Krista Vernoff, an Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter and showrunner for Grey’s Anatomy, first came to Omega when she was 19 years old and fell in love with the campus and the community.
"I returned every summer from 1990 through 1995, working in almost every department at some point," Vernoff said. "Honestly, I never cared much about where I was working. I came back every year for the community, and for the classes, and for the feeling of safety and kindness—the warm energetic embrace that I felt every moment I spent on campus. I grew up there in so many ways."
As part of the Seasonal Staff experience, she studied many subjects in the staff classes, but one class in particular became the most pivotal to her future career.
“I took my very first creative writing class on campus," she said. "The writing circles at Omega were supportive and nurturing, and the lessons I learned in those classes—honesty, specificity, and vulnerability on the page—are lessons I teach and use in my work as a writer today."