Katie Livingston ’00

It's a good thing Katie Livingston doesn't need a lot of sleep... or a predictable schedule. Living on a tour bus with “American Idol” finalists last fall, she had to grab whatever time she could to do her job—helping aspiring stars keep up with their school work.

“In these cases, school occurs whenever and wherever you can fit it in: backstage, on the bus, in a hotel room or a dressing room... even at midnight, after a concert,” says the biology grad. “Each student had their own curriculum set forth by their local high school, which I then executed.” As the group’s only tutor on the road, Livingston taught every subject. One of her pupils was Fantasia (2004 winner), who dropped out of school at 16 and was studying for her general education diploma (GED).

“Fantasia, George, and Jennifer are absolutely hilarious,” she says of her bus mates. “It was like one big karaoke night. After a concert, the kids couldn’t stop singing. They’d beat out a rhythm and make up songs until three in the morning.” A veteran of many Abbey Players productions, their teacher wasn’t shy about getting into the act.

Livingston taught biology at a public high school before moving to New York City, where she divided her time between professional acting and private tutoring. She did commercials, acted in independent films, and appeared as an extra in an episode of the TV show “Law and Order.” Through referrals, she got tutoring work with homebound students and minors in “the business,” including Idol contestants in the city for publicity trips.

When it came time for the top 10 finalists to go on tour, they requested their New York-based tutor. Having been married less than a year, she says, it was “kind of a strange thing to do”—but she accepted the job. Back in New York with her law student spouse, she is acting in films and commercials, taking acting classes, tutoring, and exploring options for graduate school in biological sciences or medicine.