During her seven months at Blake, Nora Main, Associate Director of College Counseling at the Upper School, has brought her humor, smile, and grit to school. Taking the time to help every student that walks through her door, she spreads joy throughout the school. After graduating from Macalester College, Main began working in their admissions office. With fifteen years of experience, Main says, “I hope I bring my love of learning new things.” At Blake, Main enjoys the people, the tight sense of community, and is enthusiastic about the liberal arts curriculum for all grade levels in the Upper School.

If she was able to do spend a day doing anything, Main replied, “I would make bolognese sauce all day long.” This response displays the fun, energetic, and engaging personality that she projects to her students and the faculty. Sara Kyle, Director of College Counseling says, “I like Nora’s enthusiasm, curiosity and deep interest in supporting Blake students in their college search process. She asks great questions and has a wonderful sense of humor.” The 51 students that she works with agree. Frieda Liston ‘19 states, “[Main] is super nice and puts effort into getting to know each student on a personal level.”

When commenting on her enthusiasm, Main states, “I smile and wave a lot in the hallway and I one-hundred-percent know that my wave is super awkward!”

Outside of the workplace, Main enjoys doing a variety of activities to refresh and maintain her enthusiastic persona, such as walking outside everyday for at least an hour, reading The New Yorker, and enjoying time with her friends.

College counseling can be a stressful job; it takes a lot of time and effort to help each student. At an academically rigorous school, it can be especially stressful to make big decisions such as where to attend college. College counselors work with seniors to finalize plans for the next 4 years, juniors to help educate them on the application process and finding good colleges for each student, and sophomores to explain details that come along with college options.

Through all of this work, Main continues to apply her knowledge to help others. When talking about what she wants her students to know, Main replies, “I believe in each one of them and in their intrinsic worth.” Furthering Main’s contributions to the school, Kyle comments, “[Main] has extensive knowledge about how admission offices evaluate candidates for admission.  This experience will help her in her work with Blake students. Also, her positive energy is contagious!”