Thanks to all who joined us for our Alumni Panel: Passion for Learning, Success for Life! It was a fun and interesting evening with several CMS alumni who shared about how being part of an authentic Montessori experience through the Elementary and/or Adolescent years has shaped them.
CMS Board Member and aluma Miriam Cruz, an entrepreneur with a background in finance and non-profit work, facilitated the discussion, which included panelists who are still in middle school, high school and college, as well as those pursuing graduate school and enjoying interesting and fulfilling careers.
A few themes from the event included:
- Intellectual curiosity: abiding love of learning; a desire to pursue knowledge for the sake of discovery
Enjoyment of intellectual work: homework, tests and big projects are experienced as “fun”
Resilience and Resourcefulness: ease and fortitude in the face of the unexpected - Emotional intelligence: comfort in new social situations; an ability to work with people of a variety of ages and backgrounds; satisfying relationships with mentors and friends
Creativity: practice at exploring big questions and searching for understanding, instead of only memorizing facts, leads to novel ways of approaching problems
Perhaps most interesting and heartwarming was the common feeling among the panelists that being long-term Montessorians made them kinder and better human beings. It was evident that each of them embodies the Grace and Courtesy that was part of their Montessori education.
We hope you’ll enjoy hearing from the alums in their own words and voices, so we’re providing a recording of the event below.
Panelist Emily Widder, an MIT grad who is pursuing her Master’s in Engineering at Stanford while working as an Astrodynamics Engineer at Boeing in California, emailed me afterwards to say, “Thank you, Ms. Kim, for organizing such a lovely event! I definitely could have spoken for a lot longer about all that CMS has given me, so please feel free to pass along my contact info to any parents who still have questions. I’m happy to hop on a zoom call, email, chat on the phone, or all of the above!” So, if you have follow up questions for Emily, please let us know and we will put you in touch with her.
Click here for the video recording.
Kimberly V. Schneider, M.Ed., JD, LPC
Head of School
