The Uncommon Team
Maggie O’Brien | She/They
Founder
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Maggie O’Brien is a queer writer, artist, and educator who grew up outside of Boston and now lives in the Berkshires. She founded Uncommon to reimagine college and career planning, and to encourage people to think deeply, tell their stories, and follow unconventional paths.
Maggie has coached dozens of students through the college application process on their way to some of the country’s top schools, and has worked for the Admissions Office of a selective liberal arts school, a college access non-profit, and College Essay Guy. Maggie also has a decade of experience working in the outdoor industry as a guide, program developer, and risk management advisor for organizations like Overland Summers and Women’s Wilderness, and deeply values experiential education and real-world immersion. In all her work, Maggie supports her students through genuine connection and a keen understanding of diversity and belonging.
Maggie has her B.A. from Colorado College in Creative Writing for Social Change, attended the Traveling School semester program in high school, and went on a gap year in Nepal before starting college. Her writing has been recognized by nationally acclaimed publications, and her creative work has brought her to public radio production, museum design, story slamming, ceramics, and more. You’ll usually find her hiking in New England forests, doing yoga, watching live music, and making her own teas.
Wayan Buschman | She/Her
College Counselor
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Wayan Buschman (pronounced “why-ON”) is an artist, writer, tutor, and educator, with a background working in the Semester School Network. She was born and raised in New York City, which is also where she lives currently.
Wayan’s background in one-on-one mentorship started during her undergraduate years at Colorado College. While Wayan studied for her BA in English literature, she worked as a writing consultant at the Ruth Barton Writing Center, where she helped to brainstorm and workshop papers with students across all disciplines.
After graduation, she worked at the High Mountain Institute in Leadville, CO as the English Apprentice. She then made the leap to Napa, California, where she served as the Humanities Teacher at the Oxbow School for Art and Academics. Outside of formal classes at Oxbow, Wayan arranged exploratory college prep electives, college essay writing workshops, and art portfolio critiques. Wayan still teaches and tutors in the virtual sphere and, when she’s not working, you can find her playing off-key banjo tunes, drawing comics, and reading short stories.
Alex Tomb | She/Her
Gap Year Counselor
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Alex Tomb is an accomplished wilderness educator, world traveler, and wildlife ecologist who grew up in both Southern California and Connecticut. For now, she’s made her home in the forests of Northern California.
With nearly a decade of international travel experience spanning 26 countries and four continents, Alex brings firsthand expertise in helping young folks design transformative and culturally immersive adventures that help them discover their authentic path forward. From conducting wildlife research in Madagascar to building homes in rural Cambodia, Alex's personal gap year experiences inform her uniquely qualified perspective on crafting life-changing gap year journeys.
Alex has spent the last three years as Head of Wilderness Leadership Expeditions at Camp Onaway, designing and leading month-long backcountry expeditions for teens. This role, combined with her position as director of the Trips Department and her work developing nature-immersion programs at White Pine Programs, has honed her ability to mentor young people through challenging transitions and growth experiences.
Alex graduated summa cum laude from Skidmore College with a B.A. in Integrative Biology, and is an alumna of the High Mountain Institute semester program. Whether she's teaching conservation in rural villages, goat-herding in the mountains of Slovenia, or walking alongside an indigenous hunter-gatherer tribe, Alex intimately understands the transformative power of saying yes to the adventure of a lifetime.
Nylah Joran | She/Her
Common Ground Mentor
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Nylah is an undergraduate student at Harvard studying Government and African American Studies with plans to pursue a language citation in Spanish. Coming from Los Angeles, she is passionate about the intersection of public policy, technology, and youth advocacy, particularly within communities of color.
As a first-generation college student, Nylah brings a deep commitment to equity and empowerment. She served as a Core Team Leader with Students Deserve, a coalition of over 1,000 students, educators, and community organizers fighting educational inequity across the Los Angeles Unified School District. She also served as a Peer Health Advocate with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, where she led mental health initiatives and spoke at district events on issues impacting students.
Nylah is deeply committed to mentorship and community impact. She has helped numerous students navigate the college application process, offering personalized guidance on essays and applications that center their lived experiences rather than watering them down. She believes in the power of authenticity and wants every student to understand the value of their story and background.
In her free time, Nylah loves playing tennis, singing, drinking matcha lattes, creating content, listening to music, and spending time with friends.
Madison Newbound | She/Her
College Essay Counselor
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Madison Newbound is a writer who recently relocated to the Berkshires from New York City. After years working as an editorial assistant at Penguin Random House and ICM partners (now CAA), she quit book publishing to work in restaurants and pursue her own writing. In 2024, she published her debut novel, Misrecognition, with Simon & Schuster in the U.S., and Bloomsbury in the U.K, and is currently at work on her second book.
Madison graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University, with a B.A. in International Literary and Visual Studies. She spent her senior year at Tufts in Paris, where she lived with a host family and completed coursework at the Sorbonne. Over the summers in college, she worked for the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France, where she led hikes, organized educational excursions, and helped facilitate academic programming for both high school and college students. Before learning French in college, Madison attended School Year Abroad in Zaragoza, Spain.
When she is not reading or writing, Madison is at the local sauna, taking a walk in nature, or beading necklaces for friends and loved ones.
Louise Kim | They/Them
Common Ground Mentor
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Louise is an undergraduate student at Harvard University studying Sociology, English Literature, and Economics. During their time at Harvard, they have studied abroad in Milan, Trento, and Siena, Italy, and Tbilisi, Georgia. Born in Seoul, South Korea, they grew up in New York City with a deep love for literature, social justice, and fostering meaningful connections across cultures.
Louise is an internationally recognized published poet, featured in publications such as Frontier Poetry, Paper Crane Journal, and Chautauqua Journal and nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Their debut poetry collection, Wonder is the Word, was published in May 2023.
In addition to their academic and creative pursuits, Louise brings two years of extensive experience in tutoring, mentoring, and college counseling. They have worked with students from diverse backgrounds—ranging from Los Angeles, California to Lyon, France—helping them navigate the college admissions process with confidence and authenticity. Louise specializes in empowering first-generation and low-income students to present their best selves through personalized guidance on applications, essays, extracurricular planning, and interview preparation.
Louise spends their free time listening to Hozier, flower-watching, drinking matcha with friends, and going on walks along the Charles River.