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The Story Teller: Christina McDowell '03
As a girl growing up in Washington, D.C., Christina McDowell ’03 did not dream that she might someday pen a memoir, co-produce a documentary or write a novel - all things she has accomplished within the past 15 years. Instead, she dreamed about telling stories as an actress.
She got her start on the stage at St. Andrew’s and had a number of roles in television before her life was forever changed by a phone call from her mother.
In 2004, she answered the phone to learn that her father, Tom Prousalis, was arrested for fraud. Soon after, credit card bills came pouring in – her father had run up debt in her name before being arrested. It was years before McDowell was able to get her life back on track. She began writing to help get through what she experienced. “It took a long time to feel comfortable telling my story,” McDowell said. “It was not an easy time for me. It took years to understand it and come to terms and share it with people."
She began speaking about her journey through the Center for Restorative Justice in Los Angeles and it was through that experience that she took on a role as co-producer of “Survivors Guide to Prison” a documentary currently available on Netflix which includes Susan Sarandon, Patricia Arquette, Danny Glover, Quincy Jones, Ice-T, Cynthia Nixon and Danny Trejo, among others. She also wrote her memoir, “After Perfect: A Daughter’s Memoir” and founded a non-profit, POPS (Pain of the Prison System) which supports teenagers who have been impacted as a result of having a loved one in prison.
Through it all, she has remained true to her calling of being a storyteller. Whether performing on stage, writing and speaking about her experiences – which she did at St. Andrew’s this spring – or even creating a story from scratch (she recently finished an untitled first novel), McDowell has persevered through her trials and travails to become the storyteller she is today.
“There has been something innately, always inside of me, that has a desire for truth, and I think artists and storytellers are drawn to that however they choose to express that,” McDowell said. “Call me naïve but I never thought of it as a risk. It was just something I needed to do.”
Christina McDowell is one of 12 alumni featured in the 40th anniversary magazine, published in May 2019. Learn more about the history of St. Andrew's and the impact our alumni are having around the world by reading our spring magazine.
Christina McDowell is one of 12 alumni featured in the 40th anniversary magazine, published in May 2019. Learn more about the history of St. Andrew's and the impact our alumni are having around the world by reading our spring magazine.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is a private, coeducational college preparatory day school for students in preschool (Age 2) through grade 12, located in Potomac, Maryland.