A batch of new post graduates (PGs) arrived on campus this fall, adding to the graduating class of 2020.

There are 19 PGs this year, from a variety of locations including across the U.S. as well as South America, Russia, Australia, and Central America.

A post grad is someone who has already graduated from high school and received a diploma. People choose to PG at boarding schools for athletic and academic reasons, and to better prepare for college.

Hollis Mann, a PG from South Hamilton, Mass., chose to attend Williston because she wanted to take some time off before college, but did not want to take a gap year.

“Being a PG is great because you can still work on yourself as a student and it was an opportunity to work on maturity and independence,” she said. “It was the right thing and will help me be more successful in college.”

Hollis was able to narrow it down to Williston in the end because she said our community was “stronger and better” than any of the other schools she toured.  “I could see that it is a place where people cared about each other,” she said.

She loves especially everyone in the dorm — she lives in Mem West — and her teachers. Hollis said, “It’s really cool to see how much all the teachers love what they’re doing because it makes class a lot of fun when teachers care.”

“Everybody in my dorm is super nice and welcoming, which has been helpful,” she added. “You really get to know everybody so much better at boarding school. There were people at my old school that I never met, but everyone seems to know each other here.”

Cooper Creek, a PG from Merredin, Australia, chose to attend Williston because he wants to play basketball in college. “At the time, I was very late in the recruiting season,” he said. “Coach Farmer watched me play at Hamden Hall [in Connecticut] and he gave me a call and we had a conversation.”

He continued, “I was athletically driven, but I only started to really get into basketball when I was 15, which is late compared to other players. I got better really quickly, and many schools have already contacted me.”

“However, they told me I needed one more year to improve my skills, SATs, and my GPA,” he said.

[Both Cooper and Hollis are members of The Willistonian staff.]

Cooper agreed with Hollis that the Williston community is very welcoming. He told The Willistonian, “Everyone is very helpful so far. Everyone is really nice. There are also a lot of events and it is really cool. It is really different than my previous high school because Williston is a lot bigger.”

He went to high school previously at Bishop Connolly in Fall River, Mass. He graduated from Bishop Connolly in 2019. Cooper is currently preparing and training for the upcoming basketball season.

This year’s PG class is one of the largest, according to Tommy Beaton, who helps run the PG program.

Beaton explained, “I think the PG program is special because of the commitments the students have already displayed towards the program. It’s a great group of kids that I’m very excited to work with. It’s already a group that is clearly immersed within the community.”