Mamaroneck High School is known to foster and support creative talent. From the Music Department, to the Art Department, to Videography and PACE, MHS gives students the space to experiment with different forms of expression. This year, several graduating seniors are planning to take those passions beyond high school and into college.
Eli Golden (’26) will attend NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music this fall where he plans to major in recorded music. Golden said the program will help him learn “how to be a successful artist” while also understanding “the other side of the music industry” through its business focus.
For Golden, music has always been part of life. He expressed that he has “been surrounded by music [his] whole life,” with many musicians in his family. He wrote his first song when he was around eight years old and now writes a song a day, describing songwriting as “an outlet” for him.
At MHS, Golden was involved in Pops Orchestra and where he loved performing in a group. As he looks ahead to NYU, he is especially excited to find “people who do the same thing” at a high level. His goals are ambitious: he hopes to get signed to “a smart record deal,” maybe win a Grammy, start his own record label and continue growing as an artist. Above all, Golden said he hopes to become “an artist known for helping other artists.”
Morgan Vanderwoude (’26) will also pursue the arts in college, majoring in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. Vanderwoude hopes to eventually become a tattoo artist, a path he finds meaningful because tattooing allows artists to create lasting and impactful work. He also noted that tattooing “now especially… offers a more stable job opportunity still within the art sphere.” His interest in the field grew even more through his senior internship at a tattoo shop, which he said he thoroughly enjoyed.
At MHS, Vanderwoude “took all the art classes up to AP Art,” and outside of school, he continued developing his portfolio by taking lessons at One River in a class focused on portfolio improvement. At RISD, Vanderwoude is looking forward to studying illustration further, including a new class the school offered this year focused on tattooing.
Isabella Ostuni ’26 will take a different creative path, majoring in film and television production at Loyola Marymount University. Ostuni said her passion for film began at MHS, explaining that without the MHS video program, she “would never have had the opportunity to discover a passion for filmmaking or know it was attainable.” She added that Ms. Elmoznino’s guidance was especially important in helping her pursue this interest.
Ostuni sees filmmaking as a medium that brings together everything she has learned. “Every class I took or book and research paper I read contributes to my background and knowledge base as a filmmaker,” she said. In addition to her work in the MHS video program, Ostuni worked as a fellow at BRIC, a Brooklyn arts initiative, where she helped produce a small youth film festival. She is currently interested in directing or cinematography and plans to use college as a place to “explore different career paths in film and see what fits best.”
As Golden, Vanderwoude, and Ostuni prepare to graduate, they represent the many ways MHS students continue to pursue the arts beyond high school. Whether through music, illustration, tattooing, or film, their work shows the importance of creative programs that help students discover what they love and imagine where those passions can take them next.
