Beth Novey ‘01 grew up in Baltimore, about a mile away from Bryn Mawr. She was a “13-year girl,” starting out in Mrs. Murray’s kindergarten class and staying through twelfth grade. After graduating from Bryn Mawr, Novey moved to Boston to attend Harvard University. She now lives just outside of Washington, D.C., in Takoma Park, Md. with her husband and five-month-old son. Novey is a producer for NPR.  
By spring of my senior year in college, it felt like everyone else had a plan; my classmates had locked down consulting jobs, applied to grad schools, or received impressive fellowships. All I had was a psychology degree … and a sinking feeling that I probably didn’t want to go into psychology. But I liked listening to NPR so I applied for an internship, figuring it would be a good first step toward…something? It didn’t take long to figure out that NPR was a place where I could be happy for a very long time. I found mentors who were generous with their time and expertise. I found peers who supported each other inside and outside of the office. Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t have a degree in journalism. But I listened carefully in editorial meetings, paid close attention to corrections, took every assignment that came my way, and frantically Googled things at my desk. It was often nerve-wracking, but I learned everything on the job. And now, 13 years later, I’m still frantically Googling things at my desk.

I work on NPR’s Arts, Books & Culture desk, where I produce and edit web features for shows such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Fresh Air and Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me! I’m the co-creator of several of NPR.org’s curatorial projects — such as the annual Book Concierge, the book-TV-movie guide Read, Watch, Binge, and the podcast recommendation site earbud.fm. Every once in a while I write just for fun; in recent years I’ve offered career advice for "female" hurricanes, cataloged miserable ways to run a mile, and explained why I dislike the phrase “backwards and in heels.”
Just like Bryn Mawr, NPR is full of extraordinary women. You still hear some of the network’s “founding mothers” on air today. Sitting in the backseat of my parents’ minivan in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it never occurred to me that many high-profile news jobs were out of reach for women -- I heard women report the news every day. But Susan Stamberg was actually the first woman to anchor a national nightly news program. It’s been a privilege to work with Susan and other NPR pioneers, who’ve been with the network since its earliest days. And recently, it’s been inspiring to watch a new generation of female leadership step forward to fight for equality and fair treatment in the newsroom.
I have what I like to call “we’ll thank thee then Bryn Mawr” moments at my job all the time. Above all, Bryn Mawr taught us how to WRITE. I remember sitting in Harvard’s required Expository Writing class freshman year thinking, “I already did this in high school.” I’m so grateful to the history and English teachers at Bryn Mawr who marked up the margins of our term papers and essays to shape us into clear, confident writers.
Founding Bryn Mawr’s first ice hockey team in 1999 also prepared me for tackling big projects, in work and in life. In 1998, women played Olympic ice hockey for the first time at the winter games in Nagano, Japan. I remember watching that first U.S. team on TV and thinking: that looks like so much fun. I signed up for a local girls hockey clinic that winter, and the following season we started the Bryn Mawr team. This was years before we had a hockey-loving head of school or the blessings of the athletic department. But we recruited skaters, hired a coach, scheduled ice time, ordered uniforms, and coordinated games with the few girls teams we could find in Maryland and DC. We even found a faculty advisor who was willing to come to the ice rink at the crack of dawn so that we could be an official Bryn Mawr club -- you’re a HERO, Mr. Waters! It just seemed so right that Bryn Mawr, a school that had long been at the forefront of women’s athletics, would be among the first to have a girls’ ice hockey team. For me, it was a crash course in organization, project management, communication, diplomacy, perseverance and leadership -- all tools that I now use every day. I’m so grateful to the Bryn Mawr community for cheering on our fledgling team in the early years. It’s been very gratifying to watch the team grow into what it is today.
 
Banner: Beth Novey '01 (center back row) with the Harvard JV ice hockey team.
Above: Novey (on left) and sister Joelle '97.

Below: Novey at graduation with Alissa Zulvergold, Anna Himmelrich, Georgia Summers and Rachel Myers.
If I could share one bit of advice with graduating seniors it would be this: In college and immediately after college, it’s really easy to spend all your time with people in their 20s. But it's very refreshing to hang out with folks in different stages of life. Take your little cousins to the zoo. Strike up a conversation with the retired couple in the apartment down the hall. Befriend a coworker old enough to be your mom. Having peers your own age is great, but younger and older people can offer some really valuable perspectives -- seek out their friendship!
And one other thing: Don’t give up your extracurriculars after high school and college. If it’s something you love, make time for it. Every Saturday morning, I teach a class of three to six-year-olds how to ice skate. Every spring I participate in the American Visionary Art Museum’s Kinetic Sculpture Race. Even with a job I love, it’s so important to have other outlets for energy and creativity. And on that topic -- if I could use this opportunity for some shameless alumnae networking -- I recently finished writing a rhyming, non-phonetic alphabet book for kids called “P Is for Pterodactyl” … so if there are any BMS alums out there in children’s publishing, drop me a line!
 
 
My favorite Bryn Mawr tradition is a little obscure. Every year the Middle and
Upper School students had to wait in the KVB gym for Gym Drill to start. To get out to the field, each class would have to squeeze through the gym’s narrow doorway. As we marched through that door, we’d raise both hands to hit the top of the door frame -- for good luck, I guess? It was just a small thing, but I loved watching hundreds of hands hit that door frame, year after year.
Located in Baltimore, Maryland, The Bryn Mawr School is a private all-girls pre-kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school with a coed preschool for ages 2 months through 5 years. Bryn Mawr provides students with exceptional educational opportunities on a beautiful 26-acre campus within the city limits. Inquisitive girls, excellent teaching, strong student-teacher relationships and a clear mission sustain our vibrant school community where girls always come first.