Gilford Top 10 discuss life, academics, COVID-19

GILFORD — Computer science, nursing, engineering and biology are among the academic interests of the top 10 seniors at Gilford High School as they look forward to college in the fall. 

The Laconia Daily Sun emailed them a set of questions about memorable experiences, plans for the future and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elena Uicker has mapped out quite a college experience. She’s starting out at Brandeis University, where she will major in biology and minor in either Spanish or art. She hopes to go on to graduate school for biological research.

“I love Spanish culture and I have loved drawing and painting since I was little, and I am excited for a chance to study these subjects in greater depth in college,” she said. “Life sciences have always fascinated me, and I can’t wait to become a part of the constantly expanding field of biology. I am most excited to see how diving into this field can help better the lives of others.”

Like so many top students, Uicker looks back fondly on her extracurricular activities.

“The highlights would be our volleyball state championship, my freshman band trip to Universal, drawing the teacher portrait every winter carnival and trying new sports such as track freshman year and swim junior year,” she said.

COVID-19 certainly colored her senior year.

“Like many seniors, I missed my last sports season and a whole series of ‘lasts’ I had been seeing seniors above me experiencing since freshman year,” she said. “While initially I believed that a silver lining was a ton of extra time to get my work done, it was difficult since my experience with school is seemingly ‘over,’ and I may never sit in a Gilford classroom again. I never realized how important lunch with my friends, a pep talk from my favorite teachers, or just greeting people in the hallways was to keep myself going.”

Alysha Burton

Alysha Burton is interested in pursuing a career in health care and will be attending the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.

“As cliche as it is, I want to help people and make a difference in the world,” she said. “I am a people person, and I am always the first person to lend a hand to someone in need.”

She was the co-creator of Ethics Forum, a student-created and student-run group that “seeks to empower students in order to increase the amount of student voice in the school and improve leadership skills.”

Molly Wrobel

Molly Wrobel will be attending New Hampshire Technical Institute to pursue a career in nursing. She would like to go on and get a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing, specializing in women’s health or public health.

She works at a grocery store.

“I have seen the absolute best people who have been so attentive to making my job easier and more comfortable,” she said. “Still, I try to remind myself that we are lucky that, for most of us, this will be something that we will look back on at some point, even though we don't know quite when.

“In a way, I think this has made me more attentive to maintaining friendships that I would have otherwise quietly forgotten. Now that it's a matter of keeping one another in high spirits while the world goes through crazy changes, I want to be present more than ever.”

Colton Workman

Colton Workman is a juried member of the League of NH Craftsmen, with works in metal and sometimes wood.

On his website — https://the-workman-forge.webnode.com/ — he displays a series of his custom-forged creations and this message: “I will love you forever if you pay me to do what I love; weld junk together into something new and inspiring.”

He plans to go to the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of New Hampshire.

“I want to do something in engineering because I have always been an inventive and crafty person,” he said. “I'm thinking of doing mechanical engineering because that is what my brother is doing and he seems to have things figured out.”

He recommends math teacher Jessica Wallace.

“While Mrs. Wallace is only finishing her second year here, I think that she will also become one of those teachers who you just have to take a class with if you go to Gilford,” he said. “Kinda like if you went to Pennsylvania but didn't get a cheesesteak.”

Longtime soccer coach Dave Pinkham left a big impression on Workman, as he did on Workman’s father, uncle and brother. 

“My whole family all played soccer with Pinkham, and everyone I know of who has played with Pinkham considers it a life-changing experience. I don't exactly look back fondly on running the pits, but now that it is gone, I find myself missing every soccer experience more and more.”

The pandemic drastically cut his senior workload.

“In a way, it has allowed me to finish my school year only putting in like an hour each week, which has allowed me to work on my metalworking business and catch up on my work there. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have found a date to prom this year, so I'm not too upset about that. I would have preferred to thank my teachers in person but I guess email will have to suffice.”

Ian Taylor

Ian Taylor says he enjoys solving computer problems and is particularly interested in cyber security. He plans to start his college career at New Hampshire Technical Institute.

Taylor praised teacher Richard Dumais.

“He has been a fantastic help and source of interest for me when it comes to computer science,” Taylor said. “He has been a great teacher for me and other students interested in learning about computers and programming.”

COVID-19 made his last trimester a little easier in terms of classwork.

“But the lack of social events and a proper graduation is pretty disappointing,” he said. “I am very happy that the school and staff are taking our health seriously, though.”

Kolbi Plante

Kolbi Plante intends to go to Southern New Hampshire University and isn’t yet sure of which major to pursue.

“A challenge I encountered in high school was definitely facing what I am going to do after high school,” Plante said. “All year my teachers were trying to prepare me for the future and I don’t even know what I want to do yet.”

Randi Byars

For Randi Byars, the sky's the limit.

“I will be attending Virginia Tech majoring in aerospace engineering,” she said. “I love science and math and want to combine that with my interest in space, so aerospace engineering was a no brainer for me.”

Byars said personal challenges are always present.

“High school in general is a difficult time for everyone,” she said. “You are exposed to kids' ruthless opinions about you while you're still trying to find yourself. It's hard to not get dragged down by the rumors and gossip in a time where you only want to please people.

“I think the greatest thing I've learned is that it is impossible to make everyone happy. There will always be people that disagree with you, but as long as you keep doing what you love, happiness will come.”

Max Stephan

Max Stephan plans to study mechanical engineering at Clarkson University.

He identified a key challenge for everybody from high school students to the public at large.

“There haven’t been any challenges in particular that I can think of being difficult, but one that all of us have and will continue to work on is getting along and being able to come to mutual understandings,” he said. “This only becomes more important as we get older and are becoming more involved with our current society. In this day and age respect and communication is now more important than ever.”

Laurel Gingrich

Laurel Gingrich said she is leaning towards attending Albright College in Pennsylvania and is undecided on a major.

She was a three sports prep athlete — field hockey, swimming and track.

“When I think of my time at GHS, I will always remember fondly the sports I participated in,” she said. “I also enjoyed my Spanish trip to Costa Rica and all the clubs I was a part of at GHS.”

She said a senior year interrupted by a worldwide epidemic was memorable.

“We will certainly have an interesting story to tell later in our lives,” she said.

Ramsay Landry

Ramsay Landry plans to go to Texas Tech University to study civil engineering.

He looks back fondly on soccer and gym class with friends.

“Some memorable classes were English 10 with Mrs. Wolpin, engineering with Mr. Martin at the HUOT Center, and AP Calculus with Mrs. Wallace,” he said.