A hypnotic ringing sound fills the College and Career Center as Elizabeth Levenson sits at her desk and stares at the phone in front of her. She’s on the phone with College Board, trying to locate hundreds of missing Advanced Placement (AP) exam packets for a test that’s supposed to happen the next day. 

The beloved College and Career Services Coordinator was born in Boston and attended Cornell University, where she majored in English. 

“I admire students who actually seem to have an idea of what you want to study in college because I did not when I was a high school senior,” Levenson says with a smile when asked why she chose English.

As her job title suggests, Levenson helps juniors and seniors decide where they want to apply to college. Additionally, Levenson coordinates all the AP tests for Jackson-Reed students in the springtime. 

At a school with over 500 seniors, Levenson has a tough time helping every single person. “You want everyone to have personal attention, and that becomes really difficult. We hope to figure out how to find the people who are not actively seeking our help… those are actually the people that probably need the most help.”

Levenson adds that applying to college can be a daunting process.

“Everyone who sits down in front of me is like, ‘I’m so behind’,” Levenson explains. “I just try to break it down into small steps because applying to college is such a huge process, but with little bits, we’ll get you there.”

However, Levenson’s biggest enemy is not the College Board, or the number of students she has to help each year: it’s email.

“Email is such an inefficient way to communicate,” Levenson elaborates.

Instead, she stays organized by writing an absurd amount of to-do lists that are scattered across her desk. She points out ‘CALL COLLEGE BOARD’ written in her favorite purple pen on the list in front of her as the holding music continues to fill the room.

Another item on her to-do list is to send out an email to graduating seniors about the ‘W-curve.’

“When you get to college, there’s gonna be a lot of good things, but also a lot of hard because it’s a huge transition,” Levenson continues. “I think people should expect that it’s not going to be positive the whole time; you can get there and you’ll be excited, but then you should expect [to] also to have hard times…these ups and downs create the W curve.”

As for her goals for next year, Levenson says that she’s trying to improve her knowledge of specific schools. 

“When a student can be matched up with a school [I’ve learned about]… there’s a serendipity to it,” she says. 

Alongside her work at Jackson-Reed, Levenson enjoys thrift shopping and is a crafts enthusiast, even joining a sewing circle with her neighbors and friends. Next year, she hopes to “take advantage of the things to do in DC.”

While Jackson-Reed may have its issues, Levenson stands out as a figure that many students come to for help and support. If you have any questions about post-high school plans, or want to give Levenson suggestions about fun things to do in DC, go visit her in the College and Career Center in room 108a!