David H. Winton Baccalaureate Award

Laura Kontoules ’20

Laura Kontoules, a creative writing major and studio art minor from Salem, Mass., is as committed to the arts as she is to academic achievement. An Alpha Chi National Honor Society member who graduated in just three years, Laura used her time at Colby-Sawyer to explore her passions in art, writing, theater and music.

As a member of CSC Players, Laura performed in the musical production Legally Blonde her first year, and in the play Lysistrata her second year. She was a member of the Colby-Sawyer Singers and Dance Club and she took private voice lessons through the college. She was also a member of Word Order and the Anime Club.

Laura completed her internship with the Salem Athenaeum in Salem, Mass., an independent membership library and cultural center that hosts literary, musical and social events. As an intern, Laura helped to plan and organize the 2019 Salem Literary Festival, a weekend event designed “to inspire and promote literacy and a love of books and reading by creating connections through sharing stories.” The 2019 event, held in three venues, featured 60 authors and drew an audience of about 400.

Laura plans to spend the next year further exploring music and theater and developing her creative projects while working as a page at the Salem Public Library. In the future, she hopes to publish chapbooks of poetry, as well as a young adult novel titled Jailbird, which she started as her Colby-Sawyer Capstone project.