Advisor relationships can make your time at Williston that much more valuable. Students have their advisors most of their Williston careers and, in many cases, develop very strong, lasting relationships.

Take, for example, seniors Natalie Aquadro and Emma Reynolds, and their respective advisors, Mr. Tuleja and Ms. Kay.

Natalie’s advisor is Mr. Tuleja, Academic Dean. Tuleja has been Natalie’s Cross-Country coach since her freshmen year, when she joined the team.

“I joined cross country freshmen year, because I had a lot of friends on the team and Mr. T always seemed cool,” Natalie said. “When I joined I realized that Mr. T was the greatest coach ever and the greatest choice ever, so he was my first choice as my advisor.”

Natalie and Tuleja text regularly, she said, and they even went to one of productions of Peter and the Starcatcher together.

After the Cross-Country season ends, Tuleja makes a great effort to get to every one of Natalie’s home meets for swimming and track.

Tuleja believes that the relationship between an advisor and advisee should be very close.

“I think as an advisor the first thing we should always try and do is be ready to listen and rather than giving advice all the time just be a good listener,” he said. “Sometimes when students talk to adults like us, they are not always looking for a solution. They are looking for a way to get their problems out in the open to someone who isn’t there parents.”

Natalie is not worried about their relationship after Natalie graduates and heads to college.

“I think I’ll still talk to him all the time,” she said. “I actually have him on speed dial, I don’t know if he knows that. Whenever I have a problem I’ll probably call him, except it might get difficult if he ends up moving to Ireland in a few years.  I bet he’ll coming to a few of my swim meets next year. I’ll also probably come to a few Cross-Country meets, because I can’t stay away.”

After her time at Williston, Natalie has many fond memories with Tuleja.

“My favorite memory with Mr. T is probably my senior day for cross country, because Mr. T writes notes for all the seniors, and it was the saddest note I’ve ever read,” she said. “Or. he comes to all of my swim meets and every time I finish a meet we do the hashtag symbol to each other.”

Mr. Tuleja’s favorite memory with Natalie goes all the way back to freshmen year when Natalie “fell down on the course at Kingwood Oxford and got all bloody, but she was still excited to be running. I taped her up and she went on and kept running the course.”

Tuleja also remembers Natalie’s first Cross-Country practice when she told him the team was amazing and that she was so glad that she joined.

Natalie believes she and Mr. Tuleja have the best advisory on campus, and she is willing to challenge anyone on that.

Emma Reynolds and Ms. Kay are up for the task.

Emma feels she can tell Kay [she calls her advisor by her first name, Liz] anything. Kay feels the same.

While Natalie and Tuleja have known each other for much longer, Emma’s relationship is quite different.

“I had four advisers in four years,” Emma said, “and basically since sophomore year she has been my de facto advisor. I always go visit her before class and complain to her and whine a lot, and she puts up with it.”

Kay is very happy to be Emma’s advisor, and cherishes their close bond.

“Unlike many kids I don’t have to babysit her, and all kids who become my advisees can handle the truth, and I will say that whether it be from soccer, or a very difficult class her sophomore year, she owns everything and I like that,” Kay said. “I think a piece of it is that she treats me like a person, and a lot of the time the students feel that we are too old to understand, and I don’t think the gap is as big as people make it out to be.”

Emma is also not worried about her relationship with Kay. Emma is going to Boston College in the fall; Kay’s younger brother is currently a freshman there. The two plan to see each other in Boston.

“I’m kind of psyched that I will be able to see her,” said Kay. “I also used to get sad when I saw my kids graduate, but it’s happy because it’s really the beginning of the relationships.”

Emma and Kay believe they have the best relationship on campus. “I don’t think you’re going to find a closer pair,” Emma said. “I really do think that, but we don’t need the title for that.”

Kay added, “If you are going to give me a trophy that we’ll have a different discussion, but we don’t need a title to prove [anything] to anyone.”