Faces of GPS: Meet Meredith Faxon, Assistant Director of Admissions
July 27, 2022
In the past few months, we have been lucky enough to welcome several new members to the GPS team. To introduce these outstanding individuals to the rest of the community, we’re bringing back Faces of GPS!
The first person we’d like to introduce is Meredith Faxon, our new Assistant Director of Admissions.
Get to know Meredith!
What are some fun facts about you?
In my free time you can find me walking my dog, reading, watching new and old films, hiking, skiing, or trying new restaurants with my partner. We bought our first home in July 2022 and I expect most of my free time will be spent on house projects!
Could you tell us a bit about your background?
I am a New Hampshire native and can honestly say I love living there. I grew up in Bedford, NH and spent a lot of time playing soccer, spending time with my brother and sister outside, and hiking, skiing, and camping. I started my undergraduate degree in Virginia, and ultimately decided to come back to the University of New Hampshire to finish my degree in Marketing and Economics. I met lifelong best friends at UNH, and was fortunate enough to spend a semester in London, where my world truly opened up. I traveled Europe nearly every weekend, and discovered my passion for exploration and global learning.
After graduation I spent two years working at the University of New Hampshire as an international student recruiter, where I frequented East and Southeast Asia. Some of the best times of my life were discovering these new countries that I never dreamed I would visit. This experience also opened my eyes to the field of higher education, admissions, program management, and recruitment, and I have not looked back since!
I spent three years working at Phillips Exeter Academy as the Assistant Director of Global Initiatives, where I was able to learn more about a niche internal admissions process. I worked on sending high school students abroad for cultural exchange, language learning, and DEI initiatives, and even got to visit Peru before the pandemic. It was during this time I also decided to pursue my graduate degree, a Master of Science in Higher Education, from Purdue University. This program was very similar to Brandeis GPS programs in that it was fully online, part-time, and asynchronous. My graduate experience at Purdue prepared me for a position working in a higher education online learning setting. Now here I am at Brandeis GPS! I feel well prepared for this role as I reflect back on my experiences in recruitment, admissions, sales, and my own online learning experience.
What inspired you to work at GPS?
I feel that I am able to offer multiple perspectives to my new role as Assistant Director of Admissions at Brandeis GPS. My experience working higher education sales and recruitment opened my eyes to admissions, and I knew I wanted to learn more. I also have been an online graduate student, so I can relate to both the prospective and current students at Brandeis GPS. Brandeis University is well known for its research activity and academic contributions to multiple fields, and I wanted to be a part of that as well.
What excites you the most about your new position at GPS? What are you most looking forward to?
I’m excited to help students begin a journey that will change the course of their careers and set them on a path they are passionate about. I remember making the decision to pursue an online graduate degree and it was a really exciting time for me. I’m happy to be a part of that alongside Brandeis GPS students, in addition to working with the great team here and learning more about higher education recruitment, Slate, and admissions/sales.
To connect with Meredith or any other member of the GPS admissions team, please visit our Admissions Advisors page.
Faces of GPS is an occasional series that profiles Brandeis University Graduate Professional Studies students, faculty and staff. Read more Faces of GPS stories.