We caught up with seven alumni celebrating a reunion year—all from classes 25 years out and younger— and asked them to reflect on who they were “then” as students at Williston Northampton. The alumni recounted a few nostalgic tales from the past—and also gave us a peek into their lives now.
Katie France ’08
5th reunion
then Katie France came to Williston Northampton searching for something. “I was a teenager struggling with my identity, not unlike other teenagers,” she says. “I was questioning my ability to contribute to any particular place. Williston was such a welcoming, warm community for me to explore my talents, instead of telling me I had to be a varsity athlete or telling me I had to be this or that.” What she found was science. “Williston helped me discover my love for science,” she says. “I already knew I had an interest in chemistry that I wanted to pursue. AP chemistry helped me continue on my path to be a chemistry major in college.” Outside the science lab, Ms. France soared. “I found this friend group at Williston and I felt like I didn’t have to try to be cool or pretty,” she says. “I felt like I could be 100 percent myself.” Ms. France and her friends even had a fake language. “People probably thought we were crazy, and we probably were,” she says. “They remain really good friends of mine to this day.”
Matthew Gardiner ’88 25th reunion
then Matthew Gardiner was a self-professed “nerd” at Williston Northampton who was “very interested in homework.” Unhappy at his previous school, Dr. Gardiner found other people at Williston Northampton just as happy to study on a Saturday night as he was.
“I felt like I wasn’t alone,” he says. “In public school, I felt like I was the outcast and that no one really understood me. But [at Williston Northampton] there were people I could relate to. It was so nice to be at a place where doing well was rewarded and wasn’t looked down upon.” Dr. Gardiner learned how to think critically, “how to assess a situation, make a judgment call, and tell if things were true or not true,” he says. “It wasn’t rote. It was, question this. What’s the underlying message of truth beneath the superficial qualities that everybody sees?” Occasionally he did put the books down and have a little fun, like the time he painted the campus lion: “It was Easter. We painted it pink with yellow polka dots. It was really ugly.” now As an eye surgeon and head of the ER at Massachusetts Eye and Ear,
Dr. Gardiner gets up close and personal with his patients. “The eye is such an important part of someone’s face. It’s such a personal thing that a lot of physicians have a hard time dealing with eye injuries — they’re skeeved out by it.” Married to a radiologist, Dr. Gardiner says their dinner conversations annoy his three kids. “We talk about crazy things we’ve seen over dinner,” he says. “It drives the kids nuts. They’ll say, ‘Can you please stop talking about the gross eyeballs?’” When he’s not examining eyes and teaching at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Gardiner, who skied, ran varsity track, and sang with the Caterwaulers at Williston Northampton, hits the slopes with his family.
now Dentistry, says Ms. France, is like a puzzle — and that’s precisely why she likes it; she’s currently a first-year dental student at the University of Pennsylvania. “I like the fact that you work directly with the person to figure out what they want, and the scientific way, the economic way, all of these different factors that come together to find the best treatment for each patient,” she says. “And each mouth is different, so it’s kind of like a constant evolving question.” Before choosing dentistry, Ms. France took a turn as a science researcher. “I did a lot of exploration — what do I like, what do I want out of life? I realized I wanted a more person-centric career.” She said she’s enjoying her first year in dental school, but could do without the “long lectures.” “Williston spoiled me with a lot of interaction and discussion,” she says.
spring 2013 Bulletin 23