Jack Pierce, Class of 2013

I made the not-so-surprising decision to go to a small liberal arts college, as the core principles echo those of Waldorf schools. Waldorf graduates appreciate the value of small communities: breadth as well as depth of study, and a focus on learning how to learn. At Hamilton College I've been studying and tutoring in the computer science department, running three seasons, working as a campus tour guide and organizing the juggling club (directly inspired by our very own John Saccone). I am lucky enough to have conducted computer science research at school last year, and to be interning as a software engineer this summer in Portland. Merriconeag (Maine Coast) has excellently prepared me for all of this. While I can’t beat any of my college friends at video games, I look back fondly on my years at Merriconeag and wish I could sign up for woodworking with Mr. Thurrell next semester.

Skyler Samuelson, Class of 2013

After graduating from Merriconeag (Maine Coast) in 2013, I began preparing to attend Barnard College, the women’s college of Columbia University in the City of New York. The leap that would take me to Barnard was intimidating. Having grown up in Freeport, Maine, the college itself and New York City were equally daunting. But two years later I am looking back on incredible years at Barnard, and now consider New York City my home. I am a Russian Literature and Language major (with a potential minor in Biology) and speak Russian somewhat proficiently. I work in Barnard’s Writing Center, sing in Columbia University’s Gospel Choir, train 25+ hours per week on the Columbia Rowing Team, and explore a discounted New York City on my student ID. My Waldorf education has undoubtedly been the single most important factor in what has allowed me to enjoy such a diverse and successful time at college thus far. I can’t recommend the pairing of a Waldorf education with a rigorous college like Barnard enough. Waldorf schooling encourages thoughtfulness, love, and a critical eye in everything the child does. This thoughtfulness paired with inquisitiveness and openness grow into the perfect tools to tackle whatever comes next.

Matthew is a writer, teacher and researcher. He graduated from Dartmouth College and is currently a PhD candidate at Princeton University, studying literature of the English Renaissance. Previously, he taught courses on Shakespeare and creative writing workshops in the English department at Cornell University, where he also received his MFA. Matthew's literary criticism appears regularly in the Los Angeles Review of Books and he is now at work on a first novel.

As a teacher and as a graduate student, I have a renewed appreciation for the many ways we learn in Waldorf education. In fifth or sixth grade, studying geometry didn't just mean learning the Pythagorean theorem: We spent hours making careful constructions with our compasses and illustrating them as beautifully as we could. I understood much more about geometry through that slow process with my hands than I ever could have through rote memorization. These days, teaching Shakespeare or leading a writing workshop, I never let my students merely read or only write. We act out scenes with our bodies. We memorize and perform poems to understand how the breath works and where the stresses fall. We take notes by hand so we’re forced to synthesize and compress knowledge, and not just record facts. I try to engage as many senses as possible, because real knowledge works by being present in so many different ways. Waldorf taught me that.

Judd Grimes, 8th Grade class of 2000