There’s a strong Connecticut theme in my welcome to two new members of our family today. Without further introductory ado:
First, meet Amy Chatterjee, director of our soon-to-be opened Westport, Connecticut office.
Back in 2002 while working as a college advisor in New York City public schools, Amy began writing her “College Informational Newsletter” that was distributed to high school seniors. Today, New York City schools have a contract with Amy to send her newsletters to thousands of New York students in both print and online formats. Amy has also done college and financial aid seminars for underserved high school students at public schools and for various community organizations. A graduate of Shepherd College (now Shepherd University, home of their “huggable, lovable mascot,” Zan the Ram), Amy also has a masters in secondary school counseling from Villanova. A self-described soccer mom to her kids, Dylan and Mia, Amy’s car is “full of shin guards, water bottles, cleats and enough granola bars to feed a small midwestern liberal arts college.”
Now, meet William Tran, college counselor in our bustling Irvine, California office.
After starting his career teaching English to students at a charter school in Los Angeles, William has spent the last three years as an assistant director of admission at Connecticut College. There, he also: 1) Read applications from students hailing from 40 states and 70 countries, 2) Helped create the most diverse incoming class in school history, 3) Served as the school’s “Web and technology liaison” where he regularly hosted Google hangouts with incoming students, and 4) Survived two hurricanes, one blizzard, and several weeks without power. Needless to say, he’s happy to be back in Southern California. A 2009 graduate of Pomona College where he majored in media studies, William’s thesis explored the basketball equivalent of sabermetrics, which, as William describes, “…was popularized in Moneyball which was then popularized by that guy named Brad Pitt.” He’s also a huge Los Angeles Lakers and Green Bay Packers fan.
Amy finished her training last week (72 hours after signing her offer letter), and William begins his official indoctrination today courtesy of Allison and the Irvine crew. We couldn’t be happier to have them here. So, welcome, Amy and William!