“I don’t think I have ever gotten up in the morning and not wanted to go to work, which in a career of 40 something years is pretty good,” said Laura Clark.
In her 24 years at Fieldston, Clark has taken a highly personal approach to her role as both a college counselor and Director of College Counseling. She spends hours getting to know her students, listening to their concerns, their wishes and their goals. She dedicates herself to educating each student on the wide range of possibilities for the future and guiding each student to the perfect college. But lucky for her, this is what she enjoys most about her job.
“I used to joke with my friends. Who gets paid as much money as I make to sit around and talk to students all day?… That’s the part I like the most. I don’t like the part of the year that’s so busy that I don’t get to do that. Spring is always great. I’ve got a million students hanging around telling me about whatever, talking about ideas, about prom, about whatever it is,” said Clark.
This effort to cultivate relationships is just as meaningful to the students she works with. Vale McCaffrey (V) notes, “What I appreciate most about Clark is that she takes a holistic approach with her students. She pushed me to think about other forms of education and not feel restricted to what others do or any form of ‘norm.’ Along with her adorable dogs, she created a comfortable space where I could explore what my future could look like.”
Yet, by being there for every student, Clark rides the emotional rollercoaster of applying to college each fall along with her students. “It’s really exhausting. I feel the same things as students do in a slightly different way but same thing – everybody is waiting and then they get good news or they get bad news so it’s up and down,” said Clark.
Clark is leaving this year partly because of how tiring her work is, but also because of how the college process has changed: how “corporate” admissions have become. Clark begrudgingly notes that “[Her work] is a lot less personal than it used to be. There is a whole half of my job [talking to college admissions officers] that doesn’t really compute… Most of the people in admissions that I knew… cared very much about the process as an intellectual endeavour where you are really trying to fill interesting programs, and get the smartest kids there who are the most engaged and passionate. I didn’t feel like there was any contradiction between the thing we were doing and what I was trying to do with students. It was like a collaboration,” said Clark.
However, according to Clark, the values in the admissions process have shifted in recent years, making it feel less like a collaboration. In her eyes, the old truths of the admissions process she used to promise kids are growing more false and inaccurate. “The concerns [have] become more and more about getting more full paying students, having more money to build new buildings and it’s become this sort of almost materialist proposition so the things that the admission officers are being told to worry about are yield and enrollment and marketing and how do you sell your school and how do you get the most applications possible even though you are gonna reject 90% of them,” she posits.
Clark goes on to say that the “process has become much more mechanized, more and more people are telling us that they can’t have phone calls with us anymore, that they don’t have time to talk to us. There is more of a prescribed idea of what a good applicant is. There used to be a lot more leeway like you could have a really creative kid that failed math and they might even still get into a place that was really selective. That’s harder to do, not because those places don’t want to admit those students anymore, but because it’s harder to see them because the volume is so enormous that they may not be able to read that extra essay or talk to the counselor about the kid with a D in math.”
With more time on her hands and less stress surrounding the college process, Clark plans to shift her time and attention to her art. As a college counselor and teacher, she has been able to maintain her career as a printmaker on the side – with an annual show to display her work. Now, she can fully pursue that passion.
“I promised myself when I was 23 when I finally finished my masters degree, that at some point I’m going to retire and be an artist. I’ve hung onto that my whole life and so here I am finally through having been well paid and saving my money… I love how there is actually a goal that I actually have achieved!” said an elated Clark.
Nevertheless, she has found ways to share her passion for art with the Fieldston community. Clark’s room in the college office is decorated with many of her prints and more notably, she has been teaching “Images and Words”, a biennial English elective that “examines the connections between visual art and the written word with an emphasis on poetry,” alongside English teacher and poet Michael Morse.
“To put it simply, our co-teaching Images and Words has been my favorite teaching experience in the 25 years I’ve been here. I’m grateful to have had the chance to work with a dynamic and generous fellow artist, the chance to co-teach a class that allows for us to laugh with each other and challenge each other, and the chance to teach what we love and push ourselves to consider new material,” said Morse.
Clark previously taught art history in Riverdale and a history course on orientalism at Fieldston. “I’ve never really stuck myself in one department,” said Clark.
When Clark was asked what she’ll miss, without hesitation she said “ The Students.”
Clark also said that she will miss her colleagues deeply and those working alongside her in the college office, especially Zoraida Montanez, her assistant of 20 years. At this point, she has hired everyone in the college office and has carefully curated the group of college counselors to display an array of personalities and interests so that every student can be matched with someone that is right for them. “One of my ideas was that every student should have somebody that they can go to that they feel will get them… There will be somebody that you feel connected with in some way,” said Clark.
She is equally excited for Jameel Freeman to take her place as Director of the College Office. “I think he’s gonna be really fantastic. He’ll be a really great Director. Students really love him and he’s very good with the work,” said Clark.
While Freeman may have big shoes to fill, he is committed to continuing her work to maintain a progressive high school college process. “Words cannot adequately capture how much of an impact Laura Clark has had on our students, faculty, and profession as a whole. From her first day at Fieldston, Laura has managed to keep our college process student-centered and progressive in scope… Laura embodies all that is great about our school and while replacing her is no small feat, I am excited to build upon the wonderful foundation she has established here at Fieldston,” said Freeman.
Clark talked about possibly returning to teach Images and Words in two years or coming back to teach a yoga class. Regardless of how she engages with the institution after her official departure, it is irrefutable that Laura Clark’s impact on all members of the Fieldston community will be long-lasting.
