All In The Campaign for Blair Academy 2018-2025
2023 commencement crowd selfies
Commencement 2022.
2023 commencement ceremony begins
class of 2023 flag leads graduates
Peter claps at commencement

College Counseling & Matriculation

Students’ Blair stories begin with their first steps on our hillside campus. They forge connections with faculty mentors, select activities to pursue, and expand their knowledge and their intellect. They develop their own unique tales by curating Blair’s vast offerings to craft experiences distinctly their own, all the while enjoying the support and encouragement of the “all together” Blair community standing behind each of us.

As juniors begin to converse frequently in individual meetings with our team members, they will be asked—potentially for the first time—to assemble the pieces of their individual narratives: We ask them to tell us their full stories, even though we have observed some of it along the way in our various roles at Blair. 

As college counselors, our initial job is to listen and then ask questions, as we seek to incite self-reflection. We want to guide students toward ascertaining what inspired them, what energized them and what challenged them to grow, inside Blair classrooms and beyond. The college process does not bring these earlier stories to a close nor does it abruptly start brand new ones: Rather, we aim to help students figure out how and where they will thrive as they write the next chapters of their lives.

A Blair education, with components dedicated to intellectual, physical, artistic and spiritual growth, prepares all of our students for phenomenal future homes, and our college counseling team shares a fit-first philosophy. We strive to help students identify the best home—the best college fit—through this highly individualized, high-touch process of self-discovery. And while students work with a primary counselor to receive this level of attention and care, we also work collaboratively to weave together our own skills, backgrounds, talents, interests and, yes, even our own unique stories to best support all of our students on this journey. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any one of us on the college counseling team. We’re always happy to chat with you, share information and resources, and answer your questions. We also hope you’ll enjoy our “On the Road” anecdotes in the following pages, as you learn more about each of us and about our approaches to guiding students toward their next beloved homes.

Warmly,
Niki Applebaum '01
Dean of College Counseling

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