Building Blocks in Learning and Love
Sara and Dan Pouladian '99

by Ryan DeJoy

Sara and Dan Pouladian are committed to Landmark for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is because they met each other here when they were in high school. In many ways they are that fairy tale couple. That quote “If I never met you, I would miss you for the rest of my life,” applies to us, Sara says about husband Dan.

Sara arrived here as a 10 year old from Florida to attend the Summer Program and says, “I absolutely fell in love with Landmark because for once I fit in,” and she continued to enroll in the Summer Program for the next five years. Dan started at Landmark in high school and says, “I remember how nervous I was but I was reading at a 3rd grade level in 8th grade. This was unacceptable to me and my family so we knew this was the right choice.”

By the time Sara reached 11th grade, her mother decided that it was time to come to Landmark as a boarding student. “I remember the drive up the steep hill with my mom, my roommate Ea, and my sister Goldie. A group of boys were hanging out as we pulled up and helped us unload the car. Dan was in that group along with two of our closest friends to this day, Shai Mashiach ’98 and Mario Marcano ’99.”

Sara and Dan ended up in math class together. She was the only girl in the class and remembers that Dan always saved her a seat. Soon sparks started to fly and they both remember the day when Sara blurted out “I think you’re amazing and I want to be with you.” We remember so many days walking the bridge, holding hands, and making plans for our future. Meeting Dan was the most life-changing moment of my life,” Sara says. “I will forever be grateful to Landmark for being the place where we met.”

Both Sara and Dan enjoyed great success at Landmark and talk passionately about how their experience here fostered achievement, confidence, and pride. Dan says, “What I miss the most about the school is how truly close everyone becomes, almost like a second family – both teachers and classmates.”

When it was time to attend college, Sara chose Northeastern University and Dan attended Wentworth Institute of Technology where they spent the next four years right across Huntington Avenue from each other in Boston. Soon after graduation they partnered up in the real estate business, becoming top residential sales agents in the Boston area. Dan is now running his own real estate and investment firm and Sara manages over two million square feet of mixed-use properties in Boston.

“As you can see,” says Sara, “our relationship has been about setting up the building blocks of our goals and success. Landmark is at the foundation of that structure.”  

Article originally published in The Lantern Summer 2015.

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