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Class of 2017 Senior Profile: Katie Balun

Melissa Tassoni
Katie Balun ’17 has earned a reputation as Shipley’s go-to student filmmaker. Since eighth grade, she has made countless videos in support of Shipley community events and service projects, and in her role as All School President, to highlight the work of student government.

Next year, she is taking her passion for filmmaking to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where, she says, “I’m looking to focus on growing as an artist and really taking the time to learn about the craft of filmmaking and cultivate my skills to the farthest extent that I can.”

Balun attributes her love for filmmaking and directing to her eighth grade computer class and to her work with theater director Ozzie Jones, who gave her the opportunity to work with him on a professional theater production in the summer after eighth grade, when she was just 14. “Because he took a chance on someone who was literally a little kid, it spiraled into this big thing. Now, that’s what I’m going to college for. That’s what I want to do with my life.”

As a “lifer” who has attended Shipley since Kindergarten, Balun considers the School her home. “I’ve moved seven different times,” she says, “but Shipley’s always been the one constant thing in my life. When I come home to this area, it’s not really coming home unless I make a stop here, at Shipley.”
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The Shipley School is a private, coeducational day school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, located in Bryn Mawr, PA. Through our commitment to educational excellence, we develop within each student a love of learning and a desire for compassionate participation in the world.