Susanna French '90

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I'm a writer, editor and artist whose life since Westover would really surprise teenage-me.

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At Westover, I was dead-sure I knew where my life was headed. I was dead wrong, and a catastrophic illness forced me off that path. Eight years, three colleges and a ton of hard work later, I finally got my bachelor's degree. Despite my early efforts to narrow my life's scope, and my later experience with life narrowing that scope for me, I can't say strongly enough how grateful I am for the foundation Westover gave me. There, I learned what believing in myself might feel like, though it would take a while longer to really set in. I learned to make friends. I learned what it was to feel safe among my peers and the adults in my life. I learned what a tight-knit community of kindred spirits felt like, and I've never seen its equal since.

I've had a varied resume since graduating, and I'm glad for it. My breadth of experiences has reflected itself in my writing and my artwork. I'm also an equally proud and humbled mom to a teenage girl whose natural sense of social and environmental justice makes me a little less smug about the paltry bit of activism I engaged in at Westover. We parents don't generally put childrearing on our resumes, but we should. We have the equivalent of Ph.D.s in 57 specialties (or think we do).

I'd love to lend my experience in whatever way might help. Or contact me if you're new to northern New England and would like to chat!