Melissa Cutler ’86

Alumni Voices

Melissa Cutler ’86

Beaver Reflections:
I graduated from Beaver in 1986 and had a wonderful experience. I think this school has changed a lot since I was there, but the size of the classes really promoted individualized attention which helped me grow as a learner. I think Beaver does a wonderful job making everyone feel included whether you are an artist, athlete, or anything in between. Looking back, Mr. Gow was a wonderful English teacher who really pushed and furthered my analytical and writing skills. Mr. Cohen was another teacher who had a profound impact on me. He was the photography teacher, and, at the time, I was heavily interested in photography. He was also our faculty advisor for the yearbook committee. Along with the art side of school, I also played tennis and field hockey during my time at Beaver. I made some great friends on both teams and loved the team aspect of both.

What is #happeningnow in your life:
Since graduating from Beaver, I went to Roanoke College in Virginia. After that, I worked in DC for a little while for a lobbyist firm and then moved to New York and slowly got closer to my career and what I am doing now. I got involved with a public relations firm that does home furnishing and worked with various designers. From there, I worked with House Beautiful magazine as an interior designer editor. After my time there, I moved out to Connecticut and after taking some classes at New York School of Interior Design, started my interior design career. Since then, I have created my own interior design business and mainly cater to clients in Connecticut. In the past year with the pandemic, business has picked up exponentially with people trying to renovate their living spaces, gyms, etc. People are now extremely interested in making their home a very special place because of how much working from home has been magnified and in case we ever need to go into this pandemic lockdown situation again.

“Something I loved about Beaver was how it was very academically rigorous but was in a sense more like a low pressure cooker school compared to other schools. You could be an artist, star athlete, or musician all while receiving a wonderful education at Beaver.”
– Melissa Cutler ’86

Advice to Beaver students:
Everyone gets so focused on their career and trying to narrow it down so early on, but I would recommend branching out and taking interesting and unique classes that you may never have the chance to take again in your life. If you are at a great school like Beaver, go out of your comfort zone and just experiment with different subjects.

Beaver Country Day School admits qualified students of any race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, handicap status, national origin or ethnicity to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, handicap status, national origin or ethinicity in the administration of its educational, admission, financial aid, athletic or other school-administered programs or policies.