In truth, my career in Admissions was born out of sheer luck. With a B.S.Ed. and M.S. in Sports Medicine and Exercise Physiology, I was fully expecting to land a job at the UVA Hospital when we found ourselves in Charlottesville for a couple of years back in 1996. However, as is often the case, the best laid plans do not always come to fruition. As it turned out, the hospital was in a hiring freeze which left me with no choice but to pivot and search for a job in a completely different field.

 

When an opportunity in the Admissions Office at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia opened up, I jumped at it, mostly because of the hours and its proximity to where I lived. However, as luck would have it, I quickly fell in love with the energy that surrounded that office and the process; so many interesting applicants with so many different backgrounds and stories visited us in-person and on the pages of their applications. (Yes, they were on paper!)

 

After two years, our time in Charlottesville came to an end and job opportunities took us on to the next chapter in our lives: Boston. Over the course of the next 20+ years, I was involved in the fundraising and admissions facets of several schools, while also raising my own children. Nevertheless, my hope was always to find my way back to admissions in the realm of higher education.

 

Life came full circle for me in September 2021. After seeing my own kids through the college process I made the decision to move back to Charlottesville, where I promptly sought out a job as a contract Reader for first-year applications at the University of Virginia’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

 

I have read thousands of applications over the years and have developed a keen eye for what grabs the attention of the Admissions Committee in that small window of time when an application is getting reviewed. Those experiences have led me to where I am now…The Curated Essay.

 

While I could happily talk about admissions-related topics all day long, I do also enjoy the “off season” when I get to travel, visit my kids, love on my yellow lab pups, walk with friends, and enjoy all the fabulous activities that Charlottesville has to offer.