Life after Oak Grove

“After Oak Grove, I joined Lafayette College where I graduated with a B.A. in English and Philosophy. Inspired by my mother, I started the Black student literary magazine there, as well as the Black women’s organization, and I was president of the Apartheid awareness organization. I realized that I really cared about college and people’s abilities to do this cool thing that I had gotten to do. So I decided to start a career in college admissions and took my first job at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. I was there for three years, then returned to Ojai where I ran Oak Grove’s boarding program at Besant House for a year and created a college counseling program. I was 23 and a single mom to 14 kids from seven different countries, which was amazing.

“After a year I moved back to Pennsylvania and returned to Lafayette to work in admissions for six years. Since 2005 I have worked as a college counselor in independent and charter schools all over the country – from Arizona to Georgia, Maryland, and New Jersey. It’s been an amazing ride, and I have never looked back because I’m doing the work that I love doing.

“I finally settled in Mississippi, where I joined Jackson Preparatory School, the state’s largest independent school, as Director of College Counseling and the only Black adult on the campus who did not cook or clean. It was a radical move for the school to put a Black woman in the seat that made the school college-preparatory, and we were wildly successful.

“After eight years, I moved on and am now the college counselor for a virtual school, Optima Academy, as well as an independent consultant working with families all over the country.

Reflecting on Oak Grove

“When I reflect on my time at Oak Grove, I think what’s stuck with me most is how deeply I value my friendships. Learning that you can be thoroughly loved by people you’re not related to or who don’t look like you was probably my biggest lesson. After Oak Grove I never had to be taught how to be kind and respectful or to understand that everyone is going through something, and this has influenced how I have raised my son. He’s kind and respectful to everyone, and while I wasn’t consciously trying to teach him that, I believe those values stemmed from my time at Oak Grove School.”