Interviewing Alumna Hayley Handler

Feature interview by student author Hailey A.

Ever wondered what life after Stevenson will be like? Hayley Handler, a former student who graduated from Stevenson in 2011 and from Indiana University in 2015, shared her experience.

How has being at Stevenson helped in your academic and social life?

Academic: Honestly, Stevenson taught me that your education is what you make of it. Teachers may have offered support, but it was on me to walk into their classroom and take them up on it. On the flip side, when I was at Stevenson we didn’t have AP classes and I remember the faculty being really supportive of my taking a couple classes at CUNY Hunter instead.

Social: Similar to the above, for me it was about finding the people who had similar interests and hanging out with them. At school, these were not the same people all the time - I had different friends from different “groups.” I think that ended up being a real benefit because it showed me how to find common ground with just about anyone.

What do you miss most about your time at Stevenson?

The community. When I was at Stevenson students were, well, students. We formed social groups and had disagreements. Teachers had favorite students and vice versa, but there was still this great sense of “we’re in this together”. That is something I’ve carried with me into the world. That sense of community and joint experience allowed us to be silly and feel bonded to each other in a really special way because we all knew Stevenson was a different kind of school and we all got to enjoy it together.

Who was a teacher that really inspired you at Stevenson?

Julius Kahn, science teacher. He was quite the character and not all the students clicked with him, but I did. He was patient and kind to me from my first day -- opening his classroom up to students before class and during lunch as a place to chat, hang out, or study. He taught me that through humor and sharing time (and candy) you can build just about any bridge.

Were there any specific classes that you took at Stevenson that helped you prepare for your future?

Hmm, not sure there was a specific class that helped me prepare for the future, but certain classes definitely taught me skills I still use all the time. I’ve worked in education, marketing, and communications - all of which heavily rely on being intentional about how and what you communicate to another person. So, in that sense my English classes and thinking about all the ways a given message can be interpreted come in handy often. But also basic graphic design skills I learned in the newspaper club or different ways to manage projects I learned from being in student government -- it all sneaks into the work I do now.

What's one memory that shaped your perception of Stevenson while you were here?

Oh gosh, so many to choose from! I think my memories of the “breakfast club” crew who spent mornings with Julius in the science room are the ones I remember most. That said, the Halloween festivities gave me some of my biggest and best laughs. Also, my senior year was the first year we had a prom at Stevenson, which was a really cool thing to help make a reality.

How did your experience at Stevenson help you find your first job after graduation?

My experience at Stevenson didn’t necessarily help me find my first job, but it certainly helped me be successful in the role. I went to the same private school K-9 and a lot of the students came from similar backgrounds. Stevenson, though privileged in many ways, was my first real hands-on experience with diversity -- students from different backgrounds, dealing with their own unique issues in their own ways.

My first job after college graduation was leading a small team teaching middle school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thanks to my social experiences at Stevenson, in addition to extracurriculars like volunteering and student council, I was able to approach people and problems by trying to understand their current situation and how I could help -- rather than trying to push them down a path of what I thought should be happening. I guess you could call this a learning mindset -- but whatever it is, it helped me get to know a new city and the community that lived there first, and then use that understanding to help them move forward towards their goal -- be that solving an algebra problem or sourcing vendors for a community event.

What have you been up to since leaving Stevenson?

Since leaving Stevenson I attended and graduated from Indiana University Bloomington (Go Hoosiers!). From there, I spent a year teaching and community organizing in Oklahoma before moving back home to New York to create learning and development training for a charter school non-profit. After that, I pivoted from in-person training to digital training and started working for tech companies, helping to improve their customer experiences through one-to-many resources (also known as customer marketing or customer enablement) - and that’s what I’m doing today.