Miles Fowler ’15 (University of Southern California – Dramatic Arts/Acting, Political Science), Arianna Tamaddon ’14 (Wesleyan University – Biology), Austin Tamaddon ’12 (Wesleyan University ’16 – Film Studies, Computer Science), Alex Grossman ’14 (University of Southern California – Film & Television Production), Sabrina Karlin ’14 (New York University – Dance, Journalism), and Jackie Kerns (Northwestern University – Vocal Performance, History), who graduated from the Menlo Middle School in 2010, joined an alumni panel focusing on the arts in college.

The discussion, moderated by Talia Grossman ’20 and Maddy Wenig ’20, touched on balancing general academics with specialty-specific classes, how the Menlo experience translates to pursuing arts at the college level, and how engaging with the arts has proven fruitful even for the panelists who don’t necessarily plan to pursue careers in an artistic field.

Among the comments panelists offered, Austin Tamaddon pointed out that he put a lot of focus on taking arts classes his senior year at Menlo, under the notion that, “If a college doesn’t want me for my arts, that’s probably not a good school for me.” He later added that he resists the idea that the arts are “play” and sciences are “serious,” noting that both his current employer, Apple, and other large tech companies value people with artistic backgrounds for their ability to conceive solutions in creative ways.

His sister, Arianna Tamaddon, who is on a pre-med track, said, “I do art to stay sane!” She later added, of her work with oil painting, that she finds great value in exercising that side of her brain that doesn’t necessarily get much stimulation from her technical science courses.

Karlin lamented the freshman year she spent at a different college where she didn’t even consider pursuing dance, saying she was miserable during that time, but became re-energized once she realized dance was still an option. She transferred to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts before her sophomore year and immediately saw improvement. Talking about her entire academic career from childhood through college, Karlin said, “The more I danced, the better I did in school because I had to prioritize.”

And in his comments, Fowler focused on broader issues of finding one’s life direction, saying that he still doesn’t know what he’s going to do with his training, but that’s okay, because college and education are about discovery. Whichever direction he ends up going, he said, he plans on following a mentor’s advice to resist pushing aside certain subjects or fields out of hand and engage with as many people as possible from disparate backgrounds.

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