Editor’s note: Just before commencement in May 2009, a handful of seniors agreed to check in periodically with Colby and report on their lives after Mayflower Hill. Here is the first installment.

Brianna Kondrat
Majors: English and Art

After a summer of saving up, Brianna Kondrat bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. She had no close friends in the city, no job lined up, no apartment. But this fall she moved 3,000 miles from her home in New Hampshire to chase whatever opportunities might arise out west.

What do you do with a B.A. in English? For Kondrat this was no longer a question to scoff at. When she graduated last spring she entered a world of recession that was experiencing an unprecedented die-off in print journalism. “I applied for jobs like my life depended on it,” she said of her immediate post-graduation efforts.

Without a job offer and despite all the uncertainties of her relocation, serendipity struck an hour after she landed in California. Over an afternoon gelato, an acquaintance introduced Kondrat to a staffer at Disney. Within a week she had an interview for a temp job, and now she is part of the casting team for the next Baby Gap and Gap Kids ads, working directly through the Disney Internet Group. “It’s the first job I’ve ever had where I wake up excited to go to work,” she said.

Her advice for seniors looking ahead to their post-Colby plans? Go after the dream.

Her ticket to LA was bought on a whim, and she was called crazy more than a few times, she said. “I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason,” she said. “And, even though sometimes it’s hard to see what that reason is, you’ll figure it out. Just go for it!”


Esther Boyd
Majors: Religious Studies and Theater and Dance

Esther Boyd was more than excited to be heading out on her own after graduation. With new job prospects at the Breakwater School and The Maine Studios (media production), she found a sizeable apartment close by both in Portland, Maine, “in an acceptable neighborhood, with decent rent, and a reliable management company,” she reported. “I was thrilled to be living independently.”

But when the novelty of having her own space wore off, Boyd longed for the days of college roommates. After a rainy summer, without close friends nearby, Boyd decided an apartment move was the right move. She connected with two friends in Portland, and together they found their own little piece of perfect. From skylights and hardwood floors to great neighbors and landlords who own an alpaca farm, Boyd “is living the dream.”

The best part of the new place, however, isn’t the expansive space or the warm sunlight to wake her in the morning. For Boyd, it is “walking downstairs and telling someone the horrible pun I came up with earlier in the day or the shocking thing that guy down the street said to me on my way to work.” For Boyd, having roommates has meant the world to her quality of life as a college graduate. “Independence requires making your own decisions and being responsible for those decisions,” she said, “but not necessarily doing it alone. I recommend doing it with a friend. Or two.”

Scott Zeller
Major: Biology

When is growing a beard a career move? After a summer of work leading teenagers on Overland Language and Service trips in Costa Rica, Scott Zeller had some relevant experience for his next big adventure: teaching mathematics and coaching soccer at the Dublin School in southern New Hampshire.

“It is, by no means, an easy job,” he said. “I was definitely nervous in the beginning, realizing that I was only four years older than some of my senior students.” Zeller says he grew a beard to help him look older—more like a teacher.

Zeller teaches Algebra II and Statistics and coaches JV soccer at the small boarding high school. In addition to his jobs in the classroom and on the field, he is a dorm parent. He says that, though it’s constantly a demanding job, it is also fun and rewarding working with students.

To all the seniors and underclassmen still on Mayflower Hill, Zeller says hello and good luck. It can be intimidating to graduate and leave the security of college, he said, but Colby will help you to beard any challenge on the road ahead.