Kira Strande

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.

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.

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!)

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.

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.