Belmont's top 10 graduates want to be 'independent,' 'passionate,' 'happy' adults

BELMONT — The top 10 graduating seniors from Belmont High School are heading off in many different directions after graduation. Some are pursuing a career in medicine, some in creative endeavors, one in law enforcement, and a couple intend to join a family business. All of them, though, had defining moments while at BHS, and some said their professional trajectory was set while in the classroom of a Belmont educator.

Griffin Hicks, who graduated early, said he’s planning to continue working at an art supply and framing shop his mother runs in Concord.

“Mainly, I’m helping with picture framing right now,” Hicks said, though he added he also serves as the store’s in-house IT department, helping to troubleshoot the point-of-sales program.

Hicks is also toying with the idea of establishing his own brand.

“One thing I’m thinking about is live-streaming video games on a platform called Twitch,” Hicks said.

Hicks, who transferred to BHS from a private school, said a favorite memory is his first computer graphics class, taught by Steven Bouffard.

“We had a lot of creative freedom in that class, which is something I hadn’t experienced before,” he said. “I put a lot of time and effort into this project, and I appreciated my teacher for allowing me to keep working on it.”

He has since acquired some programs that will allow him to continue exercising his digital artistry at home. “I’d like to play around with that,” he said, adding that he hopes to be “creative” as an adult.

Abigail Clark is going to Plymouth State University to study environmental science. How will she apply those studies? “I’m not sure yet. I’m going to see what I can get into in college and go from there.”

Clark has a friend who is majoring in environmental science, and her account of campus life, combined with Clark’s interests, seemed like a match. “I’ve always been interested in hiking and camping. When I started to learn about the science of [nature], I wanted to study it further.”

Clark is in the school band, National Honor Society, and works part time at Sunflower Natural Foods. Her favorite high school memory was from senior trip, when the class went to Orlando, Florida. “I really liked Cocoa Beach, just sitting on the beach outside,” she said.

As an adult, Clark hopes to be “happy,” she said.

“Hopefully I’ll be in a job that I like, and having the life that I want to live, and not the life that I feel I need to have.”

Emma Cullen will be matriculating to Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, where she will study graphic design.

“Either I want to find a business that works with graphic design, or I want to start my own company for graphic design,” Cullen said. Her interest in the subject was sparked by a class she took her second year in high school.

Cullen is president of the Best Buddies Club, which mixes students from the general education population with those with learning challenges “to connect the community,” she said. She’s also an officer with National Honor Society.

Like Clark, Cullen’s favorite memory from high school was the senior trip to Orlando. “It was just fun to hang out with people I’ve never hung out with before,” she said.

Cullen said she hopes to be “passionate about everything” as an adult. “I don’t want to be stuck in something I’m miserable in.”

Kimberly McWhinnie, who had braces for four years, said she liked her orthodontist enough to ask for a job shadow, and that experience gave her something to chew on.

She came away thinking that teeth are “cool,” she said. “I guess I was fascinated to see how they can move, how delicate they are, how important they are, and how important it is to take care of them. ... It was so fun. I was absolutely like, this is it, 100%, no doubt.”

McWhinnie played basketball and volleyball, is a member of National Honor Society and French National Honor Society, and is president of the French Club.

A memory that will stick with McWhinnie came from last year during advanced placement biology, when the teacher decided to take the class outside to enjoy a warm, sunny day. Out of nowhere, the class got caught in a sudden downpour. With no time to make it to shelter, the students instead reveled in the rain. “It was so much fun,” she said.

McWhinnie hopes to be “passionate” as an adult. “I hope, when I’m older, I can have a job or hobby that I’m passionate about, because passion is so important.”

Liberty Tremblay will be heading to Lakes Region Community College, where her studies will be split between her future job and her current hobby. She will be studying business management and pastry arts.

“My dad owns a family business that I’ll be going into. Pastry arts, that’s what I love to do,” Tremblay said. She expects to be helping Tremblay Touch Painting with accounting, but will also be helping on the job sites, to learn how the business works.

Tremblay was on the rock climbing team all through high school, and played lacrosse this year. She’s the class secretary, and is a member of National Honor Society.

“I think my favorite memory is running away from senior prank,” Tremblay said. She and her classmates had conspired to decorate the interior of their school, but were sent out of the building by janitorial staff, so they turned their attention to the building’s exterior. “So, we were throwing toilet paper and glitter everywhere, and the cops came and we all ran away.”

As an adult, Tremblay said, “I just want to be honest and true to the person I want to be.”

William Riley is heading to Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine. He has yet to declare a major, but he has an idea of what he wants to study.

“Environmental science paired with economics,” Riley said, adding that he is specifically interested in finding sustainability within both systems. “I’m interested in everything — I haven’t taken a class that I haven’t found something interesting in.”

Riley is president of National Honor Society, president of the outdoor environmental club, captain of the soccer team, is the sole member of the nordic team, runs track, and is part of National English Honor Society and Future Business Leaders of America.

A lasting memory of high school for Riley is the now-annual climate change summit he helped to create three years ago.

“It has felt like super meaningful work, a way to connect with the school community, as well as the larger community and other area schools,” he said.

Riley hopes to be “compassionate” and “contributing” as an adult. “I think there’s always a need to be compassionate,” he said, adding, “I want to a do work that is meaningful and produces change.”

Teagan Clukey found her calling in Bill Clary’s law enforcement curriculum at the Huot Career and Technical Center in Laconia. She is heading to Central Maine Community College to study criminal justice. She expects to work as a patrol officer for a local department at first, and eventually become a detective.

“I’ve always been interested in law enforcement and police work,” and that interest was amplified when she studied the subject at the Huot as a sophomore.

“I’ve always been a helpful person, I enjoy helping anyone in need,” is how she described her attraction to law enforcement.

Clukey, who just returned from a school trip to France, is vice president of the French Club, a member of the National French Honor Society, and works part time at The Gap in Tilton.

As an adult, Clukey said she hopes to be “stable.” She wants to be “really happy with my life, that I know that I’ve made it — settle down into a nice home with a family.”

Brooke Vetter has her sights set on being a general surgeon. To pursue that goal, she is heading to the University of New Hampshire to study biology.

She said she’s known since she was 5 years old that she would work in medicine. Her dad is a veterinarian, and she works for his clinic as a kennel assistant.

As a surgeon, “You are always learning. You are never not going to be able to learn, and I love that” about the job, Vetter said.

She credited the biology classes taught by Sarah Duell for helping sharpen her desire to work in the medical field. “The people in them were very supportive and wanted you to succeed,” she said.

Vetter is a member of Best Buddies, National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, and the swim team. She works at The Wellness Complex, a fitness club, in Laconia.

As an adult, Vetter hopes to be “independent and peaceful,” she said. She wants “stability in life, be able to take care of myself, put myself first, be happy with my place in life, satisfied with where I’ve been.”

Alyssa Edgren is also heading toward a career in medicine. She will be attending Keene State College and studying biology. “I just know I want to do something in the medical field,” she said.

“A little more than a year ago, my interest in anatomy and physiology went through the roof,” Edgren said. “I always wanted to do more, I knew I wanted to do more research and to do that for my career.”

Edgren is a three-sport athlete, running cross-county and track, and playing basketball in between. She was a captain on all three teams, and is a member of National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, Best Buddies, FBLA, and is secretary of student council.

Edgren’s favorite high school memory comes from the class trip, specifically, “the connections I made with people I didn’t think I could, and I liked the freedom of it,” she said.

Edgren said when she’s an adult, she would like to be “grateful — I want to be at a point in life that I am grateful for what I have.”

For salutatorian Tanner McKim, the next stop will be the University of Vermont, where he will study wildlife and fisheries biology.

“I took a class last year, AP biology, it was the best class I ever took,” he said. The class was taught by Duell. “My interest in that [subject] went crazy after that.”

“I would love to study in the field for a while, study outside,” McKim said. “I would like to work for the state, anything that keeps me outside is my goal, connecting more with nature.”

As a senior project, McKim took on a challenge of teaching music to middle schoolers, including conducting a couple of pieces for the middle school band. He got to work closely with both the middle and high school band directors as part of the project.

“It was so cool, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that,” he said. “The concert went really well. It was really rewarding when they played everything almost perfectly.”

McKim is part of a student leadership group that recently helped to change the school’s mascot. He also works at Osborne’s Farm and Garden Center, was a ski instructor, runs cross-country, was on the Alpine ski team, National Honor Society, Student Council, FBLA, and was part of the district-wide learning hub, which gets together to identify and solve problems.

What kind of adult would McKim like to be? “Adventurous,” he said. “I would love to travel, see all the places around the world.”