Memories of ten years at BOLLI
January 23, 2024
As we learned in a recent message from Avi Bernstein, senior associate director Megan Curtis has accepted a new position and will be leaving BOLLI at the end of the month. The Banner asked her to share some of her thoughts as she departs following a ten-year tenure.
What positions have you held at BOLLI?
I like to think I “grew up” at BOLLI, starting as a program administrator in 2013, progressing to senior administrator in 2015, assistant director in 2016, associate director in 2020 and senior associate director in 2021. Some may not know that while working at BOLLI I also had the opportunity to earn a Master of Science in Management at Brandeis.
What are some of your fondest memories of your time at BOLLI?
My favorite memories of BOLLI are of the big gatherings – the “Back-to-School” brunches, the Study Group Leader “Air and Shares,” and the full-house lunchtime lectures. You just can’t beat the buzz of activity when 60 Turner Street is full of BOLLI members! I also used to love the member “materials assembly” days. A few days before the start of each term, a group of volunteers would get together to make packets of name tents, name tags, and parking passes for each BOLLI member. I’ll always remember the camaraderie and conviviality in those hours spent around the tables, chatting and piecing together packets.
You’ve known hundreds of BOLLI members. Are there a few you’d like recognize?
As I told Alorie Parkhill in a Banner article written ten years ago, I am a “people person.” — and BOLLI is a people place! It has been my pleasure to get to know hundreds of members during the last decade, each with their own unique stories. I won’t name my favorites here, but I will say I’ve been inspired by the members I had the privilege to know well into their 90’s, setting an example for the rest of us on how to live fully throughout life. I’ve struck up close personal friendships with a handful of members and instructors who I now consider lifelong friends. (How lucky am I?)
Members don’t need to be told that BOLLI attracts awesome staff, and will remain in very good hands with Avi, Carolyn, Dom and Jim. I’d be remiss not to also mention my very first BOLLI colleague, Ilana Seidmann (then Levine), who taught me the ropes of all things BOLLI and Brandeis back in 2013, and who I now count as one of my nearest and dearest friends. Ilana and I meet up regularly with a former BOLLI student worker, Jennah Jacobs. What a gift BOLLI has given me in these two!
Do you have any advice for your successor?
Since the very beginning of my time at BOLLI, I’ve had a poster in my office that reads: ‘Keep Calm and Carry On.” It’s something of a personal mantra for me and was often a necessary reminder during the bustling pre-COVID days of in-person BOLLI life. Working at BOLLI is a master class in multi-tasking. Back in the day, it was not unusual to be interrupted by a phone call while simultaneously writing an email and tending to a line of BOLLI members at the door! I regularly tell staff that there is no such thing as a true BOLLI emergency (except for the occasional medical one!).
Could you share some preliminary thoughts about your new job?
I am moving on to be director of membership at the Boston Bar Association, a professional organization for lawyers and legal professionals with 15,000 members – just a few more than BOLLI’s 550! I look forward to developing virtual and in-person educational programs, networking sessions and industry-based conferences, and to building their membership-based community.
When the time comes, might you consider one day returning to BOLLI as a member?
For sure! I’m a big reader and would love to take Marilyn Brooks’ mystery class. (Do you think I might also be fortunate enough to one day also score a spot in Nancy Alimansky’s art history class?)