Alumni Stories
Caroline Kimble, NBS Class of '15
Caroline on the field during her days at NBS
After NBS, Caroline went to Middlebury Union High school, where she found her community on the running team. She then attended Wheaton College, near Chicago. During her college summers, Caroline worked as a hiking guide/leader in Montana, Colorado, and Costa Rica, trekking around with adolescents who were just beginning to love nature and to learn to push themselves through long days of hiking. This work was tiring but meaningful, as Caroline had the opportunity to help others begin to learn the lessons of grit, beauty, and endurance. Currently, Caroline teaches at a public low-income school in the borough of Itztapalapa, in Mexico City. While Iztapalapa is considered one of the most dangerous areas in Mexico City, Caroline has loved her time here. She describes her students as brilliant, curious, passionate, informed, and above all the most resilient individuals she has ever met.
Writing about her time at NBS, Caroline remembers:
It’s funny to say this, but I remember tears. Tears in the Big Room during stories. Tears in the science room after a heartfelt talk. Tears as people shared character sketches about loved ones, or lost pets, or dwindling friendships. Before NBS I never cried in front of anyone. In fact, I’m not sure if I ever really even told people hard things. I hated personal vulnerability. NBS was the first place I shared I had been to a therapist, I struggled with anxiety, I was not always happy…since North Branch the work of vulnerability has been chipping away at my soul, and while sharing my heart has been and will always be uncomfortable at some level, this growth began in my years at NBS.
Writing about her time at NBS, Caroline remembers:
It’s funny to say this, but I remember tears. Tears in the Big Room during stories. Tears in the science room after a heartfelt talk. Tears as people shared character sketches about loved ones, or lost pets, or dwindling friendships. Before NBS I never cried in front of anyone. In fact, I’m not sure if I ever really even told people hard things. I hated personal vulnerability. NBS was the first place I shared I had been to a therapist, I struggled with anxiety, I was not always happy…since North Branch the work of vulnerability has been chipping away at my soul, and while sharing my heart has been and will always be uncomfortable at some level, this growth began in my years at NBS.
Caroline at the top of a La Malinche volcano in Mexico
A lesson that has stuck with Caroline from her time at NBS:
One lesson I carry is the importance of the details. Life is boring if you think it is boring, but at the same time there is the potential for beauty, curiosity, or at the very least growth in many mundane interactions and experiences if you hold them up to the microscope. At NBS, you take an average day and you squeeze the details out until it becomes something precious and unique. I have a growing intolerance for small talk and “average interactions” (I will blame this personally on Tal) and it has pushed me to see normal, everyday experiences with greater curiosity and interest, as well as spurred on a desire to know people more deeply than the simple “biographical” details.
Caroline's advice for current students:
It is not what you are doing, but how you are doing it that makes an impact. I remember a quote by Maya Angelou that Tal cited during morning meeting one day: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” In my case, I saw that people don’t care if I attend a prestigious school, or get the highest score on my SAT, or whatever else “I did” in the real world. One doesn't have to graduate from college or start a successful business to have a chance at impacting the lives of others for the better. Pasted on the wall of my psychology building at my college is a quote from Corinthians that I have become very fond of: “And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (Cor. 13:2). Understanding this wisdom from Angelou and the Scriptures has given me hope as I move forward in life (with no clue as to what my “life dream” is or will be.) The dream is not what is important here. It’s what you do with what you have.
One lesson I carry is the importance of the details. Life is boring if you think it is boring, but at the same time there is the potential for beauty, curiosity, or at the very least growth in many mundane interactions and experiences if you hold them up to the microscope. At NBS, you take an average day and you squeeze the details out until it becomes something precious and unique. I have a growing intolerance for small talk and “average interactions” (I will blame this personally on Tal) and it has pushed me to see normal, everyday experiences with greater curiosity and interest, as well as spurred on a desire to know people more deeply than the simple “biographical” details.
Caroline's advice for current students:
It is not what you are doing, but how you are doing it that makes an impact. I remember a quote by Maya Angelou that Tal cited during morning meeting one day: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” In my case, I saw that people don’t care if I attend a prestigious school, or get the highest score on my SAT, or whatever else “I did” in the real world. One doesn't have to graduate from college or start a successful business to have a chance at impacting the lives of others for the better. Pasted on the wall of my psychology building at my college is a quote from Corinthians that I have become very fond of: “And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (Cor. 13:2). Understanding this wisdom from Angelou and the Scriptures has given me hope as I move forward in life (with no clue as to what my “life dream” is or will be.) The dream is not what is important here. It’s what you do with what you have.
Maxine Cromis, NBS Class of '15
After high school Maxine traveled to France twice, visiting Bretagne, Versailles, Paris, Annecy, Lyon, ordered baguettes by the dozen and drank French wine. She opened a Roth IRA, took a LNA course after graduating from high school early and worked at a nursing home for eight months where she learned about life and death. Currently she lives with her older half-brother, who, she says, she clashes with on “politics, on-line dating, women’s rights/misogyny, etc...But he taught me how to snowboard, finance a vehicle, build credit, and cook swordfish." Currently she works at the Brown Butter Cookie Company and recently they sold cookies to Reese Witherspoon.
Of her time at the North Branch School, she remembers...
...Long conversations. Not letting any thought be of unimportance. Sticking with difficult feelings even when pretending they don’t exist can be easy. I remember spending lots of time outside, a lot of time breathing in fresh air, a lot of time appreciating nature and getting to explore. I remember the warmth of the sunshine on the big room table. All the light that floods into the building. I remember thinking about what to say in morning meeting on my way to school, and feeling awkward when you realized your knees were touching the person next to you. I remember feeling really special. Feeling so proud to be part of NBS. Feeling confident and heard and cared for by my peers. Feeling like I was magical. Like the words I had to say would be held with respect and constructively criticized only because my peers wanted me to be my best self. I remember writing scenes for the play, and laughing so hard with Merry and Juliette and Leeya. I remember science class when I fell off the slack line and hit my head. It started to bleed so Eric had to wrap my whole head with gauze and I looked like a zombie. I still sat in the back of the class taking notes.
On the topic of what was most important at NBS, Maxine says:
Personalized learning. Making each student feel like they have a place to be. That they are cared for and worthy of the space and time they take up. Part of that comes with the fact that there are so few students compared to most schools, which allows for more of an individualistic approach to education. Also the sense of equality and equity between peers and teachers. That there is no right way, and we are all here to learn from one another. And the long lunches outside. Twenty minute lunches is not a proper amount of time to eat and digest, nor is it a healthy way to approach and appreciate the food you are given.
What has stayed with her?
I have noticed that the care for my emotional wellbeing beginning from such a young age through NBS has allowed me to be more happy in my life. I am able to decipher what’s going on inside my head to some extent. I am able to search through all the stuff in there to find what it is that’s tweaking. My ability to cherish my individuality has stuck with me. To allow myself room to grow and change. My strong sense of self has stuck with me. My ability to be at ease with just hanging out with me, Maxine, and loving it! When all else falls away, I have a strong relationship with who I am.
Of her time at the North Branch School, she remembers...
...Long conversations. Not letting any thought be of unimportance. Sticking with difficult feelings even when pretending they don’t exist can be easy. I remember spending lots of time outside, a lot of time breathing in fresh air, a lot of time appreciating nature and getting to explore. I remember the warmth of the sunshine on the big room table. All the light that floods into the building. I remember thinking about what to say in morning meeting on my way to school, and feeling awkward when you realized your knees were touching the person next to you. I remember feeling really special. Feeling so proud to be part of NBS. Feeling confident and heard and cared for by my peers. Feeling like I was magical. Like the words I had to say would be held with respect and constructively criticized only because my peers wanted me to be my best self. I remember writing scenes for the play, and laughing so hard with Merry and Juliette and Leeya. I remember science class when I fell off the slack line and hit my head. It started to bleed so Eric had to wrap my whole head with gauze and I looked like a zombie. I still sat in the back of the class taking notes.
On the topic of what was most important at NBS, Maxine says:
Personalized learning. Making each student feel like they have a place to be. That they are cared for and worthy of the space and time they take up. Part of that comes with the fact that there are so few students compared to most schools, which allows for more of an individualistic approach to education. Also the sense of equality and equity between peers and teachers. That there is no right way, and we are all here to learn from one another. And the long lunches outside. Twenty minute lunches is not a proper amount of time to eat and digest, nor is it a healthy way to approach and appreciate the food you are given.
What has stayed with her?
I have noticed that the care for my emotional wellbeing beginning from such a young age through NBS has allowed me to be more happy in my life. I am able to decipher what’s going on inside my head to some extent. I am able to search through all the stuff in there to find what it is that’s tweaking. My ability to cherish my individuality has stuck with me. To allow myself room to grow and change. My strong sense of self has stuck with me. My ability to be at ease with just hanging out with me, Maxine, and loving it! When all else falls away, I have a strong relationship with who I am.
Scene from Maxine's most recent adventure in Northern Quebec
Kelsey McGlashan, NBS Class of '08
Kelsey on a hike with fellow NBS classmates
Kelsey McGlashan graduated from the North Branch School in 2008. He attended Middlebury High School where he participated in Cross Country and Nordic Skiing. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute and double majored in Electrical and Chemical engineering. There he started a running club and a ballroom dancing club. He was a Residential advisor and traveled to Thailand in his junior year to develop sustainable waste disposal for poor communities. He earned an M.A. in Electrical Engineering from WPI. For the last four years he has been employed at Eversource, the largest utility in New England, where he's an engineer on grid modernization projects. He stays busy biking, running, hiking, skiing, and meditating.
Of his time at the North Branch School, Kelsey writes:
I recall my time there fondly. I remember feeling valued. I remember the sweat, the grit of all the work that we accomplished, inside and outside of the building. I felt challenged as I learned how to not only think critically about characters in a book, but how to think critically of myself and the place I held or could hold, in this world. I felt challenged as I learned how to write about my world around me, analyzing the characters and the places in my life and what they meant to me. I remember feeling vulnerable. I felt relief as I learned how to allow my feelings to flow instead of bottling them inside, to create an open space for others to share their feelings as well. I felt relief as I learned that my peers were not much different from myself, and I could relate to them and connect with them.
I learned how to analyze — analyze myself, my feelings, my friends, and their feelings—analyze any situation good or bad. Being able to look at a problem from many different angles and find various solutions has been tremendously valuable to me in my life and in my career...
Largely, what made NBS so unique to me was allowing us, the awkward, smelly, loud, messy teenagers the space to work through our feelings and learn how to deal with them as we grew. There will always be subjects to learn in academia: historical facts and figures, equations to solve, exploding chemical experiments to save, but learning critically is made so much more difficult, often impossible without that space to digest and dissect our own feelings. Maslow's hierarchy of needs comes to mind here, and NBS helped this along in a number of ways. Ultimately for me, the key was how nearly half the day was always reserved for self and/or group discovery, whether that be through round-table, artistic expression, or otherwise.
Of his time at the North Branch School, Kelsey writes:
I recall my time there fondly. I remember feeling valued. I remember the sweat, the grit of all the work that we accomplished, inside and outside of the building. I felt challenged as I learned how to not only think critically about characters in a book, but how to think critically of myself and the place I held or could hold, in this world. I felt challenged as I learned how to write about my world around me, analyzing the characters and the places in my life and what they meant to me. I remember feeling vulnerable. I felt relief as I learned how to allow my feelings to flow instead of bottling them inside, to create an open space for others to share their feelings as well. I felt relief as I learned that my peers were not much different from myself, and I could relate to them and connect with them.
I learned how to analyze — analyze myself, my feelings, my friends, and their feelings—analyze any situation good or bad. Being able to look at a problem from many different angles and find various solutions has been tremendously valuable to me in my life and in my career...
Largely, what made NBS so unique to me was allowing us, the awkward, smelly, loud, messy teenagers the space to work through our feelings and learn how to deal with them as we grew. There will always be subjects to learn in academia: historical facts and figures, equations to solve, exploding chemical experiments to save, but learning critically is made so much more difficult, often impossible without that space to digest and dissect our own feelings. Maslow's hierarchy of needs comes to mind here, and NBS helped this along in a number of ways. Ultimately for me, the key was how nearly half the day was always reserved for self and/or group discovery, whether that be through round-table, artistic expression, or otherwise.
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