Six years ago, the first members of the Class of 2016 arrived on campus as seventh graders. Every year since, new students have joined the class. Now, in the final trimester of their Williston experience, the senior class has 134 members who have experienced their years on campus in many different ways. Recently, The Willistonian interviewed a few seniors at Williston to recall memories and share thoughts on their time here.

Alyssa Stevens

6 Year Senior

What was your first memory at Williston: The first day of seventh grade, I came in and immediately felt welcomed by everyone and their enthusiasm and excitement for the beginning of this new journey.

What is one thing you will miss the most about Williston: As cliche as it sounds, I will miss seeing my best friends every day. I will also miss how genuine and caring the teachers and faculty are at Williston. In my past six years at Williston, I have experienced a nurturing community where I am surrounded by people and resources who are there to help me succeed.

What is the most important thing you have learned during your time at Williston: Be kind and have a positive outlook on life. Many of the people I look up to and admire at Williston are just genuinely good, caring people, and I have realized how much of a difference kindness makes in the world.

Amelia DeFrancis

5 Year Senior

What was your first memory at Williston: Meeting Ms. Fulcher at middle school.

What drastic changes have occurred during your time here: Dining hall has changed a lot, the emphasis on the school mission has increased, and boys basketball got better.

What is one thing you will miss the most about Williston: The teachers and my adviser, Mr. T.

What is the most important thing you have learned during your time at Williston: How to be a responsible student and how important it is to be excited about what you are learning.

Who has your favorite teacher been: My favorite teacher has been Ms. Klumpp

What has your favorite tradition been at Williston: Sports assemblies

Andrew Shiau

4 Year Senior

What was your first memory at Williston: My first memory at Williston was sitting in the common room of 194 meeting all the other freshmen boarding boys.

What is the most important thing you have learned during your time at Williston: The most important thing I have learned during my time at Williston is that there is no risk in trying new things.

Who has your favorite teacher been: My favorite teacher is Mr. Choo.

What has your favorite tradition been at Williston: My favorite Williston Tradition has been the bell ringing after every athletic victory.

Jasmin Movassaghi

3 Year Senior

What was your first memory at Williston: My first memory at Williston was getting Williston cake-batter ice cream during the first week. Yum!

What is the most important thing you have learned during your time at Williston: Definitely, one thing that is very important is to always do your homework!

Who has your favorite teacher been: My favorite teacher at Williston is Mr. Tyree.

What has your favorite tradition been at Williston: My favorite tradition at Williston is definitely Willy Gras that we have every year in the Spring.

Sam Geschickter

2 Year Senior

What was the big thing that happened the first year you came: The Ford Hall Syfur rap video.

What drastic changes have occurred during your time here: The most drastic change was the senior class from last year leaving because they brought a lot of energy to the school.

What is one thing you will miss the most about Williston: I will definitely miss the community here the most and also how nice the campus is.

What is the most important thing you have learned during your time at Williston: The most important thing I’ve learned at Williston is time management. You’re expected to do a lot almost every day.

Who has your favorite teacher been: I think Mr. Harper has been the best teacher I’ve had because he is very energetic and passionate about teaching music.

What has your favorite tradition been at Williston: My favorite tradition here is Willy Gras.

Henry Miller

1 Year Senior

What is the most important thing you have learned during your time at Williston: The most important thing that I’ve learned at Williston is recognizing the viewpoints of other people and getting to experience them first hand. Whether it be political views, religion, country of origin or whatever else, Williston seems to have a demographic that is truly representative of our world.

Who has your favorite teacher been: My favorite teacher this year is Mr. Berghoff. I have never had a class with him but he is on duty in my dorm and we have had many conversations about many different things. He is a very smart man I enjoy speaking with him.

What has your favorite tradition been at Williston: My favorite Williston tradition is the painting of the lion, albeit I have not done it yet. I plan to before I graduate.

Zach Bernstein

1 Year Senior (PG)

What was your first memory at Williston: My first memory of Williston was my initial visit and tour with Chris Lansill. 

What is the most important thing you have learned during your time at Williston: The most important thing I’ve learned here is to go after your dreams and compete on and off the field. Things aren’t given, somethings are provided but meant to be extended, and the rest are worked for. 

Who has your favorite teacher been: I have a few favorite teachers. Mr. Berghoff has been a miracle worker on duty and in the classroom. He inspires me to be like him every day. I want to take Chemistry to the next level and become as intelligent as he is. Fantastic guy outside of academics as well. Mrs. Sawyer as well. She has really kicked my butt in the Writing Center and in AP Literature. She has turned me into a good writer and be engaged in an English class. I enjoy that class; I used to be very apathetic towards English. Both great people and I want to stay in touch with them for years to come.