Taylor James

Age: 18

Birthday: April 7, 1989

Hometown: Sunapee, New Hampshire

College: Dickinson College

Email: jamesta@dickinson.edu

Residence

I am originally from Andover, Massachusetts but moved to Sunapee, New Hampshirethe summer going into 8th grade. http://www.town.sunapee.nh.us/Pages/index

Schools Attended

Shawsheen Elementary School
Bancroft Elementary School
Sunapee Middle High School
Holderness School
Dickinson College

I attended Shawsheen Elementary School from K-2 grade. Since Shawsheen Elementary School only went to third grade, I attended Bancroft Elementary school from 3-5 grade. After Bancroft I went to Doherty Middle School for grades 6 and 7. Then my family decided to move to Sunapee, New Hampshire. I attended Sunapee Middle High School for my 8th grade year. For my four years of high school I went to Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Holderness is a boarding school located about one hour from my house in Sunapee. After graduating from Holderness School this past Spring, I now attend Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Family

The James family is quite unique, or at least we think so. I have a dad named Steve James and my mom is Laura James originally Laura Richards. I have two sisters, Carter James (but she goes by Tink) and Sarah Filler. Tink is my real blood sister, and Sarah is someone I consider my sister. She started working as a nanny at the ripe young age of 13. She started lived very near us and eventually began staying at our house quite frequently. She moved in with us regularly and began to go to the Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts as well as helping my parents whenever possible with nannying. She is now married and lives in Watch Hill, Rhode Island with her husband and three children. I grew up in the town of Andover, Massachusetts until I was 13. We then moved to Sunapee, New Hampshire. We had always spent the weekends during the winter in Sunapee at my grandparents house skiing and spent at least one month in Sunapee during the summer. We moved up and lived at my grandparents house for a little less then a year and moved into a house we built the spring of my eighth grade year. We have lived in Sunapee ever since. My dad lives and works in Boston during the week. We have an apartment next to the Museum of Science and he commutes back and fourth on weekends.

Pets

Throughout my lifetime I have had many pets. From dogs to cats, frogs, hamsters, bunnies, rats, fish, horses, pigs, hermit crabs, and snails. My family loves animals, especially my mum and my sister, Tink. My mom used to show dogs before she had children and has recently tried to persue that interest. It is hard to buy a "perfect" dog, which you essentially need for showing. To us, the dogs we have recently gotten are perfect, but lack important qualities needed for showing. For now my mom has stopped her interest in showing but maybe later she will pick it up again. She also used to house dogs before they had an owner. She also has trained dogs in the past which is why our dogs now are so well behaved. Now we have four dogs, Pipian, Rossignal, Talulah, and Mogul. Pipian is a red, short-haired dachshund, Rossignal is a black lab, Talulah is a black and tan, wire-hair dachshund, and Mogul is a chocolate lab. They enjoy running around in our front yard, which is where they spend most of their days. The "big dogs" as my dad calls them love going on runs, going out on the boat and swimming, and car rides. Talulah also enjoys car rides. They are all very well behaved dogs and I enjoy their company very much. I love them and miss them a lot when I am at school!

Sports

I have played a variety of sports throughout my childhood. I started out with soccer, lacrosse, and gymnastics. Gymnastics was my main passion when I was younger and I competed at a very high level. i eventually gave up after realizing it was controlling much to much of my life as a kid only in 5th grade. I switched to dance which I had started when I was very young. I took classes in tap, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, and modern dance. I continued my love for dance through eighth grade. After moving to Sunapee in eighth grade I decided to try soccer again. I had a lot of fun but realized that I was not quite as talented as I had thought. During the summers when I was younger I competed in sailing.I had been playing lacrosse since 4th grade and was continuing my love for the sport even though Sunapee school district didn't offer it as a sport. I played in the neighboring town of New London because the sport was not offered through school until you were in high school. When I first went to Holderness School I realized I needed to play another sport. (they require you to play three sports your Freshman and Sophmore years.) I picked up Field Hockey which I loved. I had also been ski racing since I was very young and continued my love for the sport into High School. I played JV Field Hockey for two years, and decided to try out my Junior year of high school to see if I would make the team. I ended up making the team which was very exciting since I had only been playing for a short period of time. I was on the lacrosse team beginning in 10th grade and continued to play at a very high level. I joined a summer/fall league which was very competitive. Freshmen through Junior year I competed at a very high level in ski racing. I went to the Junior Olympics when I was a Freshmen. I did very well in skiing but decided to take a break my Senior winter and I did the high school ski team instead. My Senior year of Field Hockey we won the NEPSAC Championships which was a great accomplishment. After putting a lot of time into my sports I decided to take a break and focus more on my school work when I started going to Dickinson this fall. I love to run and work out and try to keep these activities at a high priority because I really enjoy doing them.

Work Employment

The Quack Shack
Lake Sunapee Yacht Club
Filler Family

I have worked for the past three summers. I began working at The Quack Shack, the best spot for ice cream in Sunapee, New Hampshire. While I was working there I also worked as a part-time junior sailing instructor. I had worked a few days during the previous summer as a junior sailing instructor but I worked most mornings and sailed in my own class in the afternoons. Summer going into my senior year I worked only at The Quack Shack. I was in charge of the shop when the manager was away and worked usually six or seven days a week. This past summer I was a live in nanny for the Filler Family. (Sarah the mom is one of my sisters.) I from the end of June through most of the first week of August.