After working with middle and high school students on high stakes standardized tests for 26 years, it might be a good time to relate my story. How did I find my way into this? What were the challenges along the journey, and what sustains me? What insights have I come up with, and where do I see this going? 

Early Days

In early 2001, after nearly two years of medical study, four years of undergrad pre-med courses and a lifetime assuming this would be my path, I dropped out of medical school. Needless to say, a major shock to the system: myself, my family and my friends. I was 23 and my first jobs out of school were parking lot attendant and dishwasher. But I was relieved. I had left a path that felt all wrong, and now I had some time to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. As I drifted and mused, I landed a tutoring job with a local Tampa expert who was all the rage. His name was Ed Black and I could tell you some stories that would make you laugh or cringe, but however strange the man was, he was the top tutor in the Tampa Bay area and all the parents were clamoring to get on his schedule. I quickly became his second in command, and for four years I drove around the Greater Bay area in my green Nissan, going from home to home to tutor teens. I felt like the family doctor in the old days, except instead of a briefcase I carried with me a big old red SAT book. But more strange still was the fact that I was only six years older than the kids I was tutoring. 

New vistas

At the University of Pennsylvania, I majored in French and minored in Theater. Theater was an interest, but now that a life in medicine was behind me, I found myself diving back in with serious intensity. I took acting classes at a local theater and performed in a few professional shows. Meanwhile, I was in therapy with a Jungian psychologist where I was able to deeply reflect on my life in this moment of “quarter life crisis”. 

I was hooked. I loved therapy. It wasn’t just about fixing one’s problems but also about a deeper understanding of the whole human being. It felt extremely powerful and much more up my alley than medicine. And alot of personal healing took place. I heard about a unique school in California that had a dynamic Masters Program. I applied and got in. Thus began a three year life changing experience at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Southern California. 

Another turn

As I pursued my MA in Counseling Psychology, the test prep and tutoring work remained in place, and so did the acting. But as the program wound down, I found that my passion for art had wound up. I was literally on fire to pursue a life in the arts. I did not want to be a therapist after all. This decision came naturally with almost zero friction. Tutoring and test prep could support me as I went into the wilderness of New York City. Shortly after graduation, I drove the Nissan from Florida to NYC and I have been there ever since. 

Am I an Actor or am I a Tutor? Lessons from the Big Apple

In New York, I became a fighter. I fought to prove myself as a young actor and I fought through the pain of repeated rejection. I was hired as a tutor at a top Manhattan firm,  alongside other artists who were doing the same thing. (see my letter to parents for more about this phase working for Veritas). The pressure was high on all fronts and I had to learn to hold my own anxiety as well as the anxiety of the families who were applying to top high school and colleges. I kept my identities perfectly separate. As far as I was concerned, my tutoring clients did not need to know I was an actor; I was afraid that they would lose confidence in me if they found out I wasn’t a “full time tutor”. And yet, a greater truth was slowly emerging:  these two parallel tracks I was on had some very interesting things in common and were feeding and strengthening each other. 

Coming into my own: Satellite Prep

In 2010 I decided to start my own company. I had already been tutoring big standardized tests for 9 years. Working for another company, I had to fit myself into their methodology. Now I was free to work the way I wanted to. I took all my experiences tutoring with Ed Black and Veritas, my degree in Counseling, my past and ongoing experiences in the high stakes world of NYC theater, and developed my methods which I continue to refine and update to this day. The college app process and the test-taking along the way have always been a sort of rite of passage for many American families. And yes, the pressures on all of us have only increased. I believe that all of the experiences I have had along the path continue to sustain me and give me the confidence to project calmness and focus and, hopefully, to share that basic competence and sanity with my clients as they navigate their own academic roads.