After 50 years of graduating classes, Linganore alumni are spread across the world in all different professions. One alumna, Elizabeth Maestri, a 1999 graduate, is now a playwright, who has had her plays reviewed  in The Washington Post, DC Metro Theater Arts, and other theater papers.

The Maestri name may sound familiar. At the 2013 distinguished graduates ceremony her brother, David Maestri, was recognized in Business. His career is centered more heavily in technology, as he was recognized for his accomplished success with the facebook game Mob Wars.

Elizabeth Maestri’s success has not been by sitting at a cubicle for hours at a time, nor was it born overnight. Ever since she was a Lancer herself, she found herself drawn to the stage and world of theater.

“I wanted to be an actor!” Maestri said. Though it was not always her dream to be a playwright, about three and a half years ago she began to turn away from acting and become more serious about her writing.

“I didn’t start writing plays until very recently, but I’ve always loved to write. I started journaling when I was in the second grade and wrote short stories and a mini ‘novel’ when I was a kid,” Maestri said.

Her plays are Owl Moon, Condo Condo Condoland, Fallbeil, Somersaulting, and House Beautiful. Fallbeil is a 2011 DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Young Artists Program winner, and has been reviewed in Washington City Paper, BroadwayWorld, and DC Metro Theater Arts.

She remembers her time in high school clearly, and the teachers that made a difference in her life and career. One of these teachers is Kevin Lloyd, the band director.

“Liz was very smart, very quick witted, [and] had a terrific sense of humor,” Lloyd said. “She had terrific potential.”

Lloyd helped land Maestri her first job at an apprenticeship in the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, which led to other jobs and helped launch her career. She worked as an assistant to the stage director over the summer and got her first chance to work in a professional environment, which Lloyd said is very different from that of a school theatrical production.

According to Lloyd, Maestri worked in both technical and on stage rolls in the plays she was involved at in her time in high school. “She was highly skilled and motivated,” said Lloyd.

Maestri doesn’t just remember the teachers who changed her life, but also she celebrates the little memories that make high school a unique and special time.

“I remember a lot of things, because Linganore was pretty awesome. A few of many memories: Drama class in general, the NYC band trip, the gross bar soap in the bathrooms, all of Freimuth’s classes, cafeteria “food,” stapling like 200 sponge “stones” onto the Once Upon A Mattress set, the Davis Street Band, learning a time step for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, freezing nights at Frederick High after swim practice, reading Catcher in the Rye, [and] the feeling of hearing the last bell on my last day of high school.”

Even though Maestri is now making a name through her creativity, English and creative writing were not her favorite subjects in school. “Calculus. I was never top of my class (and I had to endure the shame of sharing a class with my whizkid little brother!), but I loved doing math. It helped me relax.”

Once she completed high school, Maestri majored in Theater and earned her B.A. from the University of Maryland. She said, “It’s much, much harder on the brain and soul than you might think.”

Her plays are influenced by, “Loss, bravery in the face of loss, magical realism, manufactured culture, [and] nature.”

Maestri does have plans for the future. “I’d like to find more ways to work outside the D.C. area. And find an agent. And get into New Dramatists. And maybe write for TV. And maybe win an Emmy,” Maestri said.

For current Lancers, Maestri has some words of advice.

“Become as literate as possible. The ability to master language will serve you in every area of your life.”

“Remember that this is one chapter in a (hopefully) very long book. The things and people you’re dealing with–good, evil, hype, gossip, popularity, invisibility, wacky hormones, boredom, whatever else–these are not permanent fixtures in your life. Your friends, enemies, and most importantly, you, are all going to change.”

“Don’t drink and drive.”

You can learn more about Maestri and her plays on her blog.