Originally from the great state of Maine and a graduate of Dartmouth College, Abby has spent the last 7 years teaching and consulting in schools across the country. Her passion for instruction and innovative practices have earned her Teacher of the Year awards and have been featured on George...

Alexa is a medical anthropologist and writer. She is Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University. She holds an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in Anthropology and Folklore and an M.A. from the St. John’s College Great Books Program. She did her undergraduate work at The Evergreen...

Alison grew up in Concord, MA, known for its literary and revolutionary history (Henry David Thoreau inspired the name of her first dog Walden). Alison has always loved reading and writing; at Brown University, she studied Comparative Literature and Italian Studies. While studying abroad for a...

Amy first became interested in studying law when she took a constitutional law class in high school.  She attended Brown University, where she graduated with a B.A. with Honors in “Law and Society.”  Amy received a J.D. from NYU School of Law and spent a year clerking for a federal district...

As a youngster in Ontario, Canada, Andrew always felt lost in French class, intimidated by the initial difficulties of language learning. However, when he went to live and study in Paris for his junior year of college, he fell in love with the language and intellectual culture. He now possesses...

Andy grew up around punk music and alternative theatre in the Great American West.  After graduating from Arizona School for the Arts, he attended Harvard College, where he studied American History and Literature, wrote and produced six plays, recorded and performed original music, lived in a...

Anna grew up right outside of Boston, where she spent the better part of her childhood obsessed with learning foreign languages. She continued to develop her passion for language while attending Harvard College, and graduated magna cum laude with an BA in linguistics. Anna is currently pursuing...

Ariel was born in Santa Monica, CA but has lived in New York City since she was twelve and considers herself a proud New Yorker. She attended Professional Children’s School (to accommodate her schedule at the School of American Ballet) where she discovered her love of literature, writing,...

Until recently, Ben has been a Teaching Fellow at Columbia University, where he earned a PhD in English with a concentration on Shakespearean drama and economic history. In more than five years as an instructor at Columbia, Ben was repeatedly honored for teaching and mentorship. Not only does he...

In 2008, Brent graduated from NYU, double-majoring in Literature and Music. He made the Dean’s List and was awarded the Dean’s Grant for Creative Writing. After graduating, and living briefly in France, he became an English and History tutor, helping students improve their grades and craft...

Bryan grew up in Akron, OH where he cultivated a taste for exploring the wider world and has spent most of his life in Chicago and New York City. Bryan is a Ph.D. candidate in British Atlantic and Early American History at Columbia University. He earned his BA from the City College of New York...

Cassie is originally from Honolulu, Hawaii. She attended Yale for college, and although this is her sixth year living on the east coast, she is still not used to the frigid winters. Cassie earned a double major in history and molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. Her studies focused on...

A Connecticut native, Chelsea spent her first two years of college in California as a Neuroscience major at the University of Southern California before transferring to Yale College during her junior year (a decision that baffled many a sun-deprived Yalie). She graduated from Yale in 2015 Phi...

Chris grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, where he developed an appreciation for the finer things in life, especially the music of Bruce Springsteen, the invaluable service of gas station attendants, and mozzarella cheese (pronounced “mootz-ah-rell,” or simply “muhtz”), though he has since...

Claire started tutoring when she herself was in high school, and she's been teaching ever since! After graduating as valedictorian, she left Ann Arbor (Go Blue!) for New York City, specifically Barnard College and Columbia University, where she taught calculus and writing as a member of the...

Connor is a cofounder of an upcoming cryptography software project and the sole proprietor of a novel-in-progress. He grew up in Wyoming—his true loyalties are with the forests of the Snowy Range and the rock formations of Vedauwoo. He graduated from Duke in 2012 as an Angier B. Duke Memorial...

Courtney attended Carnegie Mellon University, completing a specialized interdisciplinary degree in anthropology and studio art. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with University, Inter-college, College of Fine Arts, and Dietrich College Honors, and was named as an Andrew Carnegie Society Scholar....

David received his B.A. at the University of Virginia, where he studied creative writing (poetry), English literature, and Spanish. He graduated with distinction and went on to study poetry writing at Columbia University, earning his M.F.A. and winning a Fulbright Fellowship to Bogotá, Colombia...

Drew grew up in Portland, Maine but moved south to Memphis, Tennessee the year before his beloved Red Sox broke the curse of the Bambino. He began the long road back north by moving to Pennsylvania to study philosophy at the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University, where he graduated...

Elizabeth was born in the boonies of Appalachia. She attended the University of North Carolina, double-majoring in dramatic art and English and graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She was awarded the Joseph Adler Award in Dramatic Art and the Whitfield Award for her work in...

A Midwest transplant, before coming to Cambridge, Emily attended Carleton College where she spent many hours exploring the college’s arboretum and majored in French and Francophone Studies. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and with distinction in her major and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Having...

Emily was born in Louisiana, and raised in Mississippi and Pennsylvania. She attended Tulane University in New Orleans, where she triple-majored in philosophy, psychology, and linguistics, and double-minored in English and French. In her senior year, Emily served as president of her college's...

Emmy did not learn how to read until third grade, many long months after her twin sister; and she has been making up for lost time ever since. An avid reader and book-worm (more like the Hungry Caterpillar of books), Emmy studied literature and the visual arts at Yale College, where she...

Eric grew up in Wisconsin, and double majored in history and English literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where occasional rumors that the school had a football team (“Badgers?”) reached him while he was getting hooked on the writing of Joyce, Faulkner, Eliot and Woolf. He...

Born and raised in Washington, DC, Erica also lived in Brussels, Paris, and Massachusetts before coming to New York in 2005. Salutatorian of her high school class, she graduated a year early from Smith College, with high honors and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. During her time at Smith, Erica...

Ethan tells people he grew up in Portland, OR, but recently passed the tipping point of having spent the majority of his life in Massachusetts. He attended Amherst College, where he majored in anthropology and biology and graduated summa cum laude in 2012. His research on dementia and caregiving...

Guy did his undergrad in France at the Université de Limoges where he got a Maîtrise in English Literature, with a Minor in Linguistics. He then did an MA in Classics at Rutgers University in New Jersey, in which he performed “spectacularly” on the General Exams, to use the Chair’s own words....

Hannah attended Barnard College, where she majored in Medieval and Renaissance Studies and minored in German Literature. After graduating summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with departmental honors, she moved to Vienna, Austria on a Fulbright fellowship to research Middle High German poetry...

Helena was born in New York City and then raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Raised by parents who are both teachers (at the high school she attended, no less), she has been engaged with reading, writing, and education quite literally since she can remember. She studied at Columbia University...

Jacob is the only student ever to have graduated Columbia University with a double Major in Playwriting and Astrophysics. In high school, Jacob was a science nerd, taking college classes in multivariable calculus and quantum mechanics as well as scoring a 5 on 10 different AP tests. At Columbia...

James is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in classical philosophy in the Harvard Department of the Classics. He graduated from Emory University (B.A.’s in classics and in philosophy) summa cum laude and with a perfect GPA. At Emory, he directed the college’s departmental philosophy club for three...

Jeb grew up on a beautiful, bucolic island near Seattle. Long commutes into the city to attend school gave him ample time to read and write, and he became a lover of books and developed an interest in English grammar and language at an early age. He received his B.A. in international relations...

Jennifer Crystal is a writer and educator who comes to the Boston area by way of Vermont, Connecticut, Paris, and Colorado. She earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Emerson College, where she was a Dean’s Fellow, and her B.A. in English and French from Middlebury College, where she was a...

Joani is a Marshall Scholar at Oxford University reading for her MSt in English Literature (1830-1914). In 2017, Joani graduated from Princeton University Summa Cum Laude with an A.B. in English Literature and minors in Humanistic and European Cultural Studies. She plans to return to the US to...

Up until first being introduced to Donne in senior year of high school, John was firmly a science kid. In college, he began splitting his time between premed science and poetry classes at Amherst, and ended up graduating with a double major in Chemistry and English. His research focused on the...

Since starring as “Congressional Delegate #4” in his high school’s production of 1776, Jon has been passionate about all things American history. After hiding in the library for four years to avoid Montreal winters, Jon graduated with a First-Class Honors Degree in History from McGill University...

Joseph may be the biggest Ethiopian you will ever meet, but don’t let that intimidate you. He is fun, enthusiastic, and is excited about teaching! He started out as a young class clown but has now evolved into a science enthusiast.  Serendipity proved to be Joe’s strongest ally at UC Berkeley as...

Julia may have left England at the tender age of 5, but she has never gotten over her first loves – good English tea and great English literature. In fact, she holds a B.A. from Princeton University in the subject (English, not tea), with certificates in Theater and Music Theater. At Princeton,...

Julie Zeilinger is originally from Pepper Pike, OH (yes, that’s a real place), and graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University in 2015. Julie is the founder and editor of the FBomb, a feminist writing platform for teens and young adults that partnered with Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda’s...

Born and raised in England, Karen went globe-trotting in her late teens through her early twenties, working at a variety of jobs (chambermaid, waitress, camp site assistant, flight attendant, van driver) in settings as far afield as Wales, Italy, Israel, Spain, Greece, and the United States. ...

Katherine obtained her undergraduate degree in Classics and Molecular Biology, Summa cum Laude, from Harvard University. Awarded a Harvard Knox Fellowship to study in the United Kingdom for one year, she earned a Master’s degree in Classical Art and Archaeology with Distinction (equivalent of...

When she was ten years old, Katherine’s dad took her to her first poetry reading, where she read a poem about a pine tree and another poem about a bully at school. She has been writing ever since, and she still enjoys giving poetry readings.

Katherine studied English at Macalester College...

Kevin went to high school in a midwestern cornfield far from the nearest SAT administration, but managed to score 800s on his SAT Verbal, SAT Writing, and U.S. History tests, buttressing his self-esteem sufficiently to withstand a 690 SAT Math score. At Stanford University he took a BA with...

Manoah was born in the Bay Area and raised in New Jersey’s endless suburbs. At the University of Chicago, Manoah earned two honors Bachelor’s degrees in English and French language and literature. He was admitted into Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and graduated in 2007. He then went on to earn an...

MaryGabrielle hails from Solebury, PA, where she spent her childhood reading every fantasy novel available to her and subsequently play-acting scenes from those books in her backyard with her younger sister. (Harry Potter duels were their favorite.) 

She is a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard...

Before becoming a historian, Megan managed contemporary art galleries in New York City. There she was introduced to Soviet history through the eyes of Russian artists. Megan is currently a doctoral candidate in the History Department at Harvard University. She is a specialist in the history of...

Nell is a born and bred New Yorker who spent her formative years in Prospect Park. She attended Wesleyan University where she double-majored in Art History and English (Creative Writing), graduating with honors from the English Department for her creative writing thesis “Finding lost things,” a...

From a young age, Nicole has been a lover of history. At Boston College, Nicole studied History and like any good student of a Catholic institution, she also enjoyed many theology courses. After graduating, she worked in Fidelity’s Legal Department as a business analyst. She is now a student at...

Nora has a BA (honors) in linguistics from University College London and an MS and PhD in cognitive psychology from Rutgers University. Nora completed a postdoctoral fellowship in literacy education at New York University’s Steinhardt School. For this position, she worked closely with NYC...

Paul was born in Evanston, IL and grew up dreaming of being a cowboy. When he was informed the industry wasn’t what it used to be, he decided to change gears and pursue his other love: reading and writing. Paul attended Vassar College where he majored in Political Science and Africana Studies...

Peter was born and raised in New York City, and remembers a time when angry men in Elmo costumes were not the scariest thing about Times Square. A graduate of Regis High School and Columbia University, where he majored in history and was foolish enough to voluntarily write a thesis, he spent a...

Rachel has wanted to be a teacher ever since she first assembled her teddy bears and dolls in a circle in her bedroom and assigned them homework. After graduating from the University of Virginia, where she double majored in Art History and French, Rachel spent two years in Europe. She taught...

With Indian, Kenyan, Pakistani, and Canadian roots, Rahima grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied global health, healthcare management, South Asian Studies, and Asian American Studies. Rahima worked at PwC Advisory in New...

Rebecca was raised in the woods of North Carolina, where she learned to love both reading and climbing trees. Rebecca received her A.B. from Harvard, where she designed an independent major in drama and literature and graduated with high honors. Her senior thesis won a Thomas T. Hoopes prize,...

Sabrina hails from a small town in upstate New York. After a few too many years surrounded by cornfields, she decided to attend Barnard College, Columbia University where she majored in Political Science and Human Rights. At Barnard, she received the Carolyn E. Agger Scholarship for Women...

Sam grew up flying back and forth between Beijing and California. He graduated from Wesleyan University with a double major in Psychology and Philosophy as a member of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. Between semesters, he interned at a college coaching firm in Beijing and...

Sam grew up in Southern California with a magician as a father and librarian for a mother, and she emerged as a curious intersection of the two. She attended New York University as an undergraduate, where she studied English and American Literature and Dramatic Literature. After hustling as a...

Sarah has spent much of her adult life as a professional English teacher both overseas and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she considers her home. After completing her BA in liberal arts at St. John's College in Annapolis, she went on to pursue a masters degree in English and Comparative...

Shayna has lived in Montreal, Mumbai, Istanbul, Jerusalem and London—but considers herself a New Yorker at heart. She attended University of Michigan, majoring in Arts & Ideas in the Humanities and Creative Writing and graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. After a few years of...

Sofía grew up in Berkeley, CA, which explains her soft spot for worker-owned cooperatives and her remarkably high burrito standards. She majored in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard College. Upon graduation, Sofía was awarded a Harvard Traveling Fellowship to research...

Susan Chambers is from the South, but she now lives in Hackney, London. She went to high school in Florida, earning the I.B. diploma and graduating first in her class.  She then studied English at Rice, in Texas, graduating summa cum laude and picking up the nickname Lady Geddes for winning the...

Terry is from revolutionary Lexington, Massachusetts, where he grew up marching in parades as a minuteman until he was old enough to think better of it. He attended Amherst College, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with degrees in English and French. His thesis on medieval...

Hailing from Chicago, Tova attended the University of Chicago and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in anthropology. She recently completed her MPhil (with Merit) at the University of Cambridge where she studied Archaeology, with work spanning from theoretical anthropology to archaeobotany....

Troy graduated cum laude from Yale, where he received his BA in Ethics, Politics, and Economics. Afterwards, Troy taught middle school math and science in Mississippi as a Teach For America (TFA) Corp Member. After TFA, Troy attended Harvard Law School, graduating cum laude and receiving four...

Will grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, where he became a die-hard fan of the Chicago White Sox and hot dogs (really). Will completed his undergraduate studies at Yale University, where he majored in Ethics, Politics and Economics and spent a semester studying abroad at Oxford University. After...

Zoe grew up in the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles, California. She attended Vassar College  where she graduated after four years with a degree with honors in Science, Technology, and Society.  While at Vassar, Zoe was a member and captain of the Varsity Swim Team for all four years.  She was...