Our College Counselors: Ann and Mr. Z

We all know and love (and owe our futures to) our college counselors: Ann Fountain and Robert Zapotocky (AKA Ann and Mr. Z). They learn so much about us from the college admissions process, but can we really say that we get to know them? Here’s a little bit about their lives so that you can say you know them (almost) as well as they know you:

Ann Fountain

Ann describes their college counseling style as individualized and tailored to the specific needs of each student. The main goal, by the end of the process, is to “help students grow as whole individuals,” including how they write essays and utilize tools at their disposal to make the most of the college admissions process. By the end of this process, the hope is that both students and parents will be confident in the student’s ability to be self-sufficient and successful in finding the ideal college for them.

Ann is the parent of two third graders at Galloway, and, come July, will have worked here for ten years! Ann’s love for the outdoors has been a constant throughout their life. At Sarah Lawrence College, Ann worked in outdoor leadership programs which would go on backpacking trips over the summer. Many of their jobs prior to Galloway included some role of leadership, and they noted their work as a park ranger as one of their most interesting jobs they have worked in. In this job, they worked on Boston Harbor Island, a remote location where they had to take a ferry and water taxi to work. This primitive location gave them a unique experience, since they spent their time without the comforts of modern amenities. They stayed in a yurt and used a solar shower, which gave them the experience of truly living off the grid. While Ann may not still work in outdoor education, their jobs in this field during college and beyond were an important part of their career development. Ann still enjoys exploring the outdoors, and occasionally gets to have these experiences at Galloway during excursion trips.

Ann’s path to their career as a college counselor began in college, as they explored college jobs in admissions and leadership. At Sarah Lawerence, they did not have a specific major, but rather had a personalized learning path which centered around each of these subjects. This progressive, liberal arts education led them to further be successful in their future of finding the ideal colleges for students.

Ann’s experience in college led them to discover their love of teaching and the college admissions process. As many college counselors often do, their career began as being a college tour guide. Then, they became involved in admissions panel discussions and became a senior interviewer for prospective students. Ann became known in college admissions offices, and pursued more opportunities in leadership programs, including on their crew team, which they were the leader of throughout college. After leaving college, Ann was interested in playing a part in the other side of the college admissions process, and began their first job as a college counselor at St. Edwards School, a K-12 school in Florida. Finally, Ann moved to Atlanta and chose Galloway for its overall culture and teaching philosophy.

The role of a college counselor is an essential part of every upper learning students’ Galloway experience, and Ann finds joy in seeing students learn and grow along the way. Some of their favorite components of the college counseling process include helping students develop their essays and getting to write recommendations of their own. When writing college recommendations, Ann notes how they love their job of crafting the student’s story and putting detail into curating the student’s story.

Mr. Z

When Mr. Z was younger, his dream job was to be an archaeologist. He says that this was before dinosaurs were “cool” and long before the Jurassic Park movies were released. This dream appeared to be short lived, since in college he received his Bachelors in Science in biology at Gettysburg College and minored in English. He did not intend to pursue a career in those fields, but they were his favorite subjects in high school so he decided to continue his studies of those subjects in college. He has been in the college profession since college; he was a tour guide at his alma mater. He had interned at the admissions office in his senior year of college.

He owns two dogs and has two saltwater fish tanks, which he says majority of his time, when he isn’t working, is spent cleaning them. When he was on a cruise to Alaska, they stopped at a port where there were glass art shops. There was a piece he instantly connected with, and it was huge, so of course he bargained the price down as low as he could and had to figure out how to travel with it. This started his glass collecting obsession (he has over a hundred pieces) and he says he is always excited for the annual Atlanta Dogwood Festival so that he can add to his collection!

We asked Mr. Z about the craziest job he has ever had, and his answer was a “deli/fish/hot foods section of a supermarket.” Obviously, I was curious as to why this was his craziest job, and he said it was because he learned how finicky people are to how thick their meat is sliced. 

Mr. Z wanted to become a college counselor because he was on the college side of the desk before he was on the high school side of the desk. He prefers the high school side because he is able to get to know the students and help them find what they are looking for in a school. His goal is to make a difference in helping them navigate their future. He became a counselor at Galloway because he “really appreciates the approach that Galloway took on individuality and allowing students to be their authentic self and not getting bogged down with uniforms or the traditional things that can definitely stifle someone's creativity.” 

Mr. Z has a different approach than some other college counselors: he doesn’t look at students as students. Instead, he interacts, talks, and treats students as young adults. He says that there could be some instances where the relationship between student and counselor could be rigid and formal: a more “traditional” form of counseling. This is not the approach he wants to take, and he doesn’t. His style is easygoing and tries to have a relaxed process where the student can feel comfortable, because he knows and understands how stressful the whole process is. The only way that the styles differ between our two counselors are their personalities. They both take the same calming approach to counseling, but the difference comes in based on personalities, and by default he may do things that Ann might not and vice versa.

Here is some insightful advice to hopefully help ease your mind about the process: everything works out the way it’s supposed to. It is an individualized process, and your path might be different than your friends. Everyone is looking for something different and it might feel like a universal thing that should be the same for everyone, but it isn’t. Don’t compete with your friends and try to do what feels right for you.

Mr. Z’s office is decorated with so many different things. He has a collection of IT bobbleheads lined up by the far wall, glass art lining the shelves, and a “GET OUT OF MY OFFICE NOW” button, which is the best part (in our opinion) about his office. Stop by and say hello to Mr. Z, and see if you can get him to press the button!

By Bay Tilley and Celia Hughes