Gilford Top 10 say their community shaped them into who they are today

GILFORD — The Top 10 seniors from Gilford High School are less than a month out from graduation on June 13, and represent a wide variety of talents, interests and experiences. For all of their differences, they agree the community is partly responsible for making them who they are today. 

Clark Blackwelder has attended school in Gilford since preschool, and said he appreciates the close-knit nature of the town.

“The sense of community,” Blackwelder said. “You know everyone here and everyone you see, the adults have seen you grow up, and the kids have grown up with you. It’s been the same people all the time, and that’s a helpful thing to have all of these resources and people you can rely on.”

Blackwelder enjoyed studying history and, influenced by the rich natural environment in Gilford and northern New Hampshire, will matriculate into the environmental science and technology program at the University of Maryland in College Park.

“Doing something I care about, like the outdoors,” Blackwelder said. “Having a hand in helping that and preventing [environmental damage] is a cool thing, so I can actually do something I actually want to do, and make a change.”

“Having those world-class mountains really close helped you realize why we should care about it.” Blackwelder said.

Patrick Brooks loved his time in band — he plays alto saxophone — and won’t forget the memories he made, the talented musicians he met, and the experiences they shared along the way, like a band trip to Canada his sophomore year.

“We went to Niagara Falls, and I really got to know some of the people I’ve been going to school with for years. I got to know them a lot better,” Brooks said. 

But for Brooks, graduation will be bittersweet.

“The people I’ve been going to school with for so long — I’ve been here since kindergarten, I’ve known all these people since kindergarten,” Brooks said.

He’s off to the University of New Hampshire to study biomedical sciences, with an eye for a career in the medical field.

“It’s really interesting, I took a couple classes like AP Bio and anatomy and physiology, I found those really interesting, learning about the human body,” Brooks said.

Anna Coapland was born in Ottawa, but grew up in Gilford. After graduation, she’s headed back to Canada, at least for a while, to McGill University. She’s not decided on what she’ll study, but she enjoyed history and English classes in school.

A class trip to Spain and France reinforced her interest in language and the social sciences.

“How other people around the world live, their way of life and how there’s so much history over there, too, and how different it is from over here,” Coapland said.

Soccer, track, lacrosse and Nordic skiing were core memories of hers while at Gilford High.

“Definitely friends, friendships from those different teams, getting to know so many different people,” Coapland said.

And Coapland left younger students with some pertinent advice.

“Not being afraid to ask questions and not being afraid to reassess,” Coapland said.

Mallory Daley said the trip to France and Spain was also one of her favorite memories from high school. 

“The Spain and France trip that we went on last year, it was such a unique experience,” Daley said. “A lot of the people we went with, I had known for a long time, but I got to know them a lot better, and it was nice to have that experience with those people.”

Outside of school, Daley tried her hand with volleyball, cross country and track and field, which stuck — she competed in high jump, long jump and the 200-meter dash.

“Trying new things,” Daley said. “I wanted to try track for a while and was putting it off. and then as soon as I started I really enjoyed it, and I was so glad that I did it.”

She’s particularly interested in science, and is headed to Suffolk University in Boston to study psychology — right now, she’s looking toward a potential career in forensic psychology. 

“I like to know how people work and how to be able to help them,” Daley said.

Georgia Eckhardt, class valedictorian, was on a state championship-winning Nordic skiing team, and said athletics form some of her fondest memories of high school.

“My favorite experiences have been through the sports that I’ve done,” Eckhardt said. “Most of my friends are on those teams.”

Eckhardt will attend Bates College in Maine and intends to study pre-medicine, hoping to become a pediatrician.

“I really like biology and I’ve kind of changed my focus, I think I want to be a pediatrician. I babysit, so I really like dealing with kids,” Eckhardt said. 

And Eckhardt also had some advice for younger students — namely, work hard and don't second-guess yourself.

“Do the work — if you do the work, you’re gonna be fine,” Eckhardt said. 

Ella Kelliher of Gilmanton volunteers at Concord Hospital-Laconia, mainly stocking the emergency department and in-patient floors, among other tasks. She’s pursuing a career in medicine thanks to her great-aunt, who was an emergency room nurse and sparked her interest in the field.

“I took anatomy and physiology, and that was really interesting,” Kelliher said. “I liked learning about how the body works and why it works and certain diseases, stuff like that.”

Next, Kelliher will attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for pre-medical biology. But academics were just part of her experience in high school, noting it’s important to have interests outside of school or career. 

“I’ve been to a lot of concerts with my friends throughout high school, I really love music. I used to do theater and I used to play flute,” Kelliher. “I still really like the creative side of things, but I also want to pursue science.”

“It’s good to branch out and to get involved with things that you’re really interested in, and not just things that you think are things on a checklist for the future, or something that you think a college would like,” Kelliher said.

Anastasia Locke of Gilmanton is drawn to two opposites — art, like pencil drawing and charcoal, and personal finance economics. 

“Art really speaks to my personality, but because I’ve had to work so much, money interests me as kind of a driving factor of my character,” Locke said. “I’m interested in how it works.”

Locke works at Walmart, and said that experience taught her valuable lessons. 

“A lot of it is how to handle time management, because you only have so many hours in a day that you can assign to either school or work, and trying to find time that you can also take for yourself,” Locke said. 

Locke also went on the trip to France and Spain, and was fascinated by the lifestyles of people in other countries and cultures. She said that trip made her want to travel more, and potentially to study abroad. The trip also taught her a lot about herself, she said. 

“Every day there’s at least three or four activities that we were scheduled to do, and it really made me want to travel more,” Locke said. “I definitely see that as a life-altering experience.”

Locke is headed to Suffolk University in Boston for finance, and wants to specialize in personal finance to become a financial advisor.

Kaitlyn O’Brien had a positive experience in high school and appreciated the community atmosphere in Gilford.

“I really enjoyed growing up with everyone, and seeing everyone around me change and become great people as well,” O’Brien said. “They’re all my friends — it is a sense of community, having all these people who you’ve known your whole life.”

O’Brien said she branched out in high school and notes nordic skiing and cross country as the source of some of her best memories.

“It was a different experience, because I’d never done that before,” O’Brien said. “It was a really positive environment to come into — my first year of high school, I really loved that.”

Cross Country taught O’Brien to work hard and not give up.

“The big thing with cross country is just sticking with it,” O’Brien said. “It’s a mental sport as well, you have to train your body and then your mind to allow you to keep going with it.”

Next for O’Brien is attending UMass Amherst to study architecture — she said she likes the historical aspect of the job, but is also a creative person and likes the idea of designing things, being creative and hands-on.

Lamija Pintol was born in Laconia, but moved to Gilford during elementary school. She also learned a lot on the school trip to Europe.  

“Last year when we went on a trip to France and Spain, we had a group of 40 kids and everyone just got really close over the 10 days,” Pintol said. “It was really nice to explore new countries with people we’ve grown up with.”

She’s interested in languages and history — she said she’s Bosnian which influences her interest, but she’s also a Huot Career and Technical Center student in the allied health program. She will attend the University of New Hampshire to study nursing. Pintol aspires to become a nurse practitioner.

“I’ve always liked the idea of medicine, wanting to help people,” Pintol said. “Being the nurse that they remember and remember helping them even during tough times.”

Ben Wolpin loves winter sports and the outdoors, as well as his time spent skiing, hiking, backpacking and rock climbing. He’ll attend Colorado College to study biochemistry and hopes to continue on to either medical or professional school afterward. 

Wolpin was a member of a state championship track and field team where he competed in pole vault. His favorite memory came out of that season. 

“Two years ago, our track team won the state championship, and we had a separate meet where just a few of us had to go back because our events got canceled,” Wolpin said. “That was a really cool experience.”

Wolpin said younger students should focus on their studies, but make sure they’re not overworking themselves, too. 

“Don’t worry about it too much, and don’t get too stressed out, it’s fine,” Wolpin said. “At least try not to get stressed out — I know it’s a hard thing to do.”