Fifteen years of working with students and parents on both sides of the admission process have taught me, without question, that it is the very personal connection to every student and family that I enjoy most. The satisfaction and the sheer joy of those relationships brought me to College Goals.

My career in admission actually began years ago though, when I worked as a campus tour guide in the Admission Office at Colby College, my alma mater. Intrigued by the process through which students found their ideal “fit,” I continued to work in education after graduation, first in independent secondary schools and later for a private educational consulting firm. I also continued my education at Northwestern University. While completing my graduate degree in Higher Education Administration, I worked in the Admission Office at Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, work that broadened my experience beyond the high school years. But I chose to continue my work with younger students when my husband and I moved to Rhode Island in 1996, by becoming Director of Admission at The Williams School in Connecticut. Eventually, I took time off to raise our two daughters, and with one child currently a junior at Colby and the other a freshman at the University of Richmond, I have come to feel first-hand both the anxiety and the reward of families navigating the admission process.

Seven years ago, I was keen to return to the work of college counseling and joined the Brown Alumni College Advising Program, a free college counseling service for the children of the University’s alumni, faculty, and staff.  In this role, I had the opportunity to work remotely with students from across the US, to sit in on Brown admission committee meetings, to read transfer admission applications, and to visit multiple college campuses with my colleagues. I counseled a variety of age groups, advising younger students on curriculum planning, for example, and transfer students who felt that they had grown and changed beyond their current institutions.

Through the years at Brown, I realized that for me, happiness in my work comes from helping students gain confidence in themselves and in the choices they make throughout high school and the college search experience. I measure success by the extent to which these kids come to believe in themselves, to build their self-worth, to understand that they are so much more than one test score or grade, and to uncover preferences that will lead to building a thoughtful college list. I feel such joy when students write or call me about being admitted to one of their top schools; but I feel an even greater sense of accomplishment when I see the changes in my students along the way as they mature and discover who they are and what’s important to them.

When the Brown program was terminated, I was excited to join the College Goals team, where I maintain the same sense of excitement that comes from helping families transform an anxious process into one of growth and joyful transformation. My role is to help families navigate the college experience in a less stressful, more organized, and informative manner — with much warmth, laughter, and positive coaching along the way!