Beaver Reflections:
I graduated from Beaver in 2012 and came to Beaver as a rising sophomore. My mom worked for Beaver when I went there so she was really the gateway into the school for me. I chose Beaver for the smaller environment and more individualized attention from the faculty. Beyond that, I think Beaver had a variety of strong programs such as arts and athletics that not many other schools could offer. Something I loved about Beaver was how it promoted creativity and pushed students to be the best version of themselves. They do a great job of encouraging students to follow what they are passionate about, and this was the case for me. Looking back, Mr. McKinney was an amazing teacher. I remember that his science class was the first class I ever took at Beaver, and I really admired and appreciated his passion for teaching. Another teacher who I remember was Mr. Lippman. He had a profound impact on me from the writing perspective and gave me the encouragement to go outside the traditional box of what it means to write an essay and become more creative. I also played baseball and golf at Beaver and loved the team energy from both sports.

What is #happeningnow in your life:
After graduating from Beaver, I went to Lewis and Clark College where I got my degree in rhetoric and media studies. I was actually recruited to play baseball in college but at the last second decided to walk on to the golf team. This was a great decision as I made great friends on the team and had so many amazing memories. After graduating from Lewis and Clark, I decided to go into the field of public relations. I worked at a couple of agencies in Portland, Oregon, doing the usual, run-of-the-mill public relations work. However, I told myself that if you could do this work, make it sound good, and represent it well, then you can do anything. In December 2019, I took a job as a PR specialist at Vacasa, a rental management company. As one can imagine, rentals are not the most Covid-friendly industry, so, unfortunately, myself along with a thousand-plus employees were laid off. I was stuck with a big decision whether to find another job immediately or try something new and out of the box. I decided to take the latter path because I was not enjoying the constant PR work. Something that kept percolating in my head was golf. I grew up caddying at a club in Newton and I obviously loved golf as I played it during Beaver and college. When I was caddying, you were exposed to so many different people at the club and fellow caddies. So as I was thinking about what to do, golf kept coming back to me. So soon after I got laid off, I started The Bag Bandit, a website dedicated to preserving and telling stories from a caddy’s perspective. At one end, golf knowledge comes into play, but I also have to tap into my PR roots when I act as a PR consultant for brands in the golf industry.

“I remember the trope of a child always asking ‘why, why, why?’ and that, in our culture, is something we find hilarious and make fun of. However, I find it very beautiful because the little kid is curious about why something is happening. We need more curiosity and wanting to learn more in our society.”
– Connor Laubenstein ’12

Advice to Beaver students:
When I was coming up from school, I had a questioning mindset already but was conditioned to accept things at face value and accept what I am being taught. It is important for young people to ask more questions about the institutions that are giving you information, not from a combative point of view but rather a curious and wondering perspective.