Living at the Nexus of Imagination and Common Sense
Marian Cross’s longest career, 50 years worth, began serendipitously. Her newest career as an organic farmer—now six years old—had a similar start. After all, “most formative, life-altering moments emerge not from carefully laid plans,” as Marian says, “but from being present where you are and doing what is needed.” When she graduated from Radcliffe College in 1960, Marian was married and pregnant. Fresh from Harvard Law School, her then husband, Fritz Schwarz ’53, responded to an ad for legal work in Africa. The couple and their eight-month-old son (Eric Schwarz ’79) moved...
Read MoreFinding the Right Groove
Whether dancing in a piece he’s choreographed or running a play down the football field, Joseph Reynolds likes to move. His energy fi lls a room. Activity, excitement and vibrancy are magnets that draw him. A love for action is a great quality for a Milton student, but it can be a drawback when hunkering down and getting serious are necessary. Joseph’s first set of Class IV grades threw up a brick wall, and this young man who was moving quickly had to take a step back and reassess. “It was the idea that there were people smarter than me,” said Joseph. “In the New York City public...
Read MoreSmooth Transit
In India, tenth-graders complete what Americans would consider high school. Indian teenagers make life choices at that point, their options framed by scores on the national exams. Choosing to attend college at home is a career focused direction that many take. Some choose an International Baccalaureate. Very few make the choice Tanya Panicker did. No cohort of her friends pretested the route Tanya pursued—attending a college preparatory boarding school in the United States. “It seemed like a more exciting, more unfamiliar choice that would give me international exposure, too,” Tanya...
Read MoreWhy Not? Finding Your Feet “Far from Home”
“But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in.” —Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Aylin Feliz has scripted this line from Junot Díaz into her email signature. “There’s something about me that’s ‘Why not?’” Aylin says. “I can put myself out there. I’ve lived that, and I know why it’s worth doing.” Aylin’s family is Dominican, and she grew up in Roslindale, Massachusetts. In her eighth-grade class at the Rafael Hernandez public school, 20 of her 28 classmates were also Dominican. The...
Read MoreOn Happiness
Recently, I have been weighed down by adolescence. The mood swings, erratic frustration, and chronic sarcasm were constant reminders of my growing up. I was complaining to my parents, nagging my brother, ranting to my friends. People say that these years define who we will be as adults: Is this who I will become? The more I struggled with finding myself, the more nostalgia I felt for my childhood innocence. To sort out my own happiness, I read Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project. In her best-seller, the author pursues happiness through monthly goals. I chose three: Give hugs, anticipate...
Read MoreOn Making Things
When I was trying to figure out my Class IV Talk, one of my friends asked me what I like to do. After a fairly boring list, I announced that I like to make things, and break things. While I can assure you that breaking things can be a lot less frustrating and more fun than making things, people usually think of it as destructive, although I can’t imagine why. For that reason, my Talk is about making things—some interesting things that I’ve made, some famous inventors who have actually made important things, and what we can learn from them. What do I mean by “things”? All sorts of...
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