not the fastest reader, the best mathematician, nor the smartest student in my class. I can say that I worked really hard and it was worth it. I was able to focus on my strengths in flute/music because I did not have to spend hours on homework in high school and college. I look back very fondly on my classes and teachers at Nysmith. I still talk about my former teachers to this day, and continue to apply what I learned from them. I would like to thank my Nysmith teachers for the amazing education they gave me which helped me to be successful in the rest of my years of schooling.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: NYC

School play: Midsummer Night’s Dream

Book you read for one of your classes: The Giver

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: During my Nysmith shadow days, I was put in 1st grade math instead of Kindergarten, which was the grade that I was in at the time. Thankfully, Mrs. Guerro figured it out and put me in the correct math class saving me from lots of frustration. From then one, she was one of my favorite teachers!

Memory: We went to Little Italy for lunch while in NYC and it was the best meal I have ever had. We were running late to get back to the buses and I’ve never seen my mom or any of our moms run so fast. It was worth getting yelled at by our moms while running to the buses!

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song? Yes. Ryan and I performed it at a talent show when we went to a ranch that year for vacation and we won 🙂

Rachel Kasold

Development Officer at Bishop Kearney High School

What kinds of thing did you like at Nysmith?

I liked that we had a lot of projects. I loved creating a bridge out of raw spaghetti with glue (flour and water) in either 5^th or 6^th grade science class. I also remember the 6^th grade tie project, which was probably one of the first times I gave a presentation in front of a group – and now I do it all the time in my career!

What did you do after Nysmith?

I moved to Georgia briefly but ended up at The Madeira School from sophomore to senior year. I highly recommend that middle school girls visit Madeira!  After graduation, I moved to New York City to attend Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) where I created my own major with a focus on Social Change. I worked in the Admissions Office at MMC which led me to my current  job as Director of Admissions at an all-girls Catholic high school in Brooklyn, NY. I still consult with my boss from the college and the admissions staff of Madeira.  Building relationships with people is key to career success!

Tell us about your current job.

I currently work at Bishop Kearney High School, an all-girls Catholic high school in Brooklyn, NY. I started as the Director of Admissions, overseeing all recruitment efforts, as well as managing the financial aid and scholarship distribution.  I also moderated our student-run television station. The students met at 7:30 am every day to put on a live broadcast for the entire school.   21st Century Fox began sponsoring our club in 2015, with a $100,000 donation in equipment and training. They continue to provide training and give us VIP tours of Fox 5 NY and Fox News Channel.

This summer, I was promoted to the development office where I oversee alumnae relations and work closely with foundations and corporations, like 21 Century Fox, as they invest in the all-girls education the school provides.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life? 

Everyone goes through difficult times during their teenage and early adult years, but I never doubted that I was smart, and neither did any of my other friends from Nysmith. Remembering my interactions with Ms. Amberly, Mr. Nysmith and my teachers, we were always valued as having something to offer and were worth listening to. Mr. Nysmith even let me and Brianna Buch create a recycling program in 5^th grade. It didn’t work out as well as we had hoped, but we were allowed to present our idea and actually try it out. That experience among others instilled confidence in my intellectual ability.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: Kings Dominion

Place to hang out at Nysmith: The court yard was new my 8^th grade year. It was also an 8^th grade privilege and we used that privilege every day! I hope they still have the lemon trees there.

Book you read for class: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Elli Hausamann

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

My favorite subjects at Nysmith were 8^th grade Language Arts with Mrs. Stephens, Ms. Guerro’s Math class and of course, the Busy Bees Class with Mrs. Currier and Ms. Patel.  Also, the field trips Nysmith would take us on were amazing. We would either be learning about history or learning about teamwork. These trips were a great way to help us relax and get our minds off of school for a little while, and also gave us the opportunity to bond with the people around us, both students and teachers.

What did you do after Nysmith? 

After graduating from Nysmith in the 8^th grade,  I attended Flint Hill High School. My favorite subjects were sophomore Geometry, Psychology, and an English class called “Dreaming of America,” and I also participated in their swim program all four years. I’ve been swimming since the age of seven, but started swimming competitively in the 5^th grade. My practices at Flint Hill are mainly in the afternoon for an hour and a half, but on Wednesdays I have double practices which means I swim in the morning and the  afternoon. My main events, (and, my favorite events!) are the 200 backstroke, the 100 back stroke and the 200 IM.  For college, I have committed to York College of Pennsylvania and will be swimming there as well. At this moment, I’m trying to decide between Education and Psychology for my major.

Tell us about your summer jobs.

During the summers, I am a swim coach for children under the age of 9 and am a lifeguard for Crystal Aquatics. Also, Flint Hill has a Senior Projects program, where we intern with a company or a program in the area that is relevant to our future. We must work for 80 plus hours and keep a journal outlining what we’ve accomplished each day. At the end of the internship, we submit a final report about our experience which includes giving an oral presentation before a committee of faculty and staff. Since I’m trying to decide between Education and Psychology, I thought that Nysmith would be the perfect internship for me. Therefore, starting in mid-May, I am extremely excited to begin my internship with Nysmith in Ms. Patel’s preschool class! (where I began!)

What did Nysmith teach you about life, in addition to the academics?

I went to Nysmith for 11 years. The school and the teachers were a second home/family. I grew up learning proper manners and the importance of responsibilities through Nysmith. In pre-kindergarten I was in the Busy Bees class, and one day we had a lunch based of manners. Ms. Currier and Ms. Patel taught the class proper etiquette. Nysmith built the respect I have for adults today, because the teachers would always treat the students with respect and kindness.

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent? 

I have two pieces of advice to the students of Nysmith.

1. Take advantage of all the resources the school gives you, because later in life they will truly help you.
2. Make the most of it, because it goes by quicker than you think.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: My favorite field trip was easily Chesapeake Bay.

Place to hang out at Nysmith: In eighth grade, a few friends and I would always eat lunch in Mrs. Stephens room.

Book you read for one of your classes: To Kill a Mockingbird, was a book we read in Mrs. Stephens class. During a college interview I was asked “What is your favorite book and describe it?” in that moment the explanation came flowing out of my mouth, although I have not read the book since 8^th grade.

Memory: One of my favorite memories is when we had our water balloon fight against the teachers during Field Day. Obviously we won, but this was one of the last times we had with teachers and students together. This day was a great ending to my 11 years at Nysmith.

Haley Stumvoll

Majoring in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace Engineering

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I attended Nysmith from 6^th to 8^th grade and was in the Bouldering Club, MathCounts and maybe one or two others. One of my favorite things that I did at Nysmith was making a Rube Goldberg machine in Physics class.

What did you do after Nysmith? 

After Nysmith, I went to TJHSST, where I got involved in a couple clubs and sports. I ran cross-country in the fall for four years and played soccer in the spring for two years before switching to outdoor track for my junior and senior year. For clubs, I was in Girls in Engineering, Math & Science all four years, and became the president my senior year. GEMS is a mentoring club that goes to a local middle school (Glasgow MS) and does fun science and math activities with the girls there. My junior year, I was an NCWIT Aspirations in Computer National Runner-up. I got my Girl Scout Gold Award my senior year of high school.

My sophomore year of high school, I started taking piloting lessons, with the goal of earning my Private Pilot’s License so I can fly small single-engine aircraft. Despite starting it so long ago, I am still working on it due to a lot of interruptions in learning how to fly. Hopefully, fingers crossed, I’ll be finishing that this summer.

After I graduated from TJ, I decided to go to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta for a few reasons. First, Georgia Tech offered a lot more opportunities because it’s a much bigger school. At the time I was making my college decision, I was also considering majoring in Aerospace Engineering and that was only offered at GT.  Second, I really liked the study abroad program, which is really huge at GT, and it has options to go abroad in the summers which is important since I run year-round. Those things were unique to GT that I couldn’t get with some of the other top-tier colleges that I had been admitted to. Finally, it’s a great up-and-coming research school, and an awesome return on investment.

At GT, I am currently a second year and am majoring in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace Engineering. Outside of school, I run for the varsity cross country and track & field teams. I am also involved with a few community service clubs here at Tech.

What were your summer jobs?

During high school, I interned at the Naval Research Lab after my sophomore year. The summer after my junior year I was a TA for TJ’s summer CS class. The summer after my senior year I co-ran a CS camp for middle school girls. I also went to various camps throughout high school.

The summer after my freshmen year I got an internship at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in southern California and I’m hoping to go back this summer.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Going to Nysmith really helped me become more confident. Also, Nysmith was the place where I picked up most of my basic public speaking skills. When I started in 6th grade, I would get really, really nervous about presenting in front of people. When I presented my first project in Reading in 6th grade, I didn’t even finish the whole thing and had a really hard time answering questions about in front of everyone. Through the years, I learned how to organize and give presentations. By the end of 8th grade, I was confident enough to give a speech to a whole crowd of people.

What advice would you give a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Students: Have fun learning! Just enjoy being around your friends and teachers and having fun every day.

Parents: Don’t put too much pressure on your kids, and just encourage them to do their best and support them, especially as they get close to going to high school.

Favorite Nysmith…

Field trip: Chesapeake Bay trip.

Science fair project: My favorite Science Fair Project was making a Mag-Lev train car and seeing how fast it went down a track, depending on the angle of the track.

Place to hang out at Nysmith:  In the courtyard.

Book you read for one of your classes: The Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen.

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: One thing that Mrs. Stephens would get really annoyed about is students sitting on the back two legs of their chair and putting their feet up on the table. I didn’t really know that at the beginning of the year, but I soon learned when she brought in a teeny pink stool for me to sit on until I was able to sit on chair normally. I got it eventually 😉

After-school club: Bouldering.

Memory: Playing capture the flag outside.

TJ Loeffler

Young entrepreneur, life teacher and international keynote speaker

//www.tjloeffler.com/

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

Some of my best memories at Nysmith were at recess, truthfully. We had a group that really bonded over playing soccer or basketball together. The time outside the classroom was just as important (probably more) than the time in the classroom. Why? Here I am, twenty some years later, and I have meaningful friendships with some of those same people.

On the education side, I loved the small classroom size. Over the years I’ve come to understand the value of having a voice in the classroom. Not only does it build confidence, but it creates a special bond between you and your friends who shared that intimate experience together.

What did you do after Nysmith?

I tried it all! After 11 years at Nysmith I decided to go to a public school where I wouldn’t know anyone. And I just jumped right in. I played football, ice hockey, and lacrosse at Fairfax High School. I got heavily involved in “leadership” roles at school. But that was because I wanted to, not because I thought it was needed for a resume to get into a good college, although that helped.

I didn’t go crazy with summer jobs during high school. I was busy training for sports, and having fun with friends. I would cut grass to make some money.

When it came time for college, I only applied to Ohio State, UVA, and Virginia Tech. With terrible SAT scores, I somehow got into all three, and decided to go to Virginia Tech. Why? I wanted to go to a school where I felt at home. Hokies always have lots of enthusiasm when they welcome you. That was home to me.

During college I was playing lacrosse and, again, getting involved. But I quickly learned that wasn’t enough. I was seeking something more. I signed up to live in Switzerland for a semester. I learned Italian and traveled through 11 different countries. For a kid who grew up in the same house his whole life, it was eye-opening to say the least. But I always tell college students that living in a different country is a MUST. Do whatever you need to do to get out of here. Too many of us fall into the trap of letting school get in the way of our education. Life will teach you, if you let it.

During college summers I was intentional about seeking internships at different companies to get a feel for what life could be like. I tried internships at The Peace Corps, Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, and then Goldman Sachs (I stayed an extra semester at Virginia Tech, which allowed for an extra summer internship. I highly recommend staying at college for an extra semester, too.) To make a long story short, I didn’t know what Wall Street was when I applied, but I had a vague idea. Generally, in life, I’ve prepared myself for the “unknown” by simply seeking out people and habits that help me become a “better” person along the way.

Tell us about your time at Goldman Sachs and why you decided to ultimately leave to do what you’re doing now.

I never had my sights set on Wall Street. Not until about three months before I started interviewing for summer internships in NYC. Virginia Tech wasn’t a “target school” for Wall Street banks to recruit from, and many people from my school just didn’t consider moving to NYC as an option. So, all things considered, my path to Goldman was very much a story about how “who you are takes you further than what you do.”

After totally failing my interviews with Morgan Stanley (I tried to be someone I’m not), I had one last shot with Goldman the following week. I’ll never forget my mindset going into my final round at Goldman: “Well, I’m just going to be myself. If they don’t like it, then it’s not for me.” Preparation met opportunity many times in my life, but that was one I’ll always remember. The preparation was my upbringing, not solely my education. It was a matter of my character, not so much my competence.

Which leads me to the next chapter in my life.

I always knew Wall Street wasn’t my final stop. So, when I had peace about a decision to leave, I walked in the next day to resign. That was a little over three years into my career. I was working on the Foreign Exchange Sales desk at the time and I had nothing but a wide road of opportunity in front of me. But something in my gut was pulling me away.

Over time I learned how to describe that feeling in my gut. It was two things: a) a desire to build something on my own, and b) a need to separate my identity from my career. I had been living a performance-driven life for so long, and it was driving me into the ground. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I needed a new perspective, and boy did I get one the hard way.

I didn’t have direction when I left Goldman. I had peace, but no path. No purpose. I just wanted to “try things.” So I did. Many things. And I lost all my money along the way. In the midst of other family troubles and my own financial troubles, that moment forced me to confront questions like: If I truly only have one shot, what am I going to do with it? What am I great at? Is that what I’m afraid of? And will it be worth it just to try?

As I wrestled with those questions, a good friend of mine knew my situation and told me I needed to continue down the path I was on. He said I needed to build my coaching business, and that he would fund it if he had to. So he did. Here’s my discovery: Fear points the way, especially if it’s pointing towards something that’s good for you, and better for other people. You just need to trust, and try.

I started writing to get a following. Later (just last year) I launched a speaking series. And now I’m also doing life teaching programs both groups and individuals. All of my work is centered around helping people discover who they are, unattached to what they do. Not only does it give them direction, but it gives them confidence and clarity too. More so, freedom, knowing that who they are is enough. And fulfillment, knowing that their story is meant to be shared with others.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith taught me everyone has their own voice. Everyone brings something to the table. But over time I’ve learned not everyone has had the chance to feel seen or heard. That perspective impacts the way I interact with everyone. It’s shaped me in such a positive way, and it’s affected how I treat other people.

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent? 

The best advice is often a question. So, if I were to give you any advice, I’d ask you [student] to answer this question: Why do you want to do that? “That” being anything you are going to pursue in life, whether it be class president, soccer try-outs, traveling the world, or a job on Wall Street.

I’d ask you [parent] to answer these questions: Can you put faith in the fact that “who they are” will take your child further than “what they do”? If yes, why? And how can you affirm more of “who they are” on a daily basis?

Colton Haney

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I loved the small classes and being connected with my teachers. I have been in schools that have the same setting ever since! My main involvement at Nysmith was in Student Council where I was President my last year (If the Student Council President Pictures are still on the wall in the library, I’m 2008-2009! (Editor’s note: Yes they are, Colton and yours is directly over the rear library door!)
What did you do after Nysmith? 

After Nysmith I attended the Potomac School in McLean Virginia. At Potomac, I was heavily involved in our delegation of Model Congress as well as the student government association where I served as the Student Body President my senior year.

Just this past year I completed my undergraduate at Cornell University. where I studied Hotel Administration. On campus I was involved in the Orientation Steering Committee (student org that spends the year planning orientation for over 4,000 incoming students), The Men of Last Call A Cappella (if you are interested, here is one of my performances from my freshman year!<//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zUQRYHWj9g>), The Cornell Glee Club, and the Hotel School Ambassadors. From my campus involvement, I was inducted into Mortar Board/Der Hexenkreis Senior Honor Society <//www.mbdh.org/members/colton-haney/>.

Currently, I am finishing my first year of law school at Penn State  Within the law school, I am actively involved in the Student Bar Association as an elected 1L representative and am engaged in a variety of special interest organizations. Next year I will begin my first year of MBA course work in the Smeal College of Business in order to achieve my dual degree JD/MBA. My long-term goal is to work in the realm of in-house council in a hospitality firm or corporate environment. Consistent with this, I have accepted a summer position at Rockbridge Capital, a boutique private equity with hotel investments, working in their legal department.”

Tell us about your summer jobs.

Over the past three summers I have been a rotational management intern at the Fairfax Marriott, the Hotel Sales Promo Coordinator at Priceline.com<//Priceline.com><//priceline.com/>’s Headquarters in CT, and the Lead Teaching Assistant for the Hotel School’s Summer College Program.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Through the rigorous and effective course-load that I had at Nysmith, I was taught a work ethic that has remained with me since. To be frankly honest, I was not even CLOSE to the smartest kid in my class, so I had to work quite hard to keep up. Not only did this teach me the value of hard work, but also showed me that surrounding myself by the best-of-the-best pushes you to your best potential.
What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Even if it feels that Nysmith can be extremely difficult, it is SO worth it in the long road. My freshman year in an introductory course that had to do with Excel coding, I was recalling work I had done back in middle school and it frankly gave me a leg up, even after all of those years.  Nysmith equipped me to excel later in life so my time there was well invested!

FAVORITES

School play: Getting to play Jafar in Aladdin Jr. in 7th grade was by far the most fun part I had while I was at Nysmith. I still think back very affectionately about my Jafar stage debut!

Place to hang out at Nysmith: The outside oddly-shaped pit in between the Silver and Purple wings. We used to play a fun game in that pit (what we called it is escaping me) and hung out there when it was nice outside.

Book you read for one of your classes: A Tale of Two Cities with Mrs. Stephens. I was SO lost with that book, but Mrs. Stephens really painted a picture for us, and her passion for that book was palpable and made me love it too!

Nysmith memory:  One of my favorite memories was doing the Frankenstein mock trial for Mrs. Stephen’s class my 8th grade year. Despite being a LOT of work (or at least what seemed like a lot of work at that time), I had an insane amount of fun being one of the lawyers for the proceedings. I was on the team prosecuting Dr. Frankenstein for malpractice and my fellow counsel was Michelle Kain. Needless to say this was my first introduction to what the legal field was like and now I’m headed off to law school! Even though my mother (the “Honorable Judge Haney”) was the judge of the proceedings, my team still ended up losing. Regardless of losing, I had a lot of fun calling objections and cross examining witnesses as a teenage lawyer!

Story about Colton as told by one of his teachers:

After Colton won the election in the spring for Student Council President, his term was to begin the following school year.  During that summer he took that year’s Nysmith yearbook home and memorized every student’s name – yes, that’s correct, every single student! He also learned the names of the new students who would be starting in the new school year.  WHY?  Because, as Student Council President, his goal was to make all of the students feel valued, and addressing them by name was his first step in accomplishing that goal.  And, that’s what he did!

Adriana Smith

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

Wow, trying to remember things from 21 years ago is hard! When I was a student I don’t remember any after-school activities. They may not have been offered yet, or maybe since my mom drove the bus I had to leave right after school anyway. One thing I was allowed to do was tutor younger students in math. I really enjoyed that, and it sparked my love of teaching. I do remember having some interesting guest lectures that the whole school was invited to. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, spoke once and that lecture has stuck with me ever since.

What did you do after Nysmith?

I went to high school at TJHSST. Summer jobs during high school were working as a receptionist at a doctor’s office, and teaching riding lessons. I have ridden horses since I was 7, but during high school I joined a competitive riding team that traveled throughout Northern Virginia and Maryland. During high school I was an assistant editor of “Anemos,” TJ’s Philosophy Journal.

After high school, I attended college at Virginia Tech and graduated in 2003 with a B.S. in Animal Science. During college I was also on their competitive riding team (IHSA). I started out as a double major in Animal Science and French, but dropped the French after a couple semesters when I realized I wouldn’t really use it.

I remained at Virginia Tech for Graduate School and graduated in 2009 with an M.S. in Equine Genetics. I was in school when the Virginia Tech shooting happened on April 16, 2007. While I didn’t personally know any of the victims this one day had a profound effect on me. I saw first-hand the love of the Virginia Tech community. It also made me realize that bad things can happen anywhere at any time, even in a place you feel safe. We cannot go through life in fear but need to face each day head-on, take opportunities as they present themselves and constantly strive to inspire the best in others.

During graduate school, I had a research paper published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science and got to attend a conference in Arizona to present my findings. Being able to talk with other researchers was so inspiring. My thesis was about heritability of racing performance in thoroughbred racehorses.

Tell us about your job(s) since graduating from college.

After I graduated from college I got a job at Bethany College in Bethany, WV, as an adjunct faculty member in their Equine Studies program. I also coached their IHSA riding team.

After two years I relocated to St. Augustine, FL, where I am the Assistant Trainer at HaddenLoch, a Hunter/Jumper and Dressage barn. I assist the Head Trainer and also run my own dressage training program out of the same barn. We care for 42 horses and travel throughout the South going to horse shows.

For seven years to supplement my income, I also was a tour guide for the City of St. Augustine. I lead historic ghost tours throughout the city. I absolutely loved being able to share my love of this city with others. I only gave it up when my teaching business really took off.
How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith was in many ways a positive experience. I enjoyed the ability to learn at my own level and excel. I was so bored in public school and on the verge of not caring about education at all. I feel I was given a very solid foundation in all aspects of my academic education. While I am certain that I learned a lot of math, science, language arts, etc… the two things that really stick out in my mind as still being useful in my current life are typing and foreign language. Typing sounds silly, but it is a skill that I use often and I know so many people are frustrated by not being able to do it well. For a time I actually earned some extra money by doing transcription, and I can still type 75+wpm. Foreign language study has also been so useful. I really believe that students can only truly absorb another language if they learn it early, and the fact that we took French lessons from the very beginning of school (I started Nysmith in 3rd grade) has really helped the language be embedded in my head. I don’t use French now at all, but I have had to learn Spanish and already knowing one Latin-based language really helped.

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

So many students are hard-wired to believe that academic life revolves around getting into college. I see younger and younger students already shaping their lives around getting into a good college even though they are only 12 or 13 years old. I would strongly encourage students to, of course, do well in school, but above all put energy into things outside of school. Play sports. Join clubs. Be kids. Find out what you love and pursue it. Don’t be so driven for academic success that you forget how to be a person. Also remember that a traditional four-year college education is not always the right path depending on what you want to be. Take time and figure out what that is. Don’t go into debt just because it’s the path that everyone else is taking.

FAVORITES

Field trip: Science museum in Richmond. (the one with the big pendulum in the lobby)

School play: Playing “Adriana” in Shakespeare’s “A Comedy of Errors” actually at Folger’s Theatre.

Place to hang out at Nysmith: Our 8th grade “lounge.” Of course this was in the old building.

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I really loved all of my teachers. I had Mrs. Noiner for French, Mrs. Boyer for language arts, my math teacher I really, really enjoyed but I don’t remember his name. (Editor’s note: Mr. Freeman!) I don’t remember my Social Studies teacher’s name either but I remember she always said she had a black hole that followed her around so we couldn’t give anything to her or she’d lose it. We always had to turn in assignments in a folder on the wall.

Nysmith memory: In computer class being shown the newest, coolest, most modern technology that we had just acquired for the school: a hard drive. Hahahahaha.

Emory Ruscus

Princeton Student, Varsity Rower, Future Quant

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

A lot of what I was drawn to at Nysmith was a product of the people and teachers more so than the subjects or activities. Math and English were some of my favorite classes towards the end of my Nysmith career, but I think that was mostly because the teachers in those classes were the ones with whom I had bonded the most.

I never joined any clubs at Nysmith, but I did play basketball and soccer year round. I never would have guessed it at the time, but my background in athletics would end up having a huge impact on my character and choices later in life.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I attended TJ where I enjoyed the classic barrage of challenging math and science courses. More importantly however, I made a lot of genuine friends and got involved in activities that excited and motivated me every day. Probably most noteworthy, I joined TJ’s rowing team where I quickly progressed. I would later go on to row with the US Junior National Team, and ultimately get recruited to row at Princeton. Outside of my athletics and academics, I also enjoyed dancing with the swing dance team and singing in musicals.

At Princeton, I am majoring in Operations Research and Financial Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. I also row full time on the men’s varsity team, which has played a massive part in my college experience. After my sophomore year, I interned as a big data analyst at Freeport-McMoRan in Phoenix, AZ. After my junior year, I interned as a quantitative strategies analyst at the Royal Bank of Canada in New York City. I am very excited to be returning to work with RBC after I graduate.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith encouraged me to get excited about life. I was never put down for getting really into something. Instead, both the teachers and the students would spur you on and encourage you to do even more. I have carried that excitement and passion forward in different forms, and it has been invaluable.

(However, potentially the most underrated impact of Nysmith is actually the teaching of Excel. I was blown away at TJ, and continue to be astounded at Princeton, by how many people simply have no idea how to use Excel. Thank you Nysmith!)

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

My biggest regret from Nysmith (and schooling in general), is mindlessly completely assignments without actually trying to learn from them. My advice to current students would be to actually take the time to learn the material instead of just regurgitating it. As my high school chem teacher would say, “Don’t memorize. Understand.”

Favorites

Field trip: We got to wade through these mud puts somewhere. I can’t remember where that was, but man that whole trip was a blast! (It was Chesapeake Bay!)

School play: High School Musical and Othello

Place to hang out at Nysmith: The courtyard pit outside the hallway to the silver wing (I can’t remember what it was called)

Book you read for one of your classes: Frankenstein

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: One time, Billy Swift showed Mr. Stephens a cartoon he had drawn of a sun beam bouncing off of Mr. Stephens’s bald head and blinding an innocent bystander. Needless to say, the interaction was pretty hilarious.

Nysmith memory: The Frankenstein Trial was an incredible experience.

Erica Neely

Associate Professor of Philosophy

//www.ericaneely.com/

You graduated from 6th grade at Nysmith in 1991, which was a long time ago! Do you have any particular memories of Nysmith that you can share with us?

Let’s see. When I first started going to Nysmith, it was in this office park (or at least that’s what it looked like to me). As soon as you entered, you’d see Mrs. Peters and Patricia the paper-mâché dinosaur. (I think she was a T-rex.) I remember that Patricia would get dressed up in various ways with hats and other accessories – I think once she had a fuzzy boa on. I don’t know if you still have her; she did make the move to the new building (although she required repairs) but that was a long time ago for something paper-mâché! I also remember that when we moved into the new building that one of the parents affiliated with the school worked on sketching out a huge mural to make the walls more interesting. I never did see it completed, but I got to watch it take shape, which was really neat.

Leaving aside the physical facilities, the main things that stick out for me from Nysmith are the people. I learned to love both reading and creating poetry from Mrs. Weaver. I had French with Mrs. Neuner – and, in fact, that’s the language I studied all the way to graduate school, so I guess something stuck! Mrs. McMahon was the first woman I ever met with a Ph.D., which I thought was incredibly cool; we were really lucky to have her to teach us. Coincidentally, I recently reconnected with my former science teacher, Mrs. Burchett, on Facebook; she’s not as terrifying now as I remember her being at the time. There were just so many great people there – and, of course, I remember Mrs. Ny! I mean, in my head, she basically is the Nysmith School.

Tell us about your decision to skip high school and go straight to college! Why did you choose the University of Oxford for your B.A.? How did you decide on Mathematical Sciences for your degree?

I was already a year young when I was at Nysmith because I skipped kindergarten. (My parents were always trying to find somewhere that challenged me; sadly, we didn’t find Nysmith until the 3rd grade.) Since Nysmith ended at 6th grade, we had to find somewhere else for me to go. I ended up at a school that wasn’t very challenging and I moved from the 7th to the 8th grade about 6 weeks into the school year. (Note: this is not the way to win friends and influence people as a kid.) That school only went to 8th grade, though, so I had to find a high school. Now, one of my teachers had given me information about Johns Hopkins’ summer program called the Center for Talented Youth, where you could take the SAT and go to an academic kind of summer camp if you scored high enough. That sounded like fun, so I took the SAT and went to the program that summer. (I didn’t actually like the program, but that was because I was horribly homesick.)

Fast forward to the fall of 1992 and I started at Flint Hill for high school. Unfortunately, about a month into the school year I developed a spinal problem and had to drop out for medical reasons. (I still have spinal problems now, 25 years later.) My parents were casting around to figure out what to do with me the next year – should I go back to Flint Hill? Should I go somewhere else? And we got this envelope from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA, advertising their modestly-named Program for the Exceptionally Gifted. Essentially they allowed girls to come and complete high school and college together in four years. I applied there and was accepted, so I started there in the fall of 1993.

I really liked Mary Baldwin, but unfortunately in the spring my back issues flared up again and I had to leave. Meanwhile, my father had applied to do some graduate work at a variety of universities and was accepted to Oxford, so my family was going there. I interviewed with one of the tutors at Oxford and they took me; it was rather irregular, but I think they were hoping I’d be the next Gauss or Galois, since math talent shows up early. (At this point, I was 14.) To be quite honest, I have no recollection of how I ended up wanting to study math. I always liked math, and my eldest sister has a math degree (both she and my father ended up as programmers.) So it may just have seemed to be a natural progression.

I lived with my parents for the first two years I was at Oxford and then in college for the third year (once I was 16 the College was less nervous about having me live in.) My parents were back in the States that year, and I was very homesick – being thousands of miles away was hard on me. However, it was also good for me to have to navigate on my own; I got pretty good at being self-reliant, which served me well later! Oxford itself was very interesting; the idea of having an entire degree depend upon 9 exams that you take at the end of your third year was a bit daunting… The tutorial system was fascinating, though; getting to work one-on-one (or two-on-one) with professors was wonderful.

Tell us about your later degrees, your Masters and your Ph.D. How did you end up back in the states and your decision to change from Mathematical Sciences to Philosophy?

In addition to being homesick in my third year, I had reached the conclusion that while I was a very very good mathematician, I wasn’t at the level people were hoping. It was extremely frustrating – it was like I could almost see how the puzzle pieces fit, but not quite. Spending my entire life being almost good enough didn’t strike me as a lot of fun, so I thought maybe I’d do something else. Math also has the problem that it is harder to switch tracks than in some fields. What I mean is this: all graduate work involves narrowing your focus and specializing. However, in some fields it is very difficult to change your focus later because of how the subjects are structured. It is possible to completely change your area in mathematics, but it is difficult. Since I tend to have lots and lots of interests, a broader field seemed like it might be a better fit for me.

I ended up with philosophy because it seemed like I could do almost anything under the umbrella of philosophy. (I still pretty much believe that.)

I was in a bit of an odd spot, however, because I wanted to apply to graduate schools in philosophy but had almost no philosophy background. (One of my nine exams at Oxford did have philosophy on it; I thought of that exam as their token nod towards breadth.) So after I got my degree I came back to the States and enrolled at George Mason University (which was near my parents’ house) as a non-degree-seeking student to take some philosophy classes. I also emailed the chairs of a lot of departments to see if they would even consider my application; a lot of them said no. Bob Wengert at the University of Illinois, however, responded extremely enthusiastically – apparently they’d had people with non-traditional backgrounds before. They accepted me and they offered me a very generous fellowship. And, of course, it’s hard not to like being somewhere that seems enthusiastic about you!

In retrospect, it might have been easier on the job market if I’d gone to a more “prestigious” school, because people are overly impressed by certain schools. However, I think UIUC was the right fit for me; it had a large department with people doing all sorts of things. Since I had less of a philosophy background than most grad students, it allowed me to fill in a lot of the gaps and have a broad knowledge of philosophy. This has served me well in my career!

Tell us about what you’re doing now as an Associate Professor of Philosophy. Alums who are interested in earning a Ph.D to ultimately become college professors would be interested in learning how that works, since it can be very challenging to get a professor position. What has your experience been? Any advice?

I am currently teaching at Ohio Northern University, which is in rural Ohio. It’s very different than where I grew up in (Fairfax), but I’ve come to rather like living in a small town – we’re an hour to 90 minutes from several major cities, but I don’t have to deal with traffic on a day-to-day basis! I’ve been here since 2008; I got my Ph.D. in 2005 but served as a Visiting Lecturer at UIUC for three years (which gave me some experience and helped fill in for the large number of retirements etc. they were having.) My first few years here I was essentially trying to stay afloat while developing courses – I didn’t do much besides that! Now that I’ve been teaching for so many years, though, I don’t have to do as much of that; this gives me time to pursue my own research.

One of the things I learned in graduate school was that you may not end up taking the path you expect. (Well, I suppose I should have learned that already – I did do an entire degree in a different subject, after all!) Anyway, I applied to graduate school hoping to work on philosophical issues pertaining to artificial intelligence. Sadly, I really didn’t get along with the professors in the department who worked on that field. Instead, I ended up working on a topic in language and knowledge because my advisor, Gary Ebbs, was wonderful. However, now that I’m out of grad school and don’t have to pick my topic based on who I like, I’ve gone back to the area of philosophy of technology. I work on ethical issues pertaining to emerging technologies (3D printing, augmented reality) and also philosophical issues arising from video games; since people are spending more and more time playing them, it’s interesting to think about how they might influence us.

In terms of advice about grad school:

1. If at all possible, don’t go into debt to get your Ph.D. If not possible, go into as little debt as possible. Look for places that support their graduate students with teaching assistant or research assistant positions.

2. Be aware that the market is pretty horrible; universities have moved to using a lot more contingent faculty (adjuncts) than they used to. Getting a position is hard. As a result, I recommend having a backup plan in case you can’t get an academic position. Doing a Ph.D. prepares you for a lot of other kinds of jobs (since you have research skills, project management skills, probably skills in teaching/training, etc.) Even if you never need to apply for non-academic jobs, it will make you feel less desperate and that will make you a stronger candidate for your academic positions. Desperation is never a good look.

3. Start being professionally active – if you can author or co-author papers, conference presentations, etc. that is great. The more connections you can make with people, the better; I’m horrible at networking, but it really is helpful!

4. Be realistic in what you are willing to accept. I knew that I would never be willing to be an adjunct, so I had backup non-academic plans. I also applied to jobs everywhere; I wasn’t tied to a particular geographic location. If you want to stay only in a particular region, you probably won’t succeed; at least at the starting level, you need to be flexible. It took me five years to get this position and I applied to pretty much anything that I met the requirements for that wasn’t an adjunct or community-college position.

5. Be open-minded – sometimes the jobs that only seem so-so end up being great. I never really thought I’d like being at a primarily teaching-oriented university, but I really love it where I am. So don’t cut off your options prematurely.

6. In addition to being realistic, remember also to shoot for the stars. If you don’t apply, you definitely won’t get it. You don’t want to only be idealistic, but don’t sell yourself short either. If you went to Nysmith, you’re probably used to working hard and persevering.

What kind of impact did attending Nysmith have on your life?

Oh, gosh, it had a huge impact. Maybe a story will illustrate this best. Last year I had a student who wasn’t doing very well and apparently spent a fair amount of time in one of my colleague’s offices freaking out about it. So my colleague came to talk to me one day about what was going on; he thought the issue was that the student didn’t know how to handle a subject matter where he couldn’t just breeze through it – he’d always found school easy before and didn’t know how to cope with something challenging. My colleague said something like “I’m sure you know what that’s like.” And I realized that I didn’t. I’ve worked hard at school my entire life, because if I’m not working hard, I assume that I should be doing something more difficult. I mean, when I started at Nysmith one of our classes was Japanese – and I had never had any exposure to it at all! I had to catch up just to be able to know the alphabet. So I think one of the most valuable things Nysmith did was teach me how to work hard and that if you do work hard you can do amazing things. I’m not easily daunted by projects and setbacks. I’ve seen a bunch of very bright students have trouble when something goes wrong.

What advice would you give to current Nysmith parents and or students?

Enjoy what you have. Also, have some plan for what you’re going to do next. I had no idea how special Nysmith was until I went somewhere else. At Nysmith, everyone kind of took it for granted that you were intelligent. You didn’t stick out for it. It was a shock to go to other schools where people thought I was weird because I liked to learn things.

Danielle Agress

Graduate student in political science/international relations

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

While I was at Nysmith, my main interests were music and math. I was in the Math Olympiad club in 4th and 5th grade, and took the musical theater elective in 7th and 8th grade. However, most of my activities were outside of school. I spent a lot of time studying to become a classical pianist, so I didn’t spend much time participating in after-school activities at Nysmith (but I always wanted to join Odyssey of the Mind!) I also danced classical ballet.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I attended George Mason High School, a small public school in Falls Church City. I was dual-enrolled at George Washington University in 10th grade, where I took multivariable calculus and linear algebra. In school, I participated in theater and was also in the school band playing percussion (mostly marimba and xylophone). I also performed as a featured pianist with the school band, performing pieces such as Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. I founded a club called MusicShare, which brought student musicians to local senior homes to perform concerts.

Outside of school, I became involved in my synagogue’s youth group and choir for all four years of high school. I still spent most of my free time studying piano and taking ballet lessons, until the end of my junior year. I started taking lessons with a professor from the Julliard School during my sophomore year of high school, and enjoyed travelling to New York City frequently to do so! During the summer between my sophomore and junior year, I was the youngest participant at the Gijon International Piano Festival in Gijon, Spain, where I had the opportunity to participate in master classes with world-renowned pianists and perform as a soloist at a concert hall. During the summer between my junior and senior year, I was invited to participate in the Banff International Piano Festival in Banff, Canada. It was at Banff that I made the decision not to pursue a career as a classical pianist.

I spent much of my senior year of high school trying to figure out what kind of academic career I wanted to pursue. The switch from a piano-focus to an academic-focus was sudden and tough, but I knew it was the right thing for me to do. I graduated high school as a valedictory scholar with a 4.0 GPA, a member of the National Spanish Honors Society and National Honors Society, and two semesters of college credit through the IB program.

The first college I attended was Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA. I still had no idea what field of study I wanted to pursue, but felt pressured by my advisor to declare a major. My second semester, I declared a piano performance major. During the summer between my freshman and sophomore year, I realized this school was not the right fit for me. I withdrew from CNU three days before the start of my sophomore year and enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College to knock out some gen-eds while I figured out what field I wanted to study. I ended up spending 1.5 years at NVCC, and have come to really appreciate my time there. Taking this time allowed me to explore many different subjects while still working toward my Bachelor’s degree. At NVCC, I took a political science course during the 2012 presidential election. I realized my passion for politics and public policy, and began to research political science programs in the area. I decided to pursue George Mason University’s B.A. in Government and International Politics because of the school’s proximity to DC (and let’s be honest, the in-state tuition). I couldn’t be more happy with this decision.

I finished my Bachelor’s degree at GMU, where I became deeply involved in student life. I became Vice President and then President of the Israel Student Association and Head of Public Relations of the Secular Student Alliance. I founded a student organization called Bridging Narratives @ Mason, which is dedicated to creating a safe space for students to discuss and learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a campus where this issue has become highly controversial. During my senior year, I was a senior intern at The David Project and a public affairs intern at the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed). I was accepted to the school’s Accelerated Master’s Program, and began taking some graduate courses while still finishing my undergraduate degree. I graduated magna cum laude with my B.A. in December 2015. I also won the GMU University Life Award 2015-2016, which recognizes a student who has made great efforts to help build a stronger campus community.

I am now finishing my last semester of my M.A. in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations. I have two main areas of study. The first is U.S. foreign policy and international relations in the Middle East, specifically regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gulf politics, and sectarian tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. My second area of focus is international trade and investment in East Asia. I am currently working on my Master’s thesis, which discusses how past U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has affected the rise of violent jihadist movements, and how future policy can shift to prevent their continued rise.

I began my graduate degree studying abroad in Doha, Qatar and Abu Dhabi & Dubai, UAE to study the politics of oil from a GCC perspective. On this trip, I studied at the Brookings Institution, Georgetown University, Qatar University, and the Petroleum Institute. I highly recommend studying abroad to all students, and wish I had studied abroad in undergrad as well! I am still the President of Bridging Narratives @ Mason. I also was invited to join the Phi Beta Delta International Honors Society.

During graduate school, I have had four internships. I interned for 7 months in an office in the U.S. Department of Commerce called SelectUSA, which works to promote foreign investment to the United States. Through this internship, I was able to go to the White House (more than once!), meet Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker several times, and help organize the SelectUSA Investment Summit which brought together 2500 participants, 22 chiefs of mission, and the President of the United States. Having a front-row seat to see President Obama speak will probably be the highlight of my career for a long time! I also helped organize the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) which is an annual dialogue that addresses commerce and trade issues between the U.S. and China.

I also interned at the United States Senate in the office of Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). This was an invaluable experience that I would recommend to anyone remotely interested in politics or public policy. My internship took place in the time leading up to President Trump’s inauguration, so I was able to help with inaugural planning. I even got tickets to the inauguration in the front section, though I was going out of town that day and was unable to attend. Currently, I am a policy intern at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, an organization that advocates for a more robust international affairs budget.

What were your summer jobs? What are you planning on doing after grad school?

From 10th grade to my sophomore year of college, I was a summer camp counselor at Camp Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, VA. I spent some time during my sophomore year of college working at a local comic book store (fun fact – the owner of the store was Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign manager!) I also worked almost all the way through college as a child-care provider.

After graduate school, I hope to pursue a career in politics, public policy, or issue advocacy. I don’t have a specific dream, but I’d love to work on Capitol Hill or in the White House at some point. I’m also interested in spending some time living in another state or country, since I have lived in Virginia for my entire life.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

In terms of academics, Nysmith provided me with a strong foundation that has carried me through graduate school. I remember being slightly frustrated in high school because I was re-learning what I had already learned at Nysmith. I even re-learned material from Nysmith in college! For example, I am taking a graduate level political theory class this semester, where I re-read Oedipus Rex for the fourth time. The first time I read this play was in English class at Nysmith.

The most important impact Nysmith had on my life was to teach me that there is more to life than academic success, resume-building, and awards. I was so focused on grades and test scores at Nysmith that I began to lose sight of the importance of character. My dream is to pursue a career in something I love, surround myself with good and caring people, and continue to find happiness in life. I know this sounds like a cliché, but I think many people forget to prioritize its importance until later in their lives.

What advice would you give a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

I have three pieces of advice for current Nysmith students and parents. The first is that it’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do straight out of high school. There is a lot of societal pressure to pick a path early on and stick to it. If you choose the wrong path, never be afraid to stop and re-evaluate. Instead of spending my college career rigorously pursuing a specific career path, I spent the years equipping myself with the skills to ensure that I will be successful no matter what career path I choose. These included leadership skills, writing, relationship-building, teamwork, learning to work with difficult people, humility, etc. Without these skills, you cannot be successful in any career.

Secondly, allow yourself the time and space to understand who you are and what makes you happy, and always be true to yourself. At Nysmith, I never took to the time to figure out who I am. I spent years afterwards trying to find my identity, and I wish I had done it sooner. For me, happiness doesn’t come from elite credentials and fame. Rather, it comes from dedicating myself to work I truly believe in. It took me a long time to learn that this is okay, and that I am not any less of a person for not aspiring to go to an Ivy League school or become famous at a young age.

My final piece of advice is that for some people, what you are good at is not necessarily your passion, and your passion may be something you are not as good at as other things. Do not feel that you have to pursue whatever you are the best at despite a lack of enthusiasm.

Favorites

Field trip: 7th grade science field trip to the Chesapeake River

Science fair project: I did a science fair project in 8th grade where I determined how much Styrofoam people ingest on a daily and yearly basis due to drinking coffee, and research the health effects the chemicals present in Styrofoam could have. To this day, I refuse to eat or drink anything hot out of a Styrofoam container!

Place to hang out at Nysmith: Silver Wing courtyard (especially the ga-ga pit).

Book you read for one of your classes: To Kill a Mockingbird

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: Waiting for the Tennessee Titans to win ONE game so we could get a 100% on our weekly quiz in 7th grade English! This actually made me pay attention to football, and I am now (unfortunately) a huge Washington Redskins fan.

Nysmith memory: Linking calculators with the three other kids in my math class to trade calculator games and programs so we didn’t have to pay attention in class… Thinking back on this makes me laugh every time!

Brianna Buch

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I came to Nysmith in the third grade and remember being active in theater and after-school tutoring programs with younger students. My favorite class was computer class, where we were able to make our own webpages through HTML. My favorite extracurricular activity was spending time in Mr. and Mrs. Stephens’ classroom.  I was always one of the first students to arrive in the morning and the last to leave in the afternoon because, through the years, my mom has taught English, Math and Social Studies at Nysmith. Now, she’s the lower school Director!

What did you do after Nysmith? 

After Nysmith, I went to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, then William and Mary for college. While at William and Mary, I knew I was interested in healthcare but become even more fascinated in the systems development rather than the medicine/biology part as I studied. Also, I found that Economics could be used to better understand how we care for populations. So, I ended up double majoring in Public Health and Economics, and focused on looking at how we structure health care systems worldwide. I now work for Epic, a healthcare company in Madison, WI.

On a side note, I have lived on three continents and worked overseas at the U.S. Embassy in London. A fun fact is that I held the torch during the 2012 Olympics! I’m an avid hiker and you’ll find me out climbing mountains whenever I get the chance. More than anything, I love making friends across the country and the globe.

Tell us about your current job.

In my current job, I travel around the country (and sometimes internationally!) to build hospital healthcare systems. The job requires a lot of organization, problem solving and perseverance!

How did going to Nysmith impact your life? 

Nysmith provided a great foundation for the coursework I had in high school and college. Even more so, it gave me a love for learning and growth that has continued beyond school.

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

It’s important to explore new subject areas as early as you can to find what sparks your interest. You never know what may be a future passion or career.

Favorites

Field trip: Gettysburg

School play: Music Man

Place to hang out at Nysmith: Mr. Stephens’ classroom!

Book you read for one of your classes: Jane Eyre for Ms. Tyson’s 6th grade class, or A Man for All Seasons.

Howard Small

Stanford University Senior, Future Stanford Graduate Student, and Google Intern

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?  

I did a little bit of everything in my time at Nysmith. A healthy amount of curiosity (along with some parental pressure J) encouraged me to explore my more artistic side around middle school. I was lucky enough to be one of the original members of Nysmith’s band, in which I played the trumpet for three years. I also was in musical theatre in 7th and 8th grade where we put on Aladdin and High School Musical.

On the more academic side, I also briefly participated in MathCounts one year, though I remember deciding that I did enough math every day and could use that time for my other activities.

What did you do after Nysmith?  

For high school I went to Thomas Jefferson (along with I think 10 other people from class of 2009!). My high school life was defined mostly by studying hard, and playing for the TJ Basketball team. I actually hold the record for the shortest Varsity player in TJ Basketball history! I also was heavily involved in the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) where I spent a large majority of my extracurricular time. Although my curiosity for computer science started at Nysmith, TJ really helped me foster it into a passion that I still hold today. My senior project was to be one of the software developers on TJ’s F.I.R.S.T. Robotics team where we ended up placing 4th in the region.

For college I am attending Stanford University, scheduled to graduate this June! I am majoring in Computer Science with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence. After the high-stress environment of TJ, I calmed down quite a bit with the extracurricular in college. My main activity outside of classes and hanging out with friends has been being an undergraduate TA for the intro CS classes at Stanford.

Over the summers I have worked at HP (right down the street from Nysmith) once, and Google (Mountain View, CA) twice. I will be returning to Google this summer as an intern again to make it a three-peat. While all of my internships have been CS related, I have worked on a lot of different projects which have become more and more focused on Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning. This summer I will be working on automated fraud detection for Google’s payment services.

What’s next for you?

I will be graduating in June, but I will also be staying at Stanford for one more year to get my Master’s degree in Computer Science. After that, I hope to get an opportunity to work at Google as a full-time employee and see where life takes me from there. I will probably stay in the Bay Area for at least a few years (much to my mother’s dismay!).

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

One of the best things I got out of Nysmith were some life-long friends. Even though I don’t see most of my friends from Nysmith anymore, when we get together from time to time it’s like no time has passed at all. The small graduating class size of 39 meant that everyone had to be pretty agreeable and get along with everyone otherwise there was no one left to be your friend J. In all seriousness though, I think Nysmith taught me a lot about how to make friends and how to be a good friend to others. Nysmith also really encouraged a well-rounded education that I still benefit from today. Every subject was important, and taught by teachers who genuinely cared about the topics and that every student learned what they needed to.

One thing I do wish Nysmith would put a bit more focus on is reminding all of the kids that the Nysmith population is not like the rest of the world. Basically everyone at Nysmith is incredibly well off, and I think it would be helpful to remind the students how blessed and fortunate they are to have the opportunities that they do. Not to say that Nysmith doesn’t do it at all, but I know that I was a bit of a spoiled brat as a kid for sure, haha.

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

As I mentioned above briefly, I think it’s important to make sure that the students understand what an amazing opportunity Nysmith presents for them. No matter where they go for high school, the students will be incredibly prepared. The best advice I can give is to take the time at Nysmith and try every single thing you can. You never know what things you may like, and when you’re young you still have all the time and curiosity to try everything before you start to have other responsibilities/stresses that take away from your time.

Will Bunting

Tech Industry Economist/Data Scientist

 What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I was super STEM focused so basically anything that touched that. Activities were mostly in the computer lab, working a lot with Flash animation, which at the time was all the rage.

What did you do after Nysmith?

I went to TJHSST for high school where I took every physics and math elective that they offered self-studying for the AP Calculus Exam during my freshman year so I could take even more electives. Needless to say, TJ was the perfect fit for my interests. When we first got to TJ in 2007, fellow Nysmith alum, Mitchell Stern and I started the 8th period Rubik’s Cube club, which I’m happy to hear has become super successful. During our senior year, Mitchell and I were also co-captains for the Physics Team.

For college, I attended Caltech where I double majored in physics and economics. I always was a bit torn between the two as I found both fields of study to be extremely interesting so it was nice to bounce back and forth for variety. Because of my total focus on physics and math during my years at TJ, and my summer internships which always involved physics research, I had assumed that I would end up in the physics field with the economics thing as a hobby, but it was always in my mind that I might like to do both at some point.

After Caltech I went to UMD to do a physics PhD in black hole thermodynamics planning to go into academia. Like TJ, UMD was the perfect fit for me as the top researcher in my field of study, whom I really wanted to work with, taught there and I was very fortunate that he agreed to be my advisor when I was a first year PhD student. A few things happened in that year, and I ended up realizing that while the physics was super interesting, I missed having the balance with economics. For instance, during Christmas break, a few of my friends and I wrote a paper on lottery game theory, which got picked up by a couple news outlets. It was a spur of the moment idea due to the lottery being so big at that time, and I felt totally energized by being able to solve real world “problems”, if you will, using math and logic, instead of simply thinking about things far away from the real world all day. Also, I realized that the rate at which faculty positions were being granted in that area of physics was very low with limited choice in where you might live, so I decided to leave the program. It certainly wasn’t an easy choice but I still feel it was the right one.

As someone who had always focused on theory, it was an interesting job search. I ended up finding an awesome team of economists at Stripe in San Francisco who (lucky for me) guessed that I could probably do practical things if need be and that the theory background would help with more difficult conceptual projects, so now I’m working in data science.

What were your summer jobs/internships during your high school and college years?

Starting the summer of my sophomore year in high school and ending the summer of my sophomore year in college, I interned at MITRE in the Nanosystems Group, which basically taught me how to work in “the real world” with research and presentation deadlines. We ended up publishing two papers in atomic and molecular physics over the four years I was there, which helped me to become highly proficient in technical writing, which was a huge bonus given my field of study.

While at Caltech, I spent the last two summers in France and Santa Barbara on physics fellowships working on Quantum Gravity.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

I liked the fact that the teachers treated me with respect, and never talked down to me, which allowed me to feel confident and valued. My Nysmith teachers were also interested in my opinions and allowed me to be myself; they never expected any of us to fit into a particular mold.

Nysmith also taught us to think critically, instead of just memorizing facts and repeating them for tests, something that helped me tremendously at TJ, Caltech, and now in my current job. I certainly view the advanced academics at Nysmith as having been crucial to my development as a scientifically minded person. The sheer amount of hours spent in science courses at Nysmith is high compared with peer institutions, but also the focus on science fairs was a lot of fun. That being said, I think the math curriculum was even more crucial. Because of my strong math education at Nysmith I was able to teach myself calculus as a freshman in high school, which greatly helped to accelerate my learning.

My ability to be at ease speaking publicly also came from all of our presentations, particularly, our science fair presentations, starting at a young age. I also can’t stress enough how important it is that Nysmith teaches typing. There aren’t many people my age who can type as fast as I can, unless they played a lot of video games, and I have Nysmith to thank for that.

Finally, Nysmith taught me how to respect others’ opinions and think globally. Their character education classes consistently reinforced values of kindness, respect, and inclusivity, which have stayed with me to this day.

What advice (if any) would you give a current Nysmith student and/or parent.

Everyone says it, but take the time to figure out what you really like to do instead of going on autopilot. Try new things, be open-minded. You never know what will ignite your passion in another area.

FAVORITES

Field trip: Probably Gettysburg. I was super into that six hour movie reenactment at the time and seeing it in real life was the equivalent of most kids’ dreams of being in Harry Potter world.

Science fair project: My grandpa and I ended up building a crossbow and a trebuchet that shot tennis balls quite far. The science wasn’t super difficult but I really enjoyed the process of making something with my hands.

Place to hang out at Nysmith: Probably just somewhere in the silver wing. It was new and exciting when I was in my middle school years.

Book you read for one of your classes: Probably some of Shakespeare but I didn’t fully appreciate them while I was at Nysmith. We reread some of the plays in high school literature class and I better understood what was going on… for me, I guess it took having a bit of life experience to appreciate that kind of book.

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I’m sure there are hundreds, but I have pretty fond memories of sitting in math class as an eighth grader just chatting with classmates and Mrs. Broccoli.

After-school club: I started this ‘flash animation club’ which in retrospect was actually super interesting. Today there are so many complicated tools for creating digital art, but back then the tools were pretty simple and it was a good way to start doing some basic programming.

Nysmith memory: Hard to pick, but probably getting taught ‘advanced stuff’ by Ms. Paton . That really helped to give me interest toward pursuing science for the next decade or so. A few of us would all hang around after class / school and try to soak in as much as our little brains could handle.

Lili Klainer

National Finalist in America’s Miss World Pageant, March of Dimes Foundation Advocate, Future Neonatologist

While at Nysmith what activities did you participate in?

I attended Nysmith for preschool-4th grade. I have very fond memories particularly of my science and math classes. I had some amazing teachers in those subjects who fostered in me my love of the STEM fields. They certainly started me on the path that I am still on today. I also developed my love of reading and writing poetry while at Nysmith. I now use my love of poetry to write country songs which I had the privilege of recording in a studio.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith I continued my schooling in Leesburg, Virginia. I graduated high school in 2011 at Middleburg Academy where I played varsity field hockey, lacrosse, and swim and was president of the drama club. Recently I received a B.S. in Biology from Loyola University Chicago where I was a member of Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. I was also a Mulcahy Fellowship Recipient this past year for research in embryonic craniofacial cartilage development. Throughout college I worked as a volunteer and Patient Care Technician in the neonatal intensive care unit and labor and delivery which helped me gain hands-on skills in my field of interest. I also utilized my third-degree black belt to teach karate for one of the top studios in the Chicago area.

You were a passenger in a very serious car accident. Tell us how you were able to overcome the difficulties you faced and come out stronger than ever.

In November of 2011, three months into my freshman year of college, I was the passenger in a life-threatening car accident. It resulted in four fractures in my pelvis and sacrum, a partially collapsed lung, a broken nose, and lacerated spleen. After spending four days in the ICU, I spent two months in a wheelchair recovering from my pelvic injuries and several more months in physical therapy regaining my strength and mobility. For the next two years, I struggled to recover from PTSD related to the accident. I was unable to drive or even ride in a car without suffering from extreme anxiety. With the help of some amazing and extraordinarily caring people and support from my family, I fought to get my life back and returned to school in August of 2014. This experience taught me that even when things seem completely hopeless, if your dream and drive are strong enough nothing is impossible. Not only was I able to return to college, but I finished my degree in only three years and graduated Cum Laude. I could not be prouder of the obstacles I have overcome and the person I have become.

Tell us about your Miss Illinois USA 2017 competition, your upcoming competition for America’s Miss World and your advocacy for March of Dimes.

In 2016, I fulfilled a childhood dream and competed in a pageant. I represented the Chicago area as Miss Metro Chicago at Miss Illinois USA. During my time at the competition, I had the pleasure to meet some of the most intelligent, talented, and philanthropic women in the state of Illinois. I was inspired by these women to continue in pageants which has now given me the opportunity to compete as a National Finalist for the title of America’s Miss World in August of this year. Part of the AMW competition includes a “Beauty with a Purpose” project. As part of my project, I am working as an advocate for the March of Dimes Foundation, which strives to decrease the incidence of prematurity, birth defects, and infant demise. My work has included communicating with our government representatives in Virginia to ask that when voting they strive to maintain protections for the health of women and children in this country. I am extremely passionate about this cause particularly due to the time I spent working in the NICU with premature and sick infants and their families.

What are your plans post-graduation?

I am currently applying to medical schools for entry in 2018. My hope is to complete a pediatric residency and then move on to work as a neonatologist with particular interest in cardiac defects and deformities. In the meantime, I will be working as a clinical assistant for an OB/GYN and a pediatrician in the Northern Virginia area. I will also to continue to volunteer with infants and their families at Fairfax Hospital.

What were your summer jobs during high school and college?

Throughout high school and college I worked at a karate studio teaching classes and working with children in the after school program. I am also a Certified Nursing Assistant and worked nights in the NICU and on Labor and Delivery at Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago during my time at Loyola.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

First and foremost, Nysmith always motivated me to strive for my full potential. By challenging me and encouraging me to pursue my interests, even if they were complicated or difficult, the teachers helped me to develop a true passion for learning. This was such a crucial component in my success thus far. I also attribute my love for the STEM fields to a few of the fantastic women who taught me science and math in my early years at Nysmith. Nysmith laid the foundation for my desire to challenge and motivate myself to achieve things I sometimes believed were impossible.

What advice would you give a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

To current Nysmith students, embrace all opportunities that this school gives you. Try new things, explore your interests, have fun, and most importantly, support your peers in doing the same. Nysmith provides an environment that allows you to grow to great heights and doing that with friends by your side will create bonds that last a lifetime. To current Nysmith parents, support your students academically, but never forget to support their interests outside the classroom as well. I was blessed to have parents who supported my learning in the classroom, but who also encouraged me to explore athletics, music, theatre, and art. These things have helped me to become a well-rounded person with a wealth of passions, skills, and interests that served me very well in high school, college, and in the workplace.

FAVORITES

Field trip: Cox Farm

Science fair project: hatching chicks in my preschool class

Place to hang out at Nysmith: on top of the monkey bars on the playground

Book you read for one of your classes: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I loved all of my science classes, especially getting to play with worms and crickets when we studied invertebrates

Nysmith memory: getting to present a poem I wrote on poetry night

Nicole Lee

Rising star in fashion design

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

As much as I loved all aspects of Nysmith, I mostly enjoyed being a part of all the arts at Nysmith. Whether it was musical theater, band, or art class/club, I tried to expose myself to everything relating to the arts. I have always been interested in both visual and performing arts as a child and participating in extracurricular activities such as band and art club really allowed me to confirm what I was passionate about.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After graduating from Nysmith, I attended Georgetown Day School in Washington D.C. my Freshman year. I then decided to transfer to The High School of Art and Design in New York City in order to further pursue my interest for the arts, specifically fashion design.

I started interning as early as my sophomore year of high school at brands and organizations such as Hanky Panky, Bloomberg Art and Culture internship where I interned at The New York Theatre Workshop, Vocal Productions NYC, and Marc Jacobs as a merchandising intern.

I was also in the National Honor Society all throughout high school as well as my school’s student government where I was treasurer my senior year of high school.

Throughout the three years at The High School of Art and Design, I received several awards from Scholastics; the list could go on:

2015
• 2 Gold Key for Fashion
• 2 Silver Key for Fashion
• 2 Honorable Mentions for Fashion
• Honorable Mention for Jewelry and Photography
2014
• Gold Key for Fashion
• Silver Key for Fashion
• 2 Honorable Mentions for Fashion
• Received a National Gold Medal for Painting
2013
• Silver Key for Painting
• Honorable Mention for Drawing

During the Winter of 2014, I received the Cornell University Fashion Award (Gold Honorable Mention) for my fashion illustration.

During the Spring of 2015, I was fortunate to have my Fashion Illustrations displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as receive a Scholastics Award Gold Key for my illustrations.

During my senior year of high school, I had the honor to attend the Fashion Education Workshop at The White House hosted by the First Lady, Michelle Obama. Here I was able to meet The First Lady and Anna Wintour, the Editor in Chief of American Vogue, as well as the many renowned fashion designers who were invited.

If there was one thing that I took away from Mrs. Obama’s speech, it would have been when she said, “This event was a really special ‘door.’ It’s not the only door out there, but it’s a really special one…” I took what the First Lady said and ran with it.

I then had the opportunity to intern at both Jason Wu and Narciso Rodriguez the summer before my first year of college. I graduated as Valedictorian of my class and decided to attend Parsons School of Design to study Fashion Design. During my years at Parsons, I have been constantly interning at renowned brands such as Jason Wu, Vera Wang, Protagonist, and Prabal Gurung.

Tell us about your summer jobs.

I interned at Jason Wu for over a year since I started right before college and I was later able to freelance as an Assistant Sample Development Coordinator during the summer as well as whenever I was available during the school year. Becoming a freelancer at Jason Wu was my very first job and working at brands such as Jason Wu, I had the privilege to work on special projects such as Michelle Obama’s Farewell Address outfits. The summer after my freshman year of college, I had the opportunity to work at Vera Wang as a Bridal and Celebrity wear intern and a Ready-To-Wear design intern. I assisted in a few wedding gowns for celebrities such as Hanna Davis, model and baseball player Derek Jeter’s wife.

This summer, instead of interning I decided to study abroad in London at Central Saint Martins where I will be studying Advanced Fashion Design.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith allowed me to fully accelerate in every way possible both academically as well as socially and mentally. Nysmith allowed me to create the best version of myself by constantly challenging myself and by also being surrounded by such passionate and innovative peers. But most importantly, Nysmith taught me to be kind, respectful, and professional no matter the circumstance. I have learned through experience how important it is to have such professional qualities in the real world as well as in school. I am always reminded in college how the people you meet and relationships that you form will have great importance somewhere down the line. No matter what industry you may end up being in, the world is surprisingly small and you will never know who you will run into or who may even end up being your boss. Through my experience at Nysmith, I could not have been more grateful to have created such strong relationships with both teachers as well as peers.

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

If I were to give any advice to a current Nysmith student and/or parent it would have to be not to compete with others and try to find a specific subject or interest that you find worth pursuing. Unlike most of my peers at the time, I was always the odd one out who was always interested in art. I was always that one student who was more excited to decorate my science fair board than my actual project (secret revealed!) or that one student who enjoyed going to the art museums that every classmate dreaded going to. Through my personal experience, I had absolutely no idea that I was going to major in Fashion Design in college, but I constantly exposed myself to the arts whether it be performing or visual, I just tried to take everything in.

However, I also find it extremely important to do well in all subjects, even the ones that don’t seem as interesting. It never hurts to know and learn more. It amazes me how much I learn every day new or old!

Favorites

Field trip: 8th Grade New York City Field Trip, Sandy Hill Camp, Lurray Caverns

Place to hang out at Nysmith: Senior Courtyard and the Silver Wing

Book you read for one of your classes: Hamlet and A Tale of Two Cities (both were my favorites)

Ramya Avadhanam

Earning Ph.D. in Counselor Education & Supervision at William & Mary

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

A few of my favorite activities/events at Nysmith include yearly class field trips (my favorite was our 6th grade trip to Montreal & Quebec, Canada during the Carnival de Quebec), yearly talent shows (every year my sister, Vidya, and I performed a traditional dance from a traditional style of classical Indian dance called Bharathanatyam), and field days! My extracurricular activities included Math Olympiad and Poetry Club with Mrs. Weaver!

What did you do after Nysmith?

During my 6th grade year, Nysmith was not offering a 7th grade. Therefore, I changed schools and attended Flint Hill School from 7 – 8 grade alongside other Nysmith peers: Victoria Evans and Danny Birkenhall. I continued to do well in math and began playing competitive sports. By the time I got to high school (I changed to public schools and attended Chantilly High School), I played community/competitive basketball through CYA (Chantilly Youth Association) and played Varsity Tennis for my school. I also received a math award for completing Calculus AB and BC by the end of my sophomore year.

After high school, I attended Virginia Tech from 2003 – 2008. I began as a marketing major but realized that my true interest was in the field of Psychology. During my time at VT I competed in intramural basketball and three competitive dance teams. Two of the three dance teams were forms of folk dancing from two different regions in India. The first is the Bhangra team (VT Bhangra) which highlights folk dancing from the Indian state of Punjab. The second is the Raas/Garba team called VT Dhamaal which originated in the state of Gujurat, India. The last is an East and South Asian Hip Hop Dance Team called Bamboom. Additionally, I was in a co-ed a capella group called Mixed Emotions.

During 2007 the Virginia Tech shootings took place. Being on campus while the shooting was taking place (I was in the building next door) profoundly impacted me. Long story short, learning about all the lives lost, seeing the community come together, and finally processing/making sense of what happened especially within the context of my life is what lead me to counseling.

After graduating from VT, I was a Fairfax County Public Schools School Age Child Care Teacher (SACC teacher). I really honed in on the importance of systemic conceptualization. We are all constantly influenced by multiple systems whether family systems, geographical systems, school systems, etc. This lead me to apply to Marriage and Family Counseling programs. I was lucky enough to get into The University of Florida’s Marriage and Family Counseling program which was number two in the nation for counseling at the time. There, I earned an M.Ed. (Masters in Education) in Mental Health Counseling and an Ed.S. (Education Specialist degree) in Marriage and Family Counseling. During my time there, I worked as an intern in an alternative school as a counselor and more interestingly at The University of Florida’s Small Animal clinic as a grief counselor! Families brought their pets for radiation, dental, acupuncture, and physical therapy treatments; during this time, I provided family counseling services. This was particularly impactful in times of loss/euthanasia and also proved to be powerful work over the phone (I was responsible for answering calls through our national pet loss hotline).

After graduating from UF, I worked as an Outpatient Therapist for Child Guidance Center Inc. in Jacksonville, FL, a Family Advocate at the Center for Jewish Families and Communities in Jacksonville, FL, and as a substitute teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools at London Towne Elementary school (where my mom, Mrs. A [who worked at Nysmith while I was at Nysmith!] is a technology specialist).

My most recent employment opportunity is being a full-time Ph.D. student at The College of William & Mary in the Counselor Education and Supervision program. During my tenure here, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to both teach masters-level counseling classes for school, mental health, and marriage and family counselors, as well as providing them with clinical supervision as they see clients for the first time! I am also the Program Coordinator for New Horizons Family Counseling Center (NHFCC) which is a family counseling clinic based out of our School of Education building where I am a doctoral intern/counselor who aids in providing free family counseling services to all referred families from the surrounding 7 school districts!

My research interests include multicultural considerations across generations, i.e. immigration and acculturation, multicultural integration in counselor education and supervision curriculum, grief and loss pertaining to death and ambiguous loss, grief and loss integration in counselor education and supervision curriculum, sexuality studies, and more! I am currently a doctoral candidate (I am all but dissertation, a.k.a ABD) and will graduate this summer with my Ph.D.!

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

I didn’t realize this until I was much older, but Nysmith provided me with an ideal environment to grow into my fullest potential in my young, vulnerable developmental stages. While my parents provided the motivation, time, and push I needed to excel academically, Nysmith provided me the opportunity to keep going as far as I could in subjects I was especially connected to.

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

My advice is to never be discouraged by failure; use each moment of struggle as wood pieces to burn in your fire to achieve your goals! I have had MANY moments of turmoil in my academic journey from almost failing out of my undergraduate studies to failing a statistics class at the doctoral level. But what I’ve learned is that failure doesn’t limit you, your mindset does. I took each moment of frustration as a learning moment to think and figure out how I can keep pushing forward towards achieving my goals. I viewed each complicated situation as a puzzle that needed to be solved or a video game that I needed to conquer. I never would’ve imagined that I would be the first woman in my family to obtain a Ph.D.! Finding what your passionate about is the key. When you find a career path that you absolutely love, it doesn’t feel like tedious work anymore.

Favorites

Field trip: 6th grade, Montreal & Quebec, Canada for the Carnival de Quebec! We walked across a frozen waterfall and saw ice sculptures in the street. It was truly a unique and fun bonding experience! Two decades later, I’m still talking about it!

School play: I remember there was a play where I was a farmer so I wore overalls. You would think I wore overalls as a costume but that was actually one of my signature looks in elementary school!

Place to hang out at Nysmith: I always hung out in the computer lab with my mom, Mrs. A! I also hung out at Mrs. Loeffler’s computer lab with my good friend Jen! We both knew the unique advantages and challenges to being students at a school where our moms taught (our siblings were in the same grade too – Vidya Avadhanam and TJ Loeffler)!

Book that you read for one of your classes: I remember reading The Giver and I also remember reading Anne of Green Gables and getting hooked on the series!

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: Most people thought I had it easy and received straight As in my mom’s computer lab due to being her daughter but they were totally wrong. I had to work ten times harder than anyone else! Because of that though, my typing speeds and ability to type with my eyes closed have served me well throughout my academic career!

After-school club: Math Olympiad and Poetry Club

Nysmith memory: I may have been teased a lot when I was younger but I remember always feeling proud and appreciated when I represented my culture in yearly talent shows. For a young elementary school student of color, being appreciated for my cultural upbringing gave me the confidence to continue sharing my traditional Bharathanatyam roots/talents through every single part of my academic/life journey! People looked forward to my performance every year; that was the beginning of my passion for sharing/advocating for my culture.

Geoffrey Ford Kfoury

Graduate student focusing on machine learning and big data

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith? What activities did you participate in?

I enjoyed the small classes at Nysmith. It gave me the opportunity to really know my peers and teachers and appreciate their diverse personalities the school nurtures. I was active in many functions including field day, talent shows, dances, poetry club, etc. However, thinking back to my time at Nysmith, I would have enjoyed participating more in the extra-curricular clubs the school offered – the most memorable being Computer Club.

What did you do after Nysmith?

Upon graduating from Nysmith, I attended Flint Hill School. I was active in the school’s athletics and arts programs. I followed my passion for Broadcasting and Video Communications earning a BS and BFA from two different institutions. I continued my studies within the field gaining a professional certificate in 3D Computer Graphics and working for various media outlets. After a successful run in the broadcasting and television industry I made a calculated transition towards software development. I complemented my self-taught experiences with formal training and currently support government agencies as a Software Engineer.

Tell us about your full-time jobs since graduating.

My tenure in the broadcasting industry provided me with the opportunity to work in many different domestic and international locations. One of my most memorable job experiences was employment as a Broadcast Technician for a cruise line. I maintained and distributed all satellite and television signals on the ship while also making time to explore ports in various countries around the world. At one point, I shifted my life to the west coast residing in Los Angeles while working as a Motion Graphics Artist at one of the world’s most successful reality television studios. Eventually, I began to alter my focus in the industry towards business development and sales, working with Fortune 50 companies to create event technology packages for some of their most important meetings and conferences.

Throughout all the great experiences I had in my former career track, it never fully quenched my thirst for a deeper understanding of computing. After formal education and self-learning, I now provide mission critical support to one of our nation’s most active agencies as a Software Engineer. Most recently, I have been admitted to a prestigious university’s Master’s program in Computer Science and plan to focus on Machine Learning and Big Data.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Academically speaking, I was not the best student in my class. It took me well after high school to understand how to direct my focus to best fit my learning style. At Nysmith, I always felt challenged in thought, not just right or wrong answers. Even though my friends and fellow classmates may have been better test takers, I always felt comfortable in the style of critical and logical thinking that Nysmith promotes.

What advice would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Embrace the diversity of your fellow classmates and teachers. You are surrounded by unique and special people who may inspire you many years from now.

Rena Mazur

ASSOCIATE PROJECT ENGINEER IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT FOR GLOBUS MEDICAL

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I really enjoyed musical theater even though I can’t quite sing. I also really enjoyed the computer classes, especially the robotics unit. It definitely helped me in other classes later on too!

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith I went to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST). At TJ,  I was on the soccer and basketball team, and became interested in Biomedical Engineering after taking AP Biology and getting two sports-related surgeries. I ended up at Cornell majoring in Biological Engineering and minoring in Biomedical Engineering. At Cornell I was heavily involved in intramural sports, I was a tour guide for the College of Engineering, and I was in a sorority. I also joined a project team aimed at building the first primary inclusive school in Haiti, and got to travel to Haiti twice. Additionally, I studied abroad in Seville, Spain for a semester, and it was the most incredible experience of my life. I have always loved to travel, and while abroad I was able to go to a new country almost every week. I just graduated in the end of May, and got to travel for a few weeks in Southeast Asia before starting my job.

Tell us about any of your internships and your current job at Globus Medical

My first internship was at K2M, a spinal medical device company in Leesburg. The following summer I worked in a research lab at Cornell that is focused on analyzing the composition of diabetic bones. The summer of my junior year, I worked at Globus Medical, which is another spinal medical device company. I am now working at Globus Medical full-time as an Associate Project Engineer in Product Development. My job entails using CAD to design interbody fusion devices for the spine.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith provided an incredible environment where I was able to become very close to every person in my grade and to all the teachers as well. This close-knit network truly is unparalleled in most school environments, and I believe that it really helped me develop and grow confidence. Its accelerated curriculum and early technology exposure also made me feel fully prepared to handle the TJ coursework.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

My one piece of advice is to not get overwhelmed or too stressed out about school and your future. It’s very hard to look past a bad test grade or not stress out about SAT scores but those are all small aspects of your life and they do not represent your true intelligence or personality.

FAVORITES

Field trip: Overnight trip to Chesapeake Bay

School play: High School Musical

Place to hang out at Nysmith: Under the steps in the Silver wing

Book you read for one of your classes:  The Giver

Nysmith Memory: Making the United States flag in second grade I believe. My parents still have it hung (and my sister’s flag!) in our basement.

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  What state were you?   I don’t remember the full song but I do remember some phrases from it! I had Delaware 🙂

Steven Bunting

FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE ENGINEER

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

While I was at Nysmith, I was involved in Chess Club, Math Olympiad, and Study Buddies. Most of my time outside of school though was dedicated to Odyssey of the Mind. My team was the first official Nysmith team, set up by Coach Li. I was involved from 5th grade through 8th grade. We went to the World Finals in 7th and 8th grades.

 What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith I went to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), where I was involved in winter track, one of the many tutoring programs, and the senior computer team. From TJ, I went to Carnegie Mellon University to study Computer Science. I’ve been a teaching assistant for the past 4 semesters for 15-122 Principles of Imperative Computation (the second CS course on the major track) where I’m in charge of teaching roughly 30 students alone twice every week.

Tell us about your summer jobs.

The summer after my sophomore year of high school, I was a teaching assistant for the summer school session of computer science at TJ. The following 3 summers I spent as a summer research assistant at MITRE, a government contractor located in Virginia. My project the first year involved video bandwidth for unmanned aerial systems.  My project the following 2 years involved simulating a Commercial off-the-shelf robotic arm. Following that, I’ve spent the past 2 summers at Bloomberg LP in New York working as a software engineer developing data analysis tools.

 How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

I think the main things that have stuck with me since Nysmith is to always ask questions. Learning wasn’t just talking at the students, it was exploring a topic by asking and answering questions to try to gain a deeper understanding. I’ve kept this up since leaving, and have found it to be a useful tool both academically and in life. At Nysmith, questions were encouraged and explored, even if they led down the “wrong” path, or weren’t directly related. The teachers were always happy to sit down and answer any questions you had about a topic.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

I think the most useful advice I can give is to keep up connections with peers even after graduating. It’s remarkable, looking back, on how many amazing opportunities the other students in my class have had. Just this summer I actually ran into one of my old Nysmith classmates on the roof of my friend’s apartment in New York City, after not seeing him for years.

FAVORITES

Field Trip: Williamsburg, it was during my birthday!

Science Fair Project: I did a science fair project on how magnetic different countries coins are.

Place to Hang out at Nysmith: The pit

Book that you had to read for one of your classes: “The Giver”

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  Yes, that’s the only way I can list off the states now. 

What state were you? Colorado

Christian Klein

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?  

I was fairly heavily into math and science while I was there (actually, I think I was in the group that piloted the… let’s call it the “advanced math track”, since it didn’t actually have a name, but there were a few of us who ended up doing pre-algebra in 4th grade and kept going at that pace afterwards). So I definitely recall doing Math Club and later MathCounts – I think I was actually team captain at competition the final year, even though I’m not sure I deserved it! – and I believe there was a Science Club that Mrs. Carlivatti ran as well. And I definitely did Poetry Club for several years. Beyond that, the father of one of my classmates was a major with the Australian Army assigned to the Pentagon, so he ran a fun table-top game club for a year or two.

 What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith I went to TJ, which was both a great experience and one of the tougher things I’ve done in my life. (The workload junior year and the first half of senior year, quite honestly, was tougher than anything I faced in my first couple years of college.) I think I dabbled in a few extracurriculars when I started out, but by the time I discovered rowing I started to go pretty all-in on that – it’s a sport where you can put in a lot of time if you really want to improve yourself, and that’s what I ended up doing. Between that and managing my academics, I had more than enough to keep me busy! I volunteered in registration at Reston Hospital one summer, and did some research senior year of high school for our mandatory tech lab project, but I really didn’t have a ton of time outside of study and sport.

By senior year I had pretty strong grades and test scores, and I was (just barely) a good enough rower to get recruited to Princeton. The story there is honestly pretty similar… I focused on science and majored in Molecular Biology (including a senior thesis on malaria), and spent most of the rest of my time rowing. Honestly – and this is not to say that I sacrificed my academics – if you wanted to claim that I majored in rowing, I probably wouldn’t disagree.

Talk about your exciting rowing career after high school and training for the Olympics!

Honestly, I can’t really remember what pushed me to try it in the first place, though I knew a couple older kids who liked it and my neighbor down the street had rowed in high school and college. Either way, I went out for it freshman year… as did 50 other freshman and sophomore boys, which was literally the largest turnout the team had ever had. I was… not good at the start. (As a freshman, I clawed my way onto the whopping 6th varsity boat) But it awakened something in me that realized that if you worked really hard, and put in a LOT of time with it, you could make serious improvements. So I jumped up to the 3rd boat as a sophomore, the 2nd boat as a junior, and then senior year I made the varsity eight by the skin of my teeth. (This is probably exaggerated by recollection, but I could swear that the coach swapped me in and out of the top boat every day for a month straight before he finally decided to keep me in there.) And I was lucky that the other guys were a lot stronger than me, so I got to ride with them to a national championship and a trip overseas to compete at the Henley Regatta in England.

To make a long story short, rowing in college was similar except that it took less time to go from being awful to being decent. Freshman year I struggled a lot at the boathouse (which, in retrospect, was because I was dealing with a shoulder problem and nobody realized it); that summer, I spent every day on the rowing machine in my parents’ basement to whip myself into shape, and when we all came back I ended up posting the third fastest score on the team (to the great surprise of the head coach). So I made the top boat, and we had a very special couple years… as a sophomore we won literally everything, were national champions, and this time went back to Henley and actually won it. We graduated a lot of really good guys, so the boat during junior year was a lot scrappier and we had to work a lot harder, but we still ended up national champions (which was honestly even more satisfying given how much harder we had to work for it).

I really loved rowing and was pretty decent at it, so while I was in college I got in touch with the national team coaches to see if I could take it a step further. I made the Under-23 team in 2010 and made the finals in the lightweight pair at the U23 World Championships in Belarus (very much a product of the Eastern Bloc, and therefore an interesting – and inexpensive – place to visit), and in 2011 rowed in the lightweight eight at the Senior World Championships in Bled, Slovenia (a BEAUTIFUL place to visit – home of Josip Tito’s vacation palace, believe it or not). I’d been considering my options at this stage – I wanted to be a doctor, but I knew I had enough skill at rowing to have an opportunity to compete at the highest level – and things really fell into place when one of the older rowers told me, “You can be a doctor for the rest of your life, but you’ll only have one chance to row at the Olympics.” And that settled it – after college I packed up my things and moved to Oklahoma City, where the Olympic Training Center was for lightweight rowers, and spent the next two years there training full-time (plus another year training at Potomac Boat Club in DC).

Full-time training for rowing is… interesting. It’s certainly satisfying, but you’re basically putting your body through the wringer every week with minimal rest – we would usually train twice, occasionally three times, per day, and between the normal training hours and the physical therapy I did to stave off further injury, I usually spent 5-6 hours at the boathouse per day. Many of those training sessions were also designed to absolutely push your body to the limits, to the point where you couldn’t go further even if you wanted to, which was taxing both physically (for obvious reasons) and mentally (because you knew that you’d really have to push yourself through pain, and that you’d have to do it again a couple days later). When I wasn’t training, I was trying to rest (at least 8 hours of sleep per night, plus naps during the day to keep my strength up) or eat enough to refuel for the next session – I’d say we burned 3000-4000 calories per day with our workouts – which left little time for me to do much else during the day, other than the occasional part-time job to help make ends meet.

Personally, I’m very glad that I went after that opportunity, but I’m also glad that it’s over now – especially since I wasn’t quite able to make the team. (The Olympic team, at the time, had only 6 spots available for lightweight men, so if you weren’t one of the 6 fastest guys in the entire country then you were out of luck. I admittedly wasn’t too far away, but even if I hadn’t been forced into early retirement by injury I’m not sure I would have made the cut.) Like I said, it takes a serious toll on your body, especially if you’re also trying to remain a lightweight – less body mass, and fewer calories per day, means you’re much more prone to injury, and I usually had at least one major issue crop up per year. That’s also why I had to stop before I could try for the Rio Olympics – in 2014, my shoulder started really hurting during a row, and it turned out that I’d done so many miles over the years that the cartilage had just worn out and gotten torn, meaning I needed surgical repair at 25 years old. I do wonder what would have happened if I’d done a couple things differently – maybe headed off that injury and been in contention for the team in 2016 – but I found that I was much happier when I had time for things other than rowing, and when I could eat as much as I wanted without worrying about having to weigh in at 154 pounds, so I think it was probably for the best that I stopped when I did.

Medical School Student, Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk

How did you get into the medical field and your decision to get your MD, and your medical school experience? Can you tell us about your various jobs and the area of research you’re trying to decide between?

Much like rowing, I can’t really point to any one moment where I decided I wanted to be a doctor, but I know I’d been heading that way for a long time. I liked science, and in particular I pursued biology for a very long time. I think that through high school and early college I had it in my head that I might like medicine, and that idea really cemented itself when I did my independent research for my undergraduate degree… I liked the science, but I would much rather spend my life using that to interact with and help people than sitting at a bench working with petri dishes (my senior thesis involved bench research with malaria, and ended up making my life fairly miserable). The other thing that was bubbling under the surface this entire time was the idea of… let’s call it a “legacy”, for lack of a better word. I’ve always been driven by the knowledge that we only get so long on this earth, and that we should try our hardest to leave something behind to show who we were and what we were capable of – that we should try to make a difference somehow, somewhere. It’s hard to beat the medical field in terms of making a difference, since usually you’re literally saving people’s lives, so when that combined with my scientific bent things just fell into place.

Getting into medical school is notoriously difficult nowadays, even more than most people realize – having good grades and test scores, which I did, are not remotely sufficient, and even though I’d had impressive accomplishments with rowing, I wasn’t going to get in anywhere without volunteering or clinical experience to demonstrate an interest in, and aptitude for, the field. As I indicated above, my main focus after college was rowing, and my first two years of training basically didn’t afford much time for anything else (particularly since Oklahoma City had fewer opportunities to offer than other locations).

However, when I moved to the DC area to row on the Potomac, I made it a point to bulk up my clinical experience in preparation for the application cycle. I applied to be a medical scribe at Reston Hospital via the ScribeAmerica company, and with a little luck – my parents happened to have met one of the ER doctors on vacation out west, believe it or not – I got the job. For reference, scribes are technically involved in documenting the patient stay and writing the physician’s chart, but that underplays how difficult the job is. I prefer comparing it to an embedded reporter during wartime – there’s a ton of very serious stuff going on around you, and you need to keep your head and record it appropriately and accurately. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for medical experience: you’ll see a lot of very interesting things, make some good connections, and learn a lot about the practice of medicine while you’re doing it. I spent the next year as a medical scribe in the Reston Emergency Department, and after that was promoted to Chief Scribe for the next year.

Through this I did the standard “apply to more than 20 medical schools just to be safe” procedure, and ended up heading to Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. I always feel a little guilty saying this, but I actually hadn’t even heard of the school before I started the application process, but I am SO happy that I ended up here – the teachers and curriculum are good, but what really sells it for me are the other students. It’s an extremely collaborative environment – every student genuinely wants everyone else to do well, and there’s none of the cutthroat behavior that you occasionally hear mentioned in other programs. So instead of unhealthy competition, you have people writing up and posting study guides online, sharing helpful YouTube videos that explain difficult concepts, or just offering moral support to anyone who needs it. It’s a fantastic way to help get through medical school, which on its own is a pretty rigorous and taxing experience.

I’m currently in my 2nd year, and over this past summer, I did research into pediatric hematology/oncology at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters here in Norfolk. My particular project looked at symptoms and quality of life in children with cancer, as well as the effect that has on their parents. It’s very interesting material – a little bit bleak at times, but when you see the drive these pediatricians have to help these kids battling a terrible disease, and how often they’re actually successful, it becomes very uplifting and inspiring. I’m not sure I could do what they do, but I’m glad there are people like them in the world who can handle it. I’m still undecided about how much research I’ll pursue in the future, and what type – research is an important part of getting into a good residency program after school ends, and I’ve very much enjoyed this project, but my main goal is still becoming a skilled clinician and focusing on treating people who need help. Likewise, I haven’t decided yet what field I’m most interested in – most students make up their mind during 3rd year, when they actually do their clinical rotations and get to experience everything – but I’m leaning towards either orthopedics or a specialty in internal medicine (cardiology and oncology top the list right now).

What happened in Paris last summer?!

That week in Paris (plus the week we spent in Italy and England afterwards) is quite possibly the best of my life. Sarah and I met while I was training in Oklahoma City – she was working in Hollywood at the time but was back in town to visit family for Christmas, and I was just about to fly back to Virginia to see my family, but we happened to run into each other during the narrow window of time when we were both in OKC and just hit it off. Fast forward a couple years to our engagement and wedding planning. The original plan had been to do something in DC, but the preparations became so complicated and stressful that I suggested we just start over, go overseas, and do something special with our closest family and friends – something small, fun, and memorable, instead of trying to invite 200 people and please all of them at the expense of our own experience. We’d always talked about Paris – Sarah had been once before and loved it, and I’d always wanted to see it (having studied many, many years of French at Nysmith and in high school) – so the decision was easy from there.

We flew out to Paris one week before the ceremony. (Technically, we were already legally married at the time – neither of us are French citizens, so we’d needed to perform a civil ceremony in the US beforehand – but we still consider the ceremony in Paris to be the main event.) We spent some time getting things set up, but a lot of time was just… enjoying life, together and with the friends who joined us. I remember going for early morning runs beneath the Eiffel Tower, trying a different street side cafe each day, walking through the Louvre and La Musee de L’Armee, and of course an appropriate amount of wine and champagne (we were in France, after all!). And on June 22, we got married on a roof top a mile away from the Eiffel Tower, and it was just… special, the whole thing. It’s probably a bit cliché when talking about Paris, but I think the word “magical” is appropriate.

The next week was our honeymoon, which consisted of a week in Italy – Lake Orta, which is a BEAUTIFUL location that isn’t swamped with tourists – and then in England, spectating at the Henley Royal Regatta. Yes, I was admittedly motivated by my past in rowing and the opportunity to see the world’s best crews up close and personal, but it’s also a huge social outing on the English calendar, and people come from all over the country to dress up in fancy clothes and watch people messing around in boats.  We also got to explore a few hidden alleys in London and take an overnight train through the European countryside. It ended far too quickly… as soon as we have the time and money, we absolutely plan to go back and do it all again.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?  

I’d say that going to Nysmith gave me opportunities that I never would have found elsewhere, which in turn opened doors to new places. I’d be remiss here if I didn’t mention Lisa Guerro, my math teacher all the way back in 1st and 3rd grade who just retired this year – there was a group of about half a dozen of us who were gifted in mathematics, and when it became apparent that we were moving faster than the curriculum, she fought for us to stay on that advanced track even though it hadn’t been done before. It sounds like a small thing now, but her faith in us – and the school’s willingness to go along with it – literally changed the trajectory of my life, because that advanced track allowed all of us to tackle bigger academic challenges than we would have otherwise, which in turn set us up to attend the best high schools and colleges, and then everything just opened up from there. All the things I’ve done – rowing at Princeton, meeting my future wife, studying medicine and doing research to help children with cancer – I can trace it all back to Nysmith taking that chance on us six kids.  Of course, the education was excellent all around, but I think stories like this really illustrate what set the school apart in those days.

As for what it taught me… well, certainly, I learned that a willingness to work hard will pay off. But also, in retrospect, I learned that it takes a little luck sometimes – being in the right place and the right time – and that you have to appreciate those circumstances when they come. Yes, admittedly, this lesson did stem from the academics… but with some age and maturity it’s easy to see how it applies to everything else in life too.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent? 

Students: look for opportunities presented to you, and go after them! You’re at a stage of your life where you can still decide to do or be whatever you want to, and it’s up to you to figure out what that is. Try new things, see what grabs your interest, and don’t say no to something until you’ve given it a shot – you never know when you’ll stumble on something incredible.

Also, this is less advice and more wisdom (as much as anyone still in their 20’s can call themselves “wise”): never take those opportunities for granted. Be grateful for where you are and the people around you, because there are so many people out there who don’t have those things and never will.

Parents: encourage your kids to try hard and do well, but please be careful not to push them too far. If they want to try and accomplish great things, that’s wonderful – but it has to be their choice. If they’re pushed into something they’re not really passionate about, then they either won’t succeed in it in the first place, or they’ll simply burn out later. But if it’s something they choose on their own, there’s no telling what they can do.

FAVORITES:

Field Trip: I might have to say Jamestown in 1st grade, just because it was the first time I’d gotten to do something like that as a student – leaving school for something really far away (to my 7 year-old mind, at least), and it being the oldest colony in the United States to boot.

School Play: School play… I remember enjoying “The Phantom of the Music Room” in 3rd or 4th grade, probably because I got to play the principal. (TJ Loeffler was actually the lead in that, playing Deputy Barney.)

Place to Hang out at Nysmith: Not sure if it’s still there, but the black top where we had recess during lunch time. 2-square was one of my favorite games (which graduated to 4-square once I got to college), so that was a great go-to spot during our off time.

Book that you read for one of your classes: Oof, this is a tough one, largely because I can barely remember what I read for school and what I’ve since read on my own. I do distinctly remember, though, that my introduction to Harry Potter came from Mrs. Wilcox reading a few pages to us each day in the 4th grade, so I have to give a shout out to her for that. Also, I don’t think I could tell you which books we read – other than A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which I also quite liked – but everything in Mr. Stevens’ class was great.

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I did enjoy Mr. Cook, our advanced track math teacher, maintaining that he want to Rinky Dink College and Happy Hill High School all the way until the 8th grade. (He eventually admitted that he’d gone to Hampden-Sydney.)

Claire Tobin

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I absolutely loved Nysmith’s field days! After attending other schools, the field day is definitely unrivaled. I remember the fantastic classes and teachers. I left after first grade, so I don’t remember a lot of activities beyond some of the classes.

 What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, my family moved to Philadelphia where I attended the Baldwin School for 7 years. We moved to Atlanta in 2013 where I attended the Lovett School for high school. I’ve traveled to 28 countries, including school trips to Peru, Israel, and Mexico in recent years. I was the captain of Lovett’s Varsity Swim Team and am the Vice President of Swim Across America’s Junior Advisory Board.

I started attending Davidson College in North Carolina this fall after graduating from high school with Highest Honors and a Diploma Distinction in Global Studies and was a member of Cum Laude and the National Honor Society. I plan on studying economics and either physics or chemistry at Davidson and my career aspiration is to create better sanitation systems for developing countries.

Tell us about your summer jobs.

Two summers ago, I was an intern at the Structural Heart Research & Innovation Laboratory in Atlanta, GA with Dr. Padala. The research was focused on solutions to mitral valve regurgitation. I specifically worked on optimizing a heart model and cell cultures.

 How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

I developed my love of math, science, and logic at Nysmith. I still have great memories of my time in Mrs. Norman’s class. Mrs. Hand’s science class was one of my favorite classes as well. Nysmith also taught me to run when I see a fire. I remember standing on the playground in awe of the smoke coming from the new wing and hearing my teachers scream at me to line up at the fence. (Editor’s note: while under construction, there was a minor insulation fire in the silver wing, which was put out quickly, but it sure made for some exciting stories!)

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Take advantage of the volunteer opportunities as a parent. It will help establish an incredibly strong relationship with your child (my mom was volunteer extraordinaire).

For students, remember that these are some of the best and most passionate teachers you will ever encounter. Take advantage of their love of teaching and you will develop a love of learning. Also, realize that you’re surrounded by people who are way above average and you don’t need to be the best at everything. Be confident that you’re learning what you need to learn and no matter what, a Nysmith student will be ready for the academic world!

FAVORITES

Field Trip: I loved the Smithsonian museums!
Science Fair Project: My Science Fair Project was “Great Falls”, which meant I dropped a ton of different objects from a balcony in my house to better understand gravity.
Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I remember Mrs. Norman using the first few minutes of every class to teach Zach how to tie his shoes.
Nysmith Memory: Field days were the best!

Ryan Tasker-Benson

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I was involved in chess club, math Olympiad, math counts, and sports club. I always loved my math and science classes. Another class I really enjoyed was video production. For me, it was a class where technology and creativity merged.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I went to TJ where I was involved in three things: Academics, Football and FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). I loved all three because they pushed me to evolve and grow in different ways. Athletics pushed me physically, the tough classes at TJ pushed me mentally, and FCA pushed me spiritually. In all three cases, I found a brotherhood, a community, and a fantastic group of friends.

After high school, I took a gap year and then started studying at UVA. While at UVA, I majored in Biomedical Engineering and was heavily involved in a Christian Ministry at UVA called Chi Alpha. This continued to provide the spiritual growth that I needed.

In terms of employment, I worked in multiple jobs and internships throughout college including crash test engineering, clinical engineering, tutoring at a community college, and working in a biological networks lab. However, my most meaningful experience was as a teaching assistant in a STEM class. I loved it, and it has been one of the primary experiences that bought me back to school this past fall to get a teaching degree.

While on the football team at TJ, you suffered 3 concussions.  Talk about the effect that had on your life, and how you pulled through stronger than ever!

In the last semester of high school, I received 3 concussions from playing football too aggressively and recklessly. Ironically, after playing 5 years of football and youth sports every season of my life, I had never had a concussion. Then, in the last 6 months before leaving for college, I sustained 3 concussions. I started my 1^st semester at UVA but was unable to finish. Reluctantly but wisely, I withdrew at the encouragement of my parents and did not return for another 1.5 years. Fast forward to this past May, I finished my degree in Biomedical Engineering. It was particularly special to celebrate it with my fiancée, Clara, who had received her degree just one day before. This high moment of my life was definitely made more special by the difficult prolonged concussion recovery period of my life. The recovery took about 2 years in total, and 1.5 of those years were spent back home instead of with my friends at college. However, I took away 3 key points from this incredibly difficult time in my life.

1. God is active in this world. He cares for us. He sent a part of him in Jesus to die for us. The ramifications of this can transform how we live, our internal motivations, and the desires of life. He can also use our suffering to show us how much he cares for us and how we can help others.
2. Sometimes, when life is overwhelming, all you can do is put one foot in front of the other and just keep going forward.
3. Community is so important to our well-being. We need to live in and become a part of an active, vibrant community. If we are not a part of an active community, then it behooves us to create our own around us with a warm, welcoming, lively, and vibrant spirit.

Talk about your decision to change majors from Engineering to Education!

I spent much of college trying to figure out what to do. I studied biomedical engineering initially because I wanted to do brain injury research. However, after shadowing a doctor, working in a hospital as a clinical engineer assistant, and actually getting to do brain injury research at a crash testing lab: (//www.news.virginia.edu/content/deadliest-crash-uva-takes-hard-look-rollovers), I decided this was not the right move for me. I tried assistant teaching and tutoring at UVA and Piedmont Community College. From these experiences, I decided teaching STEM was what I wanted to do. Education seemed to be a better fit for my personality.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith taught me to love learning. I saw my peers in high school and college that were SO focused on grades, college, and jobs that grades become a defining characteristic. For them, learning was a means to an end, rather than a joy to be embraced. Nysmith helped develop my seeds for loving to learn, and this attitude has served me incredibly well in my post-Nysmith years.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

To students: Pursue your passion, never give up, try your best, but take care of yourself ☺. Also, we are loved despite what others tell or do to us.

To parents: Encourage your children to pursue their passions and help spur them on in that direction.

Jonathan Chang

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith? (If you can remember back that far!)
Honestly, I don’t remember too many things specifically; they’re more like little clips and snippets from the fog. I remember playing a lot of Magic: The Gathering with friends on the carpet at school. I remember Mr. Stephens playing Enya on his CD player while we wrote. I remember Mrs. D’unger taking some time after school to help me understand why these scary letters were invading our math problems. I remember a ridiculous line from a musical that went something like “I am responsible, able to respond,” which randomly haunts my dreams… Anyway, little things like that.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I went to James Madison High School. During my freshman year, I had a surgery for an acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor in the brain on my hearing, balance, and facial movement nerves. It took me out of school for a month, forced me to re-learn how to walk, and gave me crippling headaches from too much physical activity. As such, I wasn’t up to playing any sports during high school or even most of college, so I ended up playing a lot of video games and reading. Honestly, I was quite a nerd from the get-go anyway, but the surgery and headaches kept me from branching out in any athletic way for quite a while.

Once my headaches subsided about half-way through college, I started playing Frisbee, flag football (no contact, what with my head and all), volleyball, biking, and hiking. There were a few years where I stopped biking after an accident though, and my bike ended up chained and rusting outside my apartment building. I took a sharp turn in the rain and slid on the concrete, shredding my chin to the bone and chipping two molars. I remember biking back to a friend’s apartment with chips of my teeth in hand so that they could drive me to the ER. But eventually I overcame that fear and started biking again! Just not in the rain.

Now that all my friends from college live in different states, we’ve started gathering together in the summers to go on backpacking trips. Last year, we went to Iceland and hiked the Laugavegur Trail over four days — an incredibly diverse scenery of desolate obsidian fields, massive waterfalls, river crossings, idyllic valleys, glaciers, dust fields, and lush forests. This past summer, we hiked the Northern Rim of Yosemite over four days — we walked up on top of El Capitan, crossed through a bunch of marshes, stopped at Eagle’s Peak and Yosemite Falls, and finally descended 3000 feet into the valley without any water because, of course, our water pump broke the night before the last day. We’re thinking something in Alaska or Canada maybe for our next trip.

During and since my high school years, I’ve also been heavily involved in my home church and college Christian fellowship through playing in the praise band, serving as a treasurer, and leading a Bible study group. I’ve also gone on a few short-term mission trips with my church during my high school years, helping with construction, playing with kids at orphanages, teaching English, etc.

In college, I was fortunate to come in already knowing that I wanted to take one of three paths: pre-med with a major in psychology with the hopes of becoming a psychiatrist, computer science engineering, or secondary school education. It took a week of biology to decide pre-med wasn’t for me, and I switched out. I also decided without taking any computer science classes that while I loved programming for fun, it also had the tendency to raise my blood pressure a little too much when that one missing semicolon breaks hundreds of lines of code. And so I gave education school a try, and every day in the classroom reminds me that it was the right choice.

When I was a fourth year at UVA, I met my soon-to-be wife. I stayed in Charlottesville and taught at Albemarle High School while she finished her undergraduate studies, and then I moved back to the Northern Virginia area to work at Flint Hill School when she started medical school at Georgetown University. We’ve been dating now for six years, and we’re finally set to be married in May!
Tell us about any particularly interesting internships or summer jobs that you had.

To be honest, I haven’t taken too many official internships or jobs. Instead I spend my summers working on my own personal projects. For a few summers I did some freelance programming work, a few jobs for the psychology department at UVA, a few websites, small jobs like that. After college and before my first teaching job at Albemarle High School, I spent the whole summer taking summer classes for my special education endorsement because I added the endorsement at the very last minute. I’ve spent the last few summers working on adding a physics endorsement to my teaching license and participating in a three-week physics modeling workshop.
Talk about what you’re doing at Flint Hill.

At Flint Hill, I teach 9th and 10th grade English, and this year I started teaching 9th grade physics. For a few years, I was putting my special education endorsement to use in the Learning Center Study Sessions, coaching students on improving their workflow and developing study habits that worked for them. I also do the occasional programming job, mostly using Google Scripts, to help out various people in the building. I also refill the pot of coffee when it’s empty because it’s the right thing to do.
How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

During my Nysmith years (all of K-8), I was pretty shy, and I mean painfully and awkwardly so. I didn’t really come out of my shell fully until my college years, but I do think that the Nysmith environment sowed the seeds pretty early on. I felt comfortable enough making a few small, meaningful risks back then, and my confidence compounded upon itself over time.

As an adult, I feel that one of my greatest strengths is being an inquiry-based thinker. I ponder and wonder constantly, and that leads me to a lot of interesting and weird connections, some of which are just silly and ridiculous, but others end up being surprisingly inventive and innovative. This inquiring mindset is actually encouraged at Nysmith and sadly squelched in many other programs, educational or otherwise.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

My advice would apply not only to life as a Nysmith student but as a human being: don’t be afraid to try new things. My fear of failure kept me from attempting so many things that I would have otherwise found great joy and satisfaction in earlier in life.

FAVORITES

Field Trip:  We went on an overnight trip to some museum where we saw owl pellets. A certain friend of mine got some owl pellet in his mouth, and it was hilarious. No? Guess you had to be there. Along with having the maturity of a middle school boy.

School Play:  Mrs. Weaver singing, “and a Diet Coke to drink while watching TV!”

Place to hang out at Nysmith: I’m not sure what all the wings are called now, but in between Mr. Nysmith’s office and the computer lab, there’s a small carpeted lobby with glass doors. You could watch the carpool line from there and hang out with friends while doing all kinds of insidious things, like playing Magic: The Gathering and arguing about the discussion from class (I was a bit of a rebel back then, I know).

 Book that you read for one of your classes:  We read Othello with Mr. Stephens — I also remember having to perform it, and Iago was three people who kind of rotated around each other. Now that I’m an English teacher myself, I think back and wonder if the reason really was to represent Iago as the multi-faced so-and-so that he is… or if we just had too many students for the number of parts.

Classroom story involving one of your teachers:  A daily occurrence was Mr. Stephens saying, “Oh, that’s tragic!” whenever anyone complained about anything.

Nysmith Memory: I remember Camp Friendship. Not specifically anything we did, just that we were there.

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song? I don’t, but I’m guessing most of the words are state names, right?

Kira Strande

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

At Nysmith, I absolutely loved Social Studies, English, and Computer class. I felt that in all of those classes, I was so easily able to learn new things every day and it seemed like a lot of my classmates enjoyed those subjects too. It made our days go by quickly, but we would be having so much fun! Both Social Studies and English let my creative side go wild, but still honed the development of my critical thinking skills while Computer class helped me develop my technical and problem solving skills.  All of those skills combined are what helped me figure out what I have been trying to do with my career path at the moment.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I attended The Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. During my time at Madeira, I made lifelong friends and made some of the best memories I have to look back on. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I participated in Varsity Tennis my freshman year and was the 4th seed – pretty impressive for a freshman! During my freshmen spring semester, I decided to try out for the Varsity track/field team and made it as a sprinter. At track meets, I would be entered into most if not all of these events: 100m, 4×1, 4×4, long jump, and triple jump. My sophomore year, I participated in the same sports. My junior year, I participated in tennis exclusively because at the end of the fall semester, I had surgery on my elbow so I could not play. I still wanted to show my dedication to the team and be there for them as a motivational figure so I signed up as a captain. It was a tough position to be in – I wanted to be playing this sport that I loved so much, but had to watch on the sidelines as all of my teammates excelled. Moving onto my senior year, I was back on the tennis team in the fall semester, I joined the musical as a technical assistant behind stage (with fellow Nysmith alum Hannah Cohn as our lead technical stage manager!), and was back on the track team during the spring semester. During my senior year, I interned with a family friend who is a Forensic Pathologist and that solidified what I was interested in pursuing in college.

After graduating Madeira in 2011, I went to Penn State University in University Park, PA. I attended the summer session before the fall semester started so I could make an easier transition from a small single-ED school to a LARGE co-ed school. I took two classes that summer and had one of the best summers I could have ever asked for. I went into PSU wanting to major in Forensic science, but quickly learned that science wasn’t for me. I switched my focus to Criminology during my sophomore year and it was the best decision I could have made. I had wonderful professors and loved every single one of my classes. To find my way and make friends, I joined Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity dedicated to developing leaders through community service. The fraternity would take up most of my time when I wasn’t in class or hanging out! I met some of my best friends in the fraternity and two of them will be in my wedding ???? I graduated from Penn State in December 2014 with a Bachelors in Criminology and a Minor in Sociology and stayed on the east coast until March 2017.

Tell us about your summer jobs and after college full-time jobs.

My summer jobs included: working at a tennis camp that I attended since I was around 10 years old, working/interning for the forensic pathologist that I mentioned earlier, working as a temp at a corporate housing company, and finally a hostess at Mellow Mushroom in Herndon.

My full time jobs after college included: interning at the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C. as an Intern Investigator in the Parole Division (from Jan 2015 to June 2015) and then working at an Intellectual Property law firm in Silver Spring, MD as a legal assistant/docketing specialist from June 2015 to February 2017. I am currently working at Accurate Background Inc. in Irvine, CA as an Adjudication Specialist and Criminal Research Specialist. I hope my next job will be either an investigator position or a paralegal working at a criminal defense law firm. (Update: As of July, 2017, Kira reached one of her goals and is now a paralegal at a criminal defense and family law firm located in Santa Ana, CA. She is absolutely loving it so far!)

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith taught me to follow my interests, no matter what they are. I think Nysmith gave me the basis of not being afraid to fail and that exploring your interests is key. It also instilled in me some leadership qualities and I did not even realize it until high school! It was the perfect and safe environment to learn, make mistakes, and take risks.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

The only advice I would give is to make sure you savor every day you have there! Whether you’re a student or a parent, make sure you’re conscious of all you learn from the school because it’s pretty exceptional and a fantastic family to be a part of.

FAVORITES

 Field Trip:  Our 8th grade class trip to Baltimore. I still have the free shirt I got when we attended an Orioles game!

Place to hang out at Nysmith: The large hallway entering the Silver Pod and/or the Silver Pod landing/steps

 Book that you read for one of your classes:  The Giver

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  What state were you?  I VAGUELY remember the 50 states song! Just bits and pieces. And I definitely do not remember which state I was unfortunately!

Alex James

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

Let’s see, for classes I generally preferred math, computers, and to some degree science class (I can’t say I really enjoyed biology even in high school) although social studies was normally pretty good too. I liked many of my English teachers like Mrs. Tyson, Mrs. Stephens, and Mr. Stephens despite not really liking the class itself. Outside of school I read a lot of books. I played football in the county league in 6th-8th grade and I also fenced (foil) for three years in middle school. I don’t remember doing much outside of school in elementary and middle school. I feel like I generally went to school, had some friends but didn’t do much else on weekends and such. I do remember talking to my teachers a lot at lunch in middle school. Mrs. Johnstone normally sat with a couple of us when we were eating lunch in the courtyard and I’d visit Mrs. Tyson a decent amount.

 What did you do after Nysmith?

I went to Sidwell Friends for high school which was very different than Nysmith. It was in the city and also had a much stronger slant towards liberal arts. My two big activities in high school were running and robotics. I ran cross country, indoor track, outdoor track as a 1mi, 2mi, 5k and steeplechase guy. Robotics then took up much of my time outside of school. We competed in FTC in the fall and underwater robotics in the spring. I also was part of the outing club which did a lot of outdoors trips. That’s where I got into climbing and camping. For college, I went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign is a centrally located cornfield in central Illinois). I majored in engineering physics and aerospace engineering with a minor in materials science. I basically specialized in material strength prediction and fracture mechanics of composites and metals, condensed matter physics, and numerical methods. As a result, a lot of my time was taken up taking math and engineering classes. Outside of school, I was on the board of the climbing club for three years and would frequently go climbing in southern Illinois on weekends and breaks. I’ve been all over the country climbing. I also was in Sigma Phi Delta fraternity which was most of my social life outside of the climbing club.

Tell us about any of your internships and your current job at Boeing.

My only internship in college was at Boeing after junior year. I stayed in Champaign after sophomore year to do a physics lab/research. I was out in Seattle area working in Composite Structural Methods and Allowables which basically comes up with the strength of different materials and the methods to analyze an airplane part. Those tools get passed out to the different airplane programs for use in actually building and designing the aircraft you fly on. For my full time position, I hired into 767 Airframe structural design where I worked on designing parts in the wing. The 767 at this point is a cargo freighter aircraft and also the KC-46A Tanker for the Air Force. I’m in the middle of transferring back to Allowables where I’ll be doing a lot of composite fracture mechanics. Seattle is an amazing city and I really like it. It has so much outdoor stuff between hiking, climbing, mountaineering etc that I am always busy on the weekends. The city is also very laid back, has tons of outdoor spaces, great food, and great beer. Contrary to popular belief, it does not rain all the time. The summer is actually like 75 and sunny (We got rain about 4 days this summer, hence all the wildfires).

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith was very good at making me do things that I really did not want to do. This was really good because it forced me to get experiences that I would not have gotten had I been left to my own devices. I would not have gone anywhere close to being on stage for a play or something without being required to. Or, to be up in front of lots of people presenting a science fair project.  Because Nysmith forced me to do that, I knew that I was capable of it for those situations later in life where I did have to do public presentations.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Nysmith is very good at academics and in many cases has you doing things that you normally wouldn’t hit until later in school. This could be in terms of math class progression or what books you read in English. Make sure you leverage that in high school. Don’t just go with the flow. If you belong in a higher math class, push for it. Or if you’re reading the same book again, use what you learned the previous time to get more out of the book. There were more than a couple times in high school that I ended up redoing some things that I had done at Nysmith and not really putting any effort into it.

FAVORITES

 Field Trip:  tide, and visited Tangier Island where they actually let us roam mostly unaccompanied on a scavenger hunt.
Science Fair Project:  I really didn’t like having present science fair projects although I guess it was good for me in the long run. I think my favorite was I built suspension bridges out of popsicle sticks. I tested how much load they could carry vs how many support towers they had.
Place to hang out at Nysmith: I remember spending a lot of time in the courtyard next to the silver wing (which had just opened) at the picnic tables by the door.

Book that you had to read for one of your classes:  I really liked The Tale of Two Cities by Dickens (which was 8th grade – Mrs. Stephens based on the inside cover) and Cyrano de Begerac (which I think was also 8th grade although I didn’t mark that one up). Both of those books I currently still have sitting on my bookshelf (which is pitifully small).
Classroom story involving one of your teachers: I remember Mr. Stephens in 7th grade giving us a very long lecture (with musical demos) about how we were miserable at singing happy birthday to someone. He thought we sounded too sad because the beat was too slow.

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song? What state were you?

I barely remember being alive in 2nd grade let alone what I did back then.

Catelyn Nelson Bernstein

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I always liked math! I remember doing the “magic minute” math sheets throughout the elementary school grades, and enjoying it! The math at Nysmith was always taught with a real-world context, which made it more interesting. I also loved those crosshatch logic puzzles…  Mary’s car is not red or blue… Sam only drives sedans… Which car is Mary’s?

Outside of Nysmith, I swam competitively for Curl Burke (now Nation’s Capital Swim Club), which shaped a lot of my childhood. During middle school, I had swim practice before school five days a week (thanks Mom!) and had swim meets 1-2 weekends a month. Throughout my swimming career, I learned that hard work really does pay off, and I translated that to my education and my career as well.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I went to Westfield High School in Chantilly, Virginia. I continued swimming competitively, and represented Westfield at the Virginia High School State Championship each year. After Westfield, I went to the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. My dad pushed me towards going to engineering school, where I discovered and majored in Systems Engineering – the perfect major for me – as it combines business, technology, and math. At UVA, I lead the Virginia Club Swim team and was a member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. I also found my love for coffee, tennis, spin classes, Charlottesville and studying at libraries, and made some of my best friends (many of which were at or in my wedding this fall!).

Tell us about your current job at Deloitte Consulting’s Federal Analytics and Information Management practice.

I have been very fortunate to begin my career at Deloitte; Deloitte is similar to Nysmith in several ways – everyone is very intelligent and supportive and everyone brings a unique perspective. I really enjoy solving our clients’ business problems with technology solutions and answering their questions with analytics. Most of my projects have been designing and developing end-to-end analytics tools using the agile methodology, which focuses on the end-users and delivering working software iteratively. It’s a fast moving environment!

 How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith allowed me to get way ahead in math – when I went to public high school, I was the only freshman in Calculus. By senior year, I was taking math courses beyond AP. When I went to UVA, I was able to quickly finish the math classes required for my engineering degree and focus on the courses related to my major (Systems Engineering) and some more-fun electives. This math background has made me a very logical person now – I like to know the facts, the details, and the end-to-end process when tackling problems at work.

The Nysmith culture and small classroom setting allowed me become really comfortable speaking in front of a room, sharing my point of view, asking a tricky question, or admitting I don’t completely understand something. This has allowed me to build strong, genuine relationships and I believe, has helped me become more successful.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Keep in touch with Nysmith students after you graduate – they go off to do amazing things! And if you’re still in school, ask your fellow students what their parents do – I bet it’s pretty interesting too!

 FAVORITES

 Field Trip:  I think the most memorable was visiting New York City – I had never been before, and it was (and still is) a completely different city than DC. I remember having a new digital camera, and taking some panoramic photos of the NYC skyline. Our trip was a year or two before 9/11, and those photos became extra meaningful.

Science Fair Project: I don’t remember any science fair project particularly well. To be honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan, but I now appreciate the exercise and am glad my dad always had ideas for topics!

 Place to hang out at Nysmith:  At the original Nysmith, I was always on the soccer field J
Once I got into swimming, I think I got lazy during recess! I also never missed a dance… do they still have those?!

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: This isn’t about a teacher specifically… but I remember in Mrs. Klein’s class, someone threw a mechanical pencil and the granite stick landed on my hand. I still have a mark on my right hand from where it landed! Also, I STILL remember the smell of the room when we were dissecting frogs or pigs… every so often, a room will smell like that and I will mention it, and the response is always “you know what that smells like?” “yup!”

 Nysmith Memory:  Christine Curley and I met at Nysmith in 2^nd grade – and we have been close ever since! This fall, she was one of my bridesmaids in my wedding, and her parents hosted a last-minute after-party for us, complete with s’mores and Taco Bell!

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  No… What state were you?  North Dakota (bonus, my country was Bolivia!)

Marilyn Savich

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

Musical theater, plays (The Music Man and Fiddler on the Roof), improv, filmmaker’s club.

 What did you do after Nysmith?

I went to Bishop O’Connell in Arlington for high school, and based on my experience at Nysmith, the first activity I partook in was theater! I also participated in a living/learning community for freshman interested in theater my first year of college.

In high school, I took honors and AP English courses, and many of the books we read were assigned in Nysmith (Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, A Tale of Two Cities, Animal Farm).

I enjoyed writing, and decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in communications at American University. AU had the best program for communication, so it seemed like the best choice. In undergrad, I joined the Catholic Student Association, where I served as a community service chair and spiritual group leader for a couple of years. I gave a lot of attention to my classes, taking courses ranging from cross-cultural communication, to law, to philosophy. I enjoy many subjects, but I developed an interest in psychology, selecting it as my minor, and helping out in the Emotions and Positive Psychology lab as a research assistant.

I loved college, wanted to continue being involved in academia, and was interested in the theoretical side of writing. So, after finishing undergrad, pursuing a Master’s in literature seemed to be the next best step. I received a graduate writing fellowship from American University while working at the Writing Center. I also had the opportunity to undertake a year-long internship at the Library of Congress (working in the Young Readers Center). I finished my Master’s degree in May of 2017 and am now working as a teaching assistant for American University’s new Writing Studies Program until I get a full-time job

Tell us about any of your internships, and your current job.

My first internship was at a literary non-profit, The Heart of American Foundation, which renovates learning spaces and gives books to schools in need. After, I worked for the American University library, interacting with the university community and providing technological assistance.

During my senior year of undergrad, I chose Nysmith as my internship site to gain field experience in educational psychology as part of my psychology minor requirements. It was amazing revisiting my elementary and secondary school experiences through this program, as I was reminded of how caring our teachers were and how much we learned. I enjoyed it dearly.

Now, after finishing my master’s in literature at American University, I am serving as a teaching assistant to a college writing classroom. In the long-term, I hope to work in curriculum development.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Some of the people I met (Brianna B., Zoe S., Aimee B., and Kira S.) were amazing individuals to know. Nysmith expanded my view of what people our age are capable of. It also gave me multiple chances to use my creative abilities. I often saw art in things — assignments, math, science. I also was confident going into academic environments later in life.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

To a Nysmith student: consider every day as a chance to grow.

How would you describe Nysmith in two to three sentences?
Nysmith is a well-connected community in which you can learn from your peers, teachers, and staff. You realize everything you study is integrated!

FAVORITES

Field Trip:   Williamsburg 2nd grade trip
School Play:   Fiddler on the Roof
Place to Hang out at Nysmith:   The Silver Wing
Book that you had to read for one of your classes:   A Tale of Two Cities
After school Club:   Filmmaker’s Club
Nysmith Memory:   8th grade field day
Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song? What state were you?  Yes! I was Colorado (on my to-do list for one of the places to visit).

Pooja Chandrashekar

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I participated in Mathcounts and Math Olympiad during my time at Nysmith! I loved the broad range of activities that were available to students, and the different paths I could take to explore my passions. I definitely tried out a bunch of after-school clubs, but was quickly drawn to the problem-solving and community fostered by the competition math clubs. But as for what I liked at Nysmith, one of the biggest strengths of Nysmith is the work ethic and writing skills that students cultivate throughout their time at the school. Also, my passion for computer science started at Nysmith in Mr. Fremlin’s classes. It was only because of Nysmith’s mandatory computer science classes that I had a strong foundation in CS as a freshman in high school.

 What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I graduated from TJ in 2015, and am currently a senior at Harvard University studying biomedical engineering and health policy. Nysmith sparked a love for computer science and technology, and gave me the skillset to jump headfirst into these fields in high school. At TJ, I explored artificial intelligence, parallel computing, and mobile app development, furthering my love for computing. But what solidified my decision to pursue technology in the long-term were my three summers spent interning at the MITRE Corporation in McLean. At MITRE, I spent three summers in the Nanosystems and Emerging Technologies Group working on developing a better way to diagnose concussions. I used machine learning and motor tracking to build software that is now in clinical trials at the National Rehabilitation Hospital. I realized that I wanted to use technology to address gaps in medical diagnosis and treatment, reduce healthcare disparities, and improve healthcare delivery systems.

In college, I’ve continued to build on my passions for digital health and healthcare technology by working on projects at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) to identify healthcare trends and patterns from social media data and leading projects at Harvard Medical School to analyze how technology contributes to the vision of value-based care. As for my summers, I’ve spent one at BCH working closely with a surgeon at their Vascular Anomalies Center developing a way to identify patients with high-risk vascular anomalies early on in their disease progression. And I spent my last summer working at the National Health Service (NHS) in London. The NHS is the UK’s universal healthcare system, and I had the privilege of working in their Strategy Group on the Test Beds project, an incredibly exciting national digital health rollout within the NHS.

Additionally, in college I’ve begun to hone my ability to take an idea and turn it into a tangible product/project that can impact people. For example, my team and I are working on building SpecrumVR, a virtual reality (VR)-based intervention to help autistic adolescents improve their social and interpersonal skills. We received funding from Harvard Business School and MassChallenge to take the project forward. I’m also working on building Planetary Health Watch, a real-time environmental hazard detection system that mines social media data and online news reports to identify environmental crisis signals and report them to local and state environmental agencies. My team and I won Harvard’s top entrepreneurship competition (Harvard College i3 Innovation Competition) and are using the funding to further our research for the product.

Together, these experiences have solidified my motivation to pursue a career in using technology to transform healthcare delivery and population health. And my experience volunteering in clinical settings (I run a volunteering program at Boston Children’s Hospital to help connect the families of autistic children to social services) has confirmed my desire to pursue digital health alongside clinical care. So I’m applying to medical school in the upcoming cycle (for matriculation in fall 2019) and hope to eventually pursue an MD/MBA.

Tell us about your experience of being admitted to all 8 Ivy Universities, in addition to the rest of the colleges you applied to – Stanford, Duke, MIT, UVA, University of Michigan and Georgia Tech?

It was crazy and unexpected! I feel so fortunate to have been admitted to these schools (all of which are wonderful), and can only thank my parents, teachers, and mentors for all the support along the way.

Tell us a little about your ProjectCSGIRLS nonprofit organization!

Seven years ago, on my first day of high school, I looked around my computer science class to realize I was one of just three girls in a class of thirty students. I felt discouraged and out of place, especially due to the negative “bro-grammer” stereotype and the lack of female role models. To address these glaring gender disparities, I founded ProjectCSGIRLS (www.projectcsgirls.com) five years ago as a high school sophomore. As a now-international nonprofit reaching 7,000 girls annually in forty states and nine countries, we fuse technical education with social change to build supportive peer networks of middle school girls developing technologies for social impact. I have built a team of 48 high school and college women who work with me to run nonprofit operations, secured partnerships with women in tech organizations, and raised over $200,000 in corporate sponsorship. In addition to running computer science outreach programs for middle school girls, we advocate for education reform as part of President Obama’s CSforAll initiative. I am driven to fight for gender parity in technology because of the incredible stories I see blossom as a result of ProjectCSGIRLS. These stories emphasize the value of innovative education models in breaking glass ceilings. I have furthered my passion for education equity by serving on the board for She Rocks the World, a teenage girls’ empowerment nonprofit, and by founding the Action and Civic Tech Scholars Program, a program run with the Boston Mayor’s Office to teach civic technology to low-income and minority high school students in Boston.

Talk about the conferences and summits around the country that you’ve spoken at.

I’ve had the honor of being able to use these platforms to voice my opinions, shed light on the problems surrounding diversity in technology, and advocate for reform in both academic and corporate settings. I primarily speak about how young people can drive change, concrete strategies for improving diversity in technology classes and companies, and what it will take to close the tech gender gap. Public speaking has become one of my biggest passions, and Nysmith definitely helped me hone my ability to speak in front of a crowd!

 How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith taught me so much about work ethic, dedication, and going out of your comfort zone. I came to Nysmith in 4^th grade from my local public school, so it was a very different environment. The classes were much more challenging, the students were much more focused on academics, and it was a very different environment in general. But, it afforded me so much room to grow and learn; I discovered a love for writing, found my niche in math, and built such strong friendships with my peers. Nysmith taught me how to work hard and dream big, be creative (science fairs and art classes!), and apply my talents to help others and solve real problems.

 Please describe Nysmith in 2-3 sentences.

Nysmith is a place that will challenge and nurture you; through the plethora of opportunities (both academic and non-academic), students, and teachers at Nysmith, you will discover your talents and cultivate your passions. In a single year, you will have the chance to visit a coal mine in Pennsylvania, build windmills for a science fair project, and engage in water balloon fights on field day. You will find friends for life, make memories that you will take with you to high school and beyond, and learn more than you ever thought possible.

 What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Enjoy the experience, cherish your friends, and explore your interests!

FAVORITES

 Field Trip:  The coal mine tour in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Science Fair Project: Optimizing the efficiency of a Stirling engine

 Book that you read for one of your classes:  Cyrano de Bergerac (still one of my favorites!)

Nikhil Gupta

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?  What activities did you participate in?

Activities that I participated in included Football Club, MathCounts, Band/Jazz Band, and probably another few that I am sure I’m forgetting. I really enjoyed my time having electives in 7th and 8th grade because I got to try out a bunch of different things.

 What did you do after Nysmith?

After graduating from Nysmith, I went to Thomas Jefferson (TJ) High School. There, I played soccer (3 year varsity) and basketball (2 year varsity) for 4 years each. I sporadically participated in a handful of academic clubs throughout the 4 years but I could never regularly attend them due to scheduling conflicts with sports.

After graduating from TJ in June of 2015, I went to Caltech in Pasadena, CA (a few miles outside of LA). A big reason I decided to go to Caltech is because it is small school (~240 undergrads / class) so there would be a lot of opportunities to interact with faculty in ways that might be more difficult at larger schools. Another aspect I liked about Caltech was that it requires a broad scientific core which gives us the ability to relate a certain topic across multiple fields, while exposing each student to a wide knowledge base.

At Caltech, I am double majoring in Computer Science and Business, Economics, and Management. In addition to academics, I play varsity soccer (DIII) along with a variety of intramural sports and am doing research with a professor.

 Tell us about any of your internships throughout high school and college.

In high school, I interned at NIH in Rockville  MD doing biomedical research for 2 summers. In college, I interned at Google in New York City after my freshman year on a Site Reliability Engineering team. After my sophomore year, I interned at a early stage tech startup based out of Sunnyvale, CA doing Computer Vision work for them. This upcoming summer, I will be working at a small hedge fund in New York City.

 How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

One aspect of Nysmith that I really liked was how everyone encouraged students to push themselves and get as far ahead as they had the ability to. This gave me a good foundation to make full use of the resources I have had since (at TJ and Caltech). Having been at Nysmith for 10 years, another aspect aspect I liked was seeing how the school evolved and how my perspective on the school evolved over that whole period.

 What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Students: Make full use of the resources presented to you (whether academic opportunities or otherwise).

Parents: Kids will get much further in a certain activity if they are doing it of their own will instead of being pushed to do it.

FAVORITES

 Field Trip:  Chesapeake Bay

Place to Hang Out at Nysmith:  Ga-ga ball pit

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?    Maybe the first half

What state were you? Delaware

Maddie Melton

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I was always a Humanities student at Nysmith! I loved my Language Arts and Social Studies classes, and I was an avid reader at home (this has not changed!). I remember in 5th grade we had a reading competition, and each time we read a new book we could add a construction paper scoop of ice cream to our cone on the wall. I spent all year working hard to make my stack as high as possible! I also enjoyed writing, and I remember working very hard on my personal essays for the annual competition (I can’t remember the name!) and writing stories at home. I loved the free writing time in middle school English class as well. Outside of school, I did Tae Kwon Do competitively, and earned my black belt when I was eleven. In middle school, I took the Filming and Editing elective, and really loved creating stories through this new medium. My editing skills have come in handy many, many times in the years since.

What did you do after Nysmith? Tell us about your unique high school experience at School Year Abroad in China and Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong! How did you get interested in immersing yourself in Chinese culture and its people? Are you fluent in Chinese?!

 After graduating from Nysmith, I started ninth grade at Episcopal High School in Alexandria. They offered the option to study Chinese, and I chose it my freshman year partially on a whim and partially at the encouragement of my dad. I had never had much natural inclination for Romance languages, and I thought something totally different might work better for me. This turned out to be true, and I was hooked from my first day of class. I was particularly interested in the beauty of the stories behind written Chinese characters.

After going through a difficult time personally in my sophomore year, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I knew I wanted to start seeing the world from a new perspective. By that point I was hoping to study in China on a summer program because of my love for the language, but then representatives from School Year Abroad came to give a presentation about the opportunity to spend a whole year studying in Beijing. It seemed like exactly the kind of fresh start I was looking for, and I was so excited to immerse myself in the language I had spent two years falling in love with. I applied right away, and my parents agreed to let me go for my junior year. I have always been blessed by their unwavering support in pursuing a somewhat unconventional path.

In Beijing, I woke up early to bike across the city for Tai Chi classes, and at school I studied Mandarin intensively for several hours a day along with Chinese history, literature, and politics. After class, I had a lot of freedom to explore the city independently, and it is in the afternoons and weekends I spent getting completely lost on bustling streets and narrow Hutong alleyways with my friends that I really developed a strong connection to China and began to consider it home. In the evenings, I went home to my host family and practiced Chinese over dinner and conversation. At SYA, I also had the opportunity to travel extensively to both rural and urban regions of China, including a whole month spent in China’s beautiful southwest Yunnan province. What I loved most about my year there was that I woke up each morning never quite knowing what was going to happen and where I was going to end up by the evening. To be surrounded by so much newness and so many learning opportunities in every conversation was such an amazing and intense experience. I feel like I was there for ten years instead of one!

As the year continued, I knew that I wanted to stay and finish high school overseas rather than returning for my senior year in the U.S. After some research online about different options, I ultimately applied and was awarded a full scholarship to spend two years completing an IB diploma at Li Po Chun United World College, an international boarding school in Hong Kong. While I was there, I had the opportunity to study with classmates from more than eighty countries, and made many incredible lifelong friends. Like at SYA, I had a lot of freedom to explore, and during my two years there I loved learning about Hong Kong’s fascinating history and wandering through its mountains, beaches, and bustling downtown. I continued to travel as well, and my friends and I backpacked independently through China and Southeast Asia. Extracurricular activities at LPC were numerous, and I became very involved in the school’s theatre program  acting in school productions and a Playback applied theatre group for audiences across the city. I even had the chance to direct a full-length play. I received training to become a ‘peer supporter’ to classmates who were struggling, and also served as North America Representative in student government. However, the two undertakings that became most important to me were founding and leading LPC’s first Gay/Straight Alliance and becoming involved as a volunteer with an organisation called AFESIP which fights sex-trafficking in Cambodia. Over two years, I spent a total of six weeks in AFESIP’s three rehabilitation homes across Cambodia, developing friendships with the women and girls who lived there. I continued to raise money for the organisation in university.

I am very hesitant to use the word ‘fluent’ when talking about my Chinese because it can mean so many different things and I still have so much to learn! But I do speak and read Mandarin with good proficiency, and can navigate work, travel, and everyday life in China comfortably and confidently.

Talk about your college experiences and what you’re doing now at grad school. 

After graduating from LPC, I was eager to continuing study internationally (which was also a much cheaper option than studying in the U.S!) and learning through travel and cultural immersion. I started university at a school called University College Utrecht in the Netherlands. My freshman year I stumbled upon Anthropology, and found a discipline that allowed me to give structure to the way I had spent my whole life observing, thinking, and understanding the world. I also enjoyed the opportunity to travel around Europe independently, and loved how easy it was to hitchhike from the Netherlands to surrounding countries! My favourite trip from that time was volunteering on an organic sheep farm in Estonia for a couple weeks and swimming in beautiful lakes along the Russian border. In my fourth semester I had the opportunity to go on a semester exchange to Rhodes University in South Africa, and knew from the first moment that I arrived that I wanted to stay (yes, this is a theme!) I transferred and completed my final two years of university there, and I was lucky to be able to graduate in 2016 with four majors in Anthropology, Chinese, Drama, and Psychology. South Africa has become home as well, and is a place I hope to continue returning to.

Shortly after I arrived in South Africa, I broke my ankle badly in a car accident, and the months of recovery really threw off my sense of balance, physically and psychologically. After it healed, I found that hiking really re-grounded me in my body, and I began to spend all of the time I could in the mountains. I started regularly going on multi-day hikes, and in my final year at Rhodes I became the hiking coordinator of the Mountain Club, leading day and overnight trips to beautiful locations across the province. Hiking has since been a very important part of my life. I also continued my involvement in LGBTQ issues from high school, and I was elected Vice President of OutRhodes, the university’s society for queer students. Our team had a lot of success, and won Most Improved Society at the end of the year! I stayed busy with work opportunities, too, and was a TA to first year students in Anthropology, Chinese, and Philosophy & Ethics classes.

After I graduated, I decided to stay in South Africa for one more year to complete a graduate degree in Anthropology at the University of Cape Town. As is common in Anthropology, my thesis research was derived from deeply personal experiences and explored questions of language and labels as they relate to queer/LGBTQ identity. I was most interested in how we use language to tell our stories, what the advantages and limitations of that language can be, and how we find ways to understand experiences beneath or beyond the vocabulary and/or cultural narratives we have to describe them. I’m now working on turning this research into a fiction writing project. We’ll see if anything comes of it!

Cape Town is a hiker’s paradise and I took advantage of that as much as possible! I was also able to keep my connection to Chinese language alive from afar by participating in two Chinese speech competitions hosted by the Confucius Institute, and won 3rd and 2nd place in consecutive years. I continued to work as a TA in Cape Town, and also began teaching English online to young students in China full time through a company called VIPKID to support myself while I studied and to save money to hike the 2,659-mile Pacific Crest Trail this coming May. I left Cape Town in December 2017, and while I’m waiting to start the hike in a few months VIPKID has allowed me to try out the ‘digital nomad’ lifestyle and work on the road while I spend a few months traveling and writing. I’ve been living overseas for more than seven years now and I’m curious what it will be like to spend six months back in the U.S. later this year!

Tell us about your internships.

After my first year at Rhodes University in South Africa, I came home to Virginia for our ‘summer’ holiday (November to January!) and continued work in the field of anti-human trafficking as an intern in the Development Office at Free the Slaves in Washington D.C. The following year I was able to return to Beijing during the holidays for an internship with the JUMP! Foundation, an experiential education organisation that designs immersive learning experiences for middle and high school students throughout China and other parts of Asia. It was very valuable to have work experience at both an NGO and a social enterprise.

My favourite holiday work experiences in college, however, were the two summers I spent as a facilitator and mentor for a summer study abroad program for high school students in Beijing. The programs were run through an amazing organisation called Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA) which endeavours to bring international exposure to students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in study abroad programs. I loved working with high school students and bringing all of my language skills, knowledge of Beijing, and personal experiences as a study abroad student to my work each day. I also have a little bit of trouble sitting still, so working outside of an office in an environment that was constantly shifting, changing, and asking me to draw on completely different skill sets was very exciting and definitely better suited to my personality! I’m looking forward to working for APSA again on a spring program in April. This work has convinced me that my career trajectory at this point is in experiential education, and outdoor education and study abroad in particular. I’m planning to move back to China after finishing the Pacific Crest Trail later this year, and I’m so excited to see what’s next for me full time in this field!

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

I was recently showing a good friend the Nysmith Facebook page to show her more about where I grew up, and she said, “Wow, your school looks like so much fun!” And it was! I have never claimed to be very interested in math and science, but I nonetheless have amazing memories of pig dissections, a trip to the Walter Reed Medical Museum, coding Lego robots, making my own webpage, and so much more. We went on some amazing field trips like the Chesapeake Bay trip or the trip to Pennsylvania coal country that seamlessly merged science, history, and language arts. All of the hands-on, multi-disciplinary, immersive ways we learned at Nysmith taught me to approach my whole life as a learning experience, and it was because of that message that I was able to see that the hours I spent reading novels, hiking Hong Kong’s peaks, or talking to friends around the world were just as valuable, if not more so, than the hours I spent in class. I learned that it was rewarding and ‘cool’ to be smart and engaged, and although that message maybe faded a bit in middle school and early high school, it was always there, waiting to re-emerge when the time was right. Especially as a girl and young woman, I think learning to value my intelligence and being told that my dreams could be limitless has been an incredibly important asset.

Additionally, one thing that really stands out about my time at Nysmith is the very casual global diversity of the student body. Growing up, I had classmates whose parents and grandparents came from every corner of the world, and my friends went to weekend Chinese school, Farsi school, or Irish dancing lessons, and India/England/Jamaica/New Zealand/etc. over the holidays to visit family. At many institutions, diversity feels like something that has to be very intentional and constantly highlighted, but at Nysmith it was just a natural part of student life that I only became consciously aware of much later. I think this was a wonderful foundation that prepared me well for embracing a global kind of livelihood in the years since.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

This is never the path I would have expected for myself when I graduated from Nysmith in 2008. I had no idea that some of the decisions I made while I was at Nysmith and in my early years of high school were going to change my life in such meaningful ways when I was making them. To current students, I would say be open to the unexpected. Do as many things as you can that scare you or make you uncomfortable. Never stop reading books and imagining different kinds of lives. Leave your smartphone at home pretty much always and look out at the world instead. Pursue every passion with as much dedication as you can muster. That way even if your plans change, which they will, you have the momentum to simply turn yourself in a different direction and keep blazing forward. Do things differently. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it in high school, suddenly when you’re twenty weirdness and passion become very, very cool. Spend high school building the groundwork for the kind of life that is most authentic to yourself, and embrace the bizarre!

To current parents, I would say trust your kids and say yes, even if they seem to be creating a path that is perhaps scary or unconventional. My parents had every reason to say no when I asked to go to boarding school at fourteen, when I asked to move to China at sixteen, when I decided to stay overseas from that point onward – but they didn’t. They trusted me that I knew what I needed to do to create the kind of life I wanted for myself, and I am so grateful that they allowed me the freedom to make those decisions. Tell your kids you’re proud of them for the things that make them different. Encourage them to work hard because learning itself is valuable and the world is exciting, not because of an imagined end point. Let them define success for themselves. If they want to travel on their own, spend time in ‘dangerous’ places, go skydiving – whatever – remember that getting into a car on any given day is probably statistically more dangerous than all of those things put together! Let them go.

FAVORITES

Field Trip:  Walter Reed Medical Museum. What 5th graders get to hold a real human brain?? An amazing experience! I also really enjoyed the 7th grade trip to Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay.
School Play or Science Fair Project: I loved the 2nd grade play about the 50 states, and I remember how proud I was to perform after so much work went into that unit and all of our projects!
 Place to Hang out at Nysmith:  For some reason, the Silver Wing bathroom was the place to hang out in 8th grade!

Book that you had to read for one of your classes:  The Giver by Lois Lowry or A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Nysmith Memory:  I was so into the pig dissection in 5th grade!

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  Yes! Not only do I remember it but I have been known to regularly sing it to friends overseas as indisputable evidence of my American childhood!

What state were you? Alaska

 STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS

More information from Maddie about her high school abroad programs in case any of our current students are interested in studying abroad:

SYA is a one-year exchange program for students in 11th and 12th grades. They have programs in France, Spain, Italy, and China, and to attend the schools in Italy and China you do not have to have studied the language previously! SYA is designed specifically so that credits can be transferred smoothly back to American high schools. They are affiliated with many private schools around the country and recruit there, but students from anywhere are welcome to apply. (My younger sister Abbey attended SYA in Italy during the 2015-16 school year!) Here is the link: //www.sya.org

UWC stands out because all American students who are accepted (50 each year) attend on a full twoyear scholarship to one of the seventeen schools around the world, including room and board. Students can apply in 10th or 11th grade. It’s not exactly an exchange program or a language program, it’s really more of an international school with students drawn from more than a hundred countries around the world. UWC students study the IB curriculum, and the schools are all very values-driven with an intense focus on peace-building, global citizenship, and community service. American students do not apply to schools directly but through a U.S. national selection committee. Here are the links to the main website and the website for US applications: //www.uwc.org, //www.uwc-usa.org/page.cfm?p=569

Aaditya Singh

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

My favorite thing about Nysmith was the emphasis on learning. While other schools focus on grades and memorization, I love how Nysmith really cultivated my love of learning. Other than my classes (which I loved), I enjoyed being a part of Game Club, Shakespeare Club, and MATHCOUNTS Club. All of these interests have continued after I left Nysmith.

I also really liked how we had so many opportunities to learn different subjects and explore our interests.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I was at Longfellow for two years, then TJ for two years, and I just started at MIT this fall (2017)! In middle/high school, I was very involved with the math team, and I also enjoyed science bowl and Science Olympiad. As part of my math team, I participated in many math contests (including continuing to participate in Math Kangaroo, something I’d started at Nysmith and peaked with an all-expense paid trip to Poland for a math camp!). Outside of academic activities, I also continued playing piano and try to keep it up in college as well. I also continue playing board and card games in my free time!
 

Tell us about your exciting decision to leave TJ after 2 years to attend MIT.

Since I was running out of math and science classes of interest at TJ, I decided to apply to MIT early. After my first semester here, I’m really glad I made the decision since I love everything MIT has to offer. I’m planning on majoring in Computer Science and Engineering at MIT, and might minor in Math.

Can you talk a little about your position as the Chief Innovations Officer at Malaria Free World? 

As Chief Innovations Officer at Malaria Free World, I mainly assist Kritika, Founder and CEO, in coming up with new ideas to spread malaria awareness. From making fun activities, designing crosswords, and helping present at schools, I try to think of new ways to get children involved in the fight against malaria.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

As I noted above, Nysmith really fostered my love of learning! Outside of academics, I think Nysmith was a key part in developing my social and presentation skills. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, those group presentations starting in first grade, then the individual science fairs starting in third grade, were a huge factor in making me comfortable in front of large audiences!
 

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

To a student, I’d say try to make the most of what Nysmith offers in terms of classes. All the teachers are amazing so try learning as much as you can and going above and beyond on projects. Whereas my friends from other schools could only get enrichment through extracurricular activities, at Nysmith I feel like it’s essentially a part of the curriculum. To parents, I’d say to do anything and everything to let a student pursue his/her interests. For example, after I showed a strong interest in math after being exposed to so many different things at Nysmith, I tried out some math camps that helped me pursue my interest further.
 

Describe Nysmith in two to three sentences.

Unlike other schools which emphasize grades and memorization, Nysmith’s unique approach to education fosters a love of learning in students that helps them throughout their lives. Furthermore, by exposing children to so many different classes (from music and art to computers and science), students get to explore their interests at a very early age! To top it all off, the emphasis on communication (whether it be group projects, free writing, or science fair presentations) prepares kids for whatever they want to do in life.
 

FAVORITES

 Field Trip: Sandy Hill, definitely!
Science Fair Project: Redox Rocks! (my sixth grade science fair project)
Place to hang out at Nysmith: Silver Pod
Book that you had to read for one of your classes: The Book Thief
After school Club: Shakespeare club!
Nysmith Memory: ALL OF IT!
Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song? Not all of it 🙁   What state were you? Iowa

Emily Purdon

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I attended The Madeira School in McLean, VA with a few of my Nysmith classmates. I lived on campus the first two years and really enjoyed playing basketball, soccer and volleyball. I traveled with my classmates and teachers to Italy and Greece my sophomore year, and to Italy and Spain my junior year. During my senior year co-curriculum program, I volunteered at Nysmith and taught math with Mrs. Guerro and Mrs. Buch. I decided to attend Virginia Tech, without any Madeira girls by my side! While the prospect of a large state school was out of my comfort zone, I was also excited to break free. I quickly joined a sorority, Tri Delta, and became involved with the Pamplin College of Business as a student mentor and teaching assistant (to make a big school feel a bit smaller). Over the summers in college, I enjoyed finance internships with Morgan Stanley, the Boeing Company and a small investment advisory firm, VLP Advisors in Vienna, VA. Within finance, I found my love of financial planning and wealth management. My senior year, I competed in Ameriprise’s financial planning case study competition in Boston and placed 4^th nationally. In December 2015, I graduated with a B.S. in Finance, magna cum laude, and was awarded the program’s Most Outstanding Senior.

Tell us about your full-time job that you have now.

I just had my two-year work anniversary at Sullivan Bruyette Speros & Blayney (SBSB) in McLean, VA. SBSB is a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firm with $3.2B assets under management. I provide financial planning and investment analysis, research, and support to about 60 client relationships. I also support the tax department by preparing about 50 individual and trust income tax returns. Within the first 6 months at SBSB, I passed the CFP® Certification Examination. My favorite memory is speaking at Charles Schwab’s annual conference, Schwab IMPACT in Chicago, this past November. I was on a panel of 4 young advisors selected to speak about breaking into the industry.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

The connections and friendships I made at Nysmith with my peers and teachers are still going strong today. I get coffee regularly with Mrs. Small, Mrs. Busch and Mrs. Greene! Other than being thankful for such kind people in my life, I appreciate the education that I received. When I started at Madeira and then at Virginia Tech, I realized my strength in writing and mathematics was a direct result of my education at Nysmith. The teachers at Nysmith nurtured me and helped me learn in a safe and supportive environment. I am so thankful for their patience and wisdom.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

If you asked my parents in 2^nd grade (when I started Nysmith) or in 8^th grade, “What do you think your daughter will study in college?” I would bet that anything math-focused wouldn’t have made a list of 50. They kept me in tutoring programs and clubs throughout elementary, middle and high school. Math finally clicked for me, as a freshman in college. So, I would tell a parent of a current Nysmith student… your child(ren) is/are surrounded by the best and brightest in the area. These students are wise beyond their years, and teachers are often teaching at multiple levels per grade to keep up! Over time, as you watch their successes, you will come to realize that there is truly no better place to learn than the halls of Nysmith School. My friends are doing incredible things in their twenties, and I truly believe they too would thank the teachers and administrators of Nysmith.

FAVORITES

Science Fair Project: I took swabs of household items, grocery carts and public doors and grew bacteria! I remember taking pictures of what was growing in the petri dishes. It landed me 2nd place in the Science Fair.

Place to Hang out at Nysmith:  Soccer Field.

Classroom story involving one of your teachers:  Mr. Blaschke put sticky notes on my knees when I was sitting incorrectly in the chair. Bad news, I never broke the habit.

After school Club: Soccer/Basketball Club

 Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  What state were you?  Nope, but I am at least 90% sure I was NC! (editor’s note: she found the photo to prove it, she was NC!)

Nysmith Memory: Mrs. Amberly greeting me with “Emily Amberly” in a sing-song fashion as I walked down the halls. Always made me smile.

Erika Giorgis

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I loved French class, poetry, and dance club (was there a dance club? I can’t remember). I also always loved reading, so Reading was always my favorite class.

 What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I went to Herndon High School and was involved with Student Government, dance team, and show choir. I was also in Keyettes, a girls service club. Then I went to Clemson University where I studied Elementary Education as a member of the Honors College. At Clemson, I was involved with Sigma Kappa Sorority, a Clemson Orientation Leader, an ambassador and tour guide for the Calhoun Honors College, and a few other clubs. Of course, I was and still am a huge Clemson fan and I enjoyed every single Home football game (and some away games) as a student! I also started doing CrossFit my senior year at Clemson and continue that to this day.

After graduating from Clemson in 2013, I went straight to the University of Virginia and got my Masters of Reading Education. While there, I worked in the Reading Clinic and tutored at a local elementary school. Then I moved to Richmond, where I currently live, and am halfway through my 4th year as a 3rd grade teacher at a public elementary school in Henrico County, a suburb of Richmond. I teach all content areas (Reading, Math, Science, and Social Studies) but Reading and Math are my favorite to teach!

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Nysmith was the sole foundation of my love of school. Clearly, I wanted to go to school forever, so I became a teacher 🙂 I learned how work ethic and effort can lead to success just as much as natural talent can. I learned that surrounding yourself with positive and creative peers, teachers, and role models is the best way to learn and grow.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. School is supposed to be ENJOYED! Ask questions, don’t be afraid to ask for help, lean on others when you need to, and have fun. There’s no other time in your life when you have that kind of creative, positive, cooperative, supportive, and nurturing environment and community.
 

FAVORITES

Field Trip:  Colonial Williamsburg

Science Fair Project: Tap dancing science fair project (thanks Dad for the help with that!)

Place to Hang out at Nysmith:  By the silver wing lockers?

Book that you had to read for one of your classes:  Izzy Willy Nilly. I pretty much loved all books and also loved the super creative book reports we had to do!

Classroom story involving one of your teachers: A few- Mrs. Guerro tutoring me in multiplication (ironic because I teach that now!), any class taught by a Stephens, Madame Suzette teaching us geography in French class

Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  What state were you?  No. South Dakota

Alex Faludi

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

It is difficult recalling memories from long ago, however, without many of the classes at Nysmith, I would not be where I am now.  From the environmental field trips, to science fairs, and Mrs. Weaver’s creative writing class; it made an indelible mark on who I am.
 

What did you do after Nysmith?

After I left Nysmith, I attended McLean High School, followed by George Mason University majoring in Biology.  I continued my education by obtaining a Masters in Public Health specializing in epidemiology and environmental health from St .George’s University.  At that time, I was inducted into the Delta Omega national public health honor society, was certified in public health by the National Board of Public Health and elected by my peers as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.  After a short stint with the USDA as an infectious disease epidemiologist studying a disease process called scrapie, I decided that I wanted to continue my education with a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from St. George’s University/Louisiana State University.

After graduation, I completed post graduate surgical training at Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center and a clinical fellowship in companion animal surgery at Louisiana State University.  Throughout my formal education I have also been involved with many research projects, most recently in extracorporeal shockwave therapy following orthopedic knee surgery in canines.  I have previously also participated in ongoing wildlife conservation/research projects including the Eastern Indigo Repatriation Program and a research effort focusing on the Grenadian tree boa.

Tell us about your job at Frisco Emergency Pet Care.

I am currently a staff veterinary emergency surgeon at Frisco Emergency Pet Care.  My current job focuses on emergency surgery and critical care for canines, felines and other more exotic pets when and at whatever time it is required.  As a profession, veterinary medicine is extremely rewarding in taking care of pets but also helping clients through difficult times.  No day is the same, and the learning never stops.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life during the years you attended from the 3-year-old class (1990) to 2^nd grade (1994)?

Although easy to dismiss, I believe that the formative years I spent at Nysmith taught me about building friendships, appreciating different cultures and figuring out that education is more than just homework.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

In the words of one of my favorite musicians, Warren Zevon, “enjoy every sandwich”.  The time passes quickly and what might seem like a begrudging chore in school will soon be a fleeting memory that you wish could be repeated a multitude of times.  Always be open to suggestions and new experiences; never be scared to better yourself through education.  Education and experience are two things that cannot ever be taken from you.

Alex Sharata

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

I’ve always loved sports, and I remember we had this after school Football Club that was sort of an extension of PE. It was just a fun chance to get outdoors and play pickup football with friends. I also really enjoyed the video editing electives we took in 7^th and 8^th grade and have some of my fondest memories in that class.

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I went to high school at Sidwell Friends Schools in DC, and I was one of four Nysmith alums from the Class of 2010 that matriculated to Sidwell that year along with Kyndall Ashe, Nina Afsar, and Nick Shafik. During high school, I spent four years on the varsity football team and two years on the varsity tennis team, and I was involved in a few other clubs as well. Through a nonprofit, Kid Power DC, I volunteered with elementary students from nearby schools helping teach them the basics of biology and research.

I also spent a summer volunteering at schools in Costa Rica through Projects Abroad, an organization that coordinates global volunteer trips for high school and college students.

Currently, I’m wrapping up my senior year at Johns Hopkins University where I’m studying computer science with minors in economics and mathematics.

Tell us about your internships, and about your experiences of being a Managing Partner, Ambassador or Co-founder of various technical and financial enterprises. What do you see yourself doing after graduating?

During my time at Hopkins, I’ve had the opportunity to manage a sector agnostic venture fund investing in early-stage companies, and to date, we’ve backed 27 awesome founding teams (and counting!). During my sophomore year, I also started a mobile application security business, which was acquired in Q3 2017.

Over my four years of college, I’ve held a few software engineering internships, volunteered in the local community, and worked with various venture capital firms on both coasts. Most recently, I interned in New York at a global bank’s technology investment banking group where I worked on pivotal transactions for tech companies, ranging from financings and IPOs to M&A deals.

After graduation, I’ll be joining the investment team of the largest enterprise software-focused private equity firm, and I’ll have the opportunity to invest in, empower, and grow software companies led by world-class management teams.

How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

The academics at Nysmith are second to none, and I’m thankful every day for my well-rounded Nysmith education and how it prepared me for high school and beyond. The biggest lesson I took away from my time at Nysmith was how important a role technology will play in defining the world around us. Nysmith helped me foster my passion for technology and innovation, and while I wasn’t always the best student in my computer classes, I never failed to grasp that concept.

What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent? 

Take full advantage of all that Nysmith has to offer. It’s a unique community filled with bright minds and educators that truly care about your success, and it’s a place where you will form lifelong friendships. Also, make sure to pay attention in your computer classes—they’re important, trust me!

FAVORITES

 Field Trip:  Getting to reenact the Battle of Gettysburg at the actual Civil War site.

School Play: Playing the role of Frankenstein’s monster in our 5^th grade play.

Place to Hang out at Nysmith:  The silver wing atrium.

Book that you had to read for one of your classes:  One of our summer reading books was The Martian Chronicles, and I’m still a huge Ray Bradbury fan to this day

 Do you still know all the words to the 50 states song?  What state were you?  Sadly enough, I came to Nysmith in 3^rd grade and missed out!

Nysmith Memory: There are too many to count! Just all the laughs and fun times I had with my friends and teachers.

Classroom story involving one of your teachers:   The time we discovered Mrs. Dragg enjoys the same video games as us.

After school Club: Football Club.

Michael Serron

What kinds of things did you like at Nysmith?

My favorite part about Nysmith was being a part of a small class for 10 years in a row.  By the end of 8^th grade, we had all come to know each other so well that it was difficult to part ways.  I also liked feeling a sense of friendship with the teachers – a habit I continued with teachers in high school and college.  The passion that the teachers came to class with every day made it much more enjoyable to learn.

Math Counts is the only club I can remember being involved in.  It was a great experience competing with schools across the county in a math competition.  I definitely gained critical thinking skills from that club that carried through my full educational career.  After Care was a lot of fun too!

What did you do after Nysmith?

After Nysmith, I attended TJ with several of my peers.  While there, I played on the soccer and golf teams while participating in several after-school clubs.  One of my favorite things there was hanging out in the prototyping lab making anything that came to mind on the various fabrication machinery available.

I then attended UVA and majored in both Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering.  Although I always found myself involved in just about everything, my biggest commitments in college were the Baja Racing Team, the ski & snowboard team, and materials science research.   I also started a soccer team in the local Charlottesville community with some of my close friends.

Tell us about any of your jobs or internships and about your full time job post college graduation.

I had a couple minor internships in high school, but it wasn’t until college where I started to get seriously involved in something greater than academics.  Every summer throughout college at UVA, I volunteered in a materials science lab conducting research on corrosion protection of metals through various methods, including laser surface processing.

At my first job out of college, I now work for a company called InVue developing electronic merchandise security solutions.  If you ever walk into a Best Buy and look at tablets laying out on a table, those security stands are one of many products that we make.  I’ve enjoyed gaining a lot of valuable experience as a mechanical engineer here at InVue and truly enjoy the product development process.
How did going to Nysmith impact your life?

Amongst many other impacts, Nysmith taught me how to think critically, study efficiently, and maintain a good work-life balance.  I like to live a ‘work-hard, play-hard lifestyle’ that allows me to get involved in several activities and events after classes or work, while still being successful in the workplace.  I would go crazy if I couldn’t get my assignments done on time to enjoy other great things in life.  The study habits and critical thinking I developed at Nysmith have definitely carried with me, allowing me to have an involved life outside the workplace.
What advice (if any) would you give to a current Nysmith student and/or parent?

There were some assignments with seemingly unreasonable expectations (in my young boy’s mind), but in hindsight, I wish I had spent more time diving deeper into these assignments, as I now realize the critical skills that were being developed in the process. For the parents, I advise guiding the students through these challenging assignments without taking over to give their children a chance to figure it out themselves. (obligatory, ‘Thanks Mom!’)   The quicker students develop these fundamental skills, the easier high school and college will be.

FAVORITES

Field Trip:  Baltimore overnight (8^th Grade) was the best mix of fun and educational.  My favorite parts were the Orioles game and trapeze school!

School Play: Although not quite cut out for an acting career, I played the Rabbi in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’.  My favorite part was the bottle dancing scene, when a few of us balanced empty bottles on flat hats and performed some stunts.

 Place to Hang out at Nysmith: Whenever I wasn’t in class, I was either at the cafeteria or outside playing sports.  We used to play 4 ‘big kids’ versus what seemed like an endless army of ‘little kids’ in soccer almost every sunny day.

Book that you had to read for one of your classes:  The Giver was definitely my favorite.  I was never a fully invested reader, but this book completely captured my attention from start to finish.  It was one of the first utopia-themed books I can remember reading.

Nysmith Memory: Oh man, too many to count!  One of my favorites was when Mr. Stephens got locked into the outhouse at Port Isobel on the Chesapeake Bay.  He wrote a hilariously poetic ‘ode to clivus’ and slipped it under the door to help him get out.