Though she is one of the newest members of the RE community, Ms. Maggie Berry has already made a mark. As a member of the RE’s Teaching Fellows program, now in its second year, Ms. Berry has stepped in to teach the fairly new Advanced American Studies course. She has also been coaching the Girls Cross Country team, using her athletic talent to mentor students.
Her journey to RE was anything but ordinary, however. Ms. Berry arrived at the school with a diverse educational and professional background. From her beginnings in a small high school in Colorado, she has been no stranger to adapting and embracing change.
Ms. Berry’s education started at a small high school where her graduating class was only 65 students. So when it came time to apply to colleges, she knew she wanted a traditional college experience. She ended up being accepted to Harvard University.
At Harvard, Ms. Berry started out with the dream of becoming a doctor, and initially worked with Mass General Hospital. But she then decided to change her focus to the Humanities, majoring in history and literature with a minor in economics—and even completing a citation in Spanish.
She narrowed her studies down to European history, and completed her thesis on “the medical nomenclature of anorexia nervosa in Victorian England.”
After college, she went into the financial industry. Ms. Berry always had a passion for real estate and became dedicated to the big industry of private equity at a firm in NYC. After accepting a full time offer at Blackstone, however, she had an epiphany and realized that she would be happier teaching. Her boss, a RE alum, showed her the school, and she began her RE journey.
Berry has been enjoying teaching the Advanced American Studies course, which she explained “accurately mimics the exact kind of course you will see in college.” She even mentioned that during high school she often found herself questioning “why history and literature aren’t taught together.”
Aside from being a teacher, Ms. Berry is also a long distance runner. She ran throughout all of high school and qualified for states individually all four years. However, when it came time for college, she decided to focus on her education and only kept running as a hobby.
A current student in Ms. Berry’s section of Advanced American Studies, Ana Gonzalez ’26, said that “Ms. Berry inspires students to be the best version of themselves through positive encouragement. She pushes us to get a deeper knowledge of the topics taught in class.”
She decided to run her first race out of college this summer, which was a completely uphill seven-mile run in Vail, Colorado. Not expecting much, Ms. Berry said she “just went out and had a fun time instead of putting pressure on myself.” However, she ended up winning the entire race in the women’s category.
As one of the coaches of the girls’ cross country team at RE, she also participates in training with the team. She appreciates the experience. “Coaching during my first semester gave me an experience to meet a lot more students in a less formal environment,” she said.
For Ms. Berry, running has also brought many other benefits, including helping her find her people in a new city. “Running instills discipline and teaches you it is okay to be vulnerable,” she said. “This translates back to the classroom, which shows that you can be a stronger teacher when you are vulnerable.”
Having made some fundamental shifts in her educational and career trajectory, Ms. Berry prides herself on guiding others through their challenges. “Life is too short to be stuck with something you aren’t happy with,” she said.
The advice pertains especially, she said, to those RE students who are applying to college right now. “You do not need to know what you want to do for the rest of your life in high school,” she explained. “Be curious, and pay attention to what excites you. There is some career path out there that speaks to you or sparks excitement. Pay a lot of attention to who you surround yourself with. Respect takes you a long way, but relationships matter the most in your career.”
