Top 10 Golden Eagles value connections formed during time at Gilford High

GILFORD — Gilford High School’s top 10 students are graduating with their class on Sunday, June 14. Before they set out to follow their dreams and aspirations for the future, they shared fond memories, gave advice to younger students, and imagined life after high school.

Landon Akerstrom

Akerstrom played football and ran track through high school, and is also an outdoorsman who loves fishing, hiking and skiing. He’ll be heading to Montana State University, to major in animal science on a pre-veterinary track.

“I grew up on a farm with animals, so it kind of led me to that,” Akerstrom said, noting he lives on a farm with pigs in Gilmanton. “I’ve been around animals, and loved them my whole life.”

Akerstrom enjoys all sciences, with a focus on biology and anatomy. Over the winter, he interned at a veterinary clinic. That helped in his choice for the future.

“I really enjoyed it, and it was something I could see myself doing.”

His time at Gilford High was highlighted by connections he made with teachers and friends. Akerstrom said a key to his success was finding what he was interested in, and what worked for him, as everyone is different and has their own way of learning.

“Figuring out who you are and how you learn is good for finding the best way to go about school.”

Olivia Albert

Albert, a Gilford resident, will attend Endicott College, in Beverly, Massachusetts, with a focus on marketing, communications and advertising. She is interested in sports marketing, and plans to minor in sports studies.

Albert was on the Gilford High soccer team for her first two years, before becoming the manager, where she recorded the team’s statistics and took photographs.

“I took a class during my sophomore year for photography, and grew my passion for that there,” Albert said. “It’s not really a high-paying job, so I’ll carry on with that as a passion, but not as a job.”

Albert has enjoyed building a network of people around her she can rely on for support and assistance, with anything from help with homework, to advice on what to wear that day.

A key to Albert’s success has been putting in 100% effort. Sometimes a small assignment can feel daunting, but once finished, it was just that: a small assignment.

World history always interested her, and she said she enjoys learning about the past, as well as discovering cultures in other parts of the world. After visiting Argentina, and immersing herself in the culture, her interest in studying abroad was piqued, and she hopes to head to Spain in the future.

“Endicott has really good study abroad programs,” said Albert, who is eyeing Madrid and Barcelona. “I want to go to Spain, and learn more about the culture there.”

Willow Harrington

Harrington will attend Mount Holyoke College, an all women’s college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she will use an interest in biology to work toward becoming a forensic pathologist.

“Biology has my heart,” Harrington said. “It’s so interesting to see how life works and all the tiny pieces that make it up. I am going into forensic pathology, so that is like autopsies. I find myself noticing different details in things, so helping someone figuring out what happened to them after death, I feel like I’d be pretty good at it.”

Harrington lives in Gilmanton, and traveled a bit throughout her life before landing there. She was born in Florida, before moving to Texas, then finally heading to New Hampshire. While in the Granite State, she lived in Tilton, and Franklin, and attended middle school in Hopkinton, before coming to Gilford High in 10th grade.

Outside school, Harrington loves to ice skate, and climb at a rock gym in Concord. Like many others at the top of her class, she enjoyed building connections with classmates. She has been inspired to see how people have navigated their own lives, and taken that into account for herself.

One piece of advice Harrington has is to be true to yourself, and not let others bring you down.

“If people harp on you for doing something you truly love, ignore them, and stay passionate about what you enjoy.”

Dalton Houle

Houle is attending the University of New Hampshire, in Durham, to study engineering, with a minor in business.

Born in Georgia, Houle has lived on a farm, in Gilmanton, since fourth grade. For as long as he can remember, he's been an athlete. He played soccer and baseball as a kid, and by high school shifted his focus to tennis, golf and basketball. At one point, he also ran indoor track.

He said Gilford High is a close community, and playing on athletic teams helped shape him.

“Playing sports, you kind of make a lot of connections,” Houle said. “People on tennis are my best friends, and that is honestly the best part. Making connections is probably the best part of this school.”

Math has been Houle’s favorite subject, and something in which he truly excels, and he knows that might seem crazy. When it comes to geometry, he understands it. This has directly related to collegiate plans.

“I kind of realized it was my favorite subject when I took geometry,” Houle said. “I know people don’t really like geometry, but I’m good at it. I feel like it is the easiest, conceptually, to picture for me.”

Applying himself has been a key to Houle’s success, and while he admits that might be vague, it's advice he would pass along to younger students. He stressed studying and getting homework done, and also recommends attending school functions, because they have helped create great memories.

“Always participate, because you can only do it once in your life.”

Taryn Limanni

Limanni is heading to Clarkson University, in Potsdam, New York, to major in business analytics, saying her time at Gilford High helped narrow down this focus.

She attributes her success to focusing on various avenues of learning by taking different classes, while discovering what fits her best.

“That led me to liking business, and taking business classes versus just regular math classes,” Limanni said.

Limanni said her favorite subjects are math and data science, saying programming have always interested her. It's also what she's been best at, because she is that type of learner.

“My mind worked with one-answer questions, instead of writing about it for hours,” she said.

Limanni was born in Virginia, and shortly after moved to the Lakes Region, residing in Gilford, since fourth grade. She loves the outdoors, skiing in the winter, and is a member of the softball, basketball and soccer teams.

It's the team camaraderie that jumps out at her most during her time at Gilford High, saying being a student athlete helped, and is something she would recommend to younger students.

“I stay pretty busy all year round with sports,” Limanni said. “What I most enjoyed was being on the sports teams. I really love softball. Right now, we’re in the softball season, and we’ve built friendships and connections. It’s the only sport I’ve played all four years. That’s been the biggest part of being on these teams.”

Gunnar Marvel

Marvel leaves on June 29, for basic training at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, in New London, Connecticut. He will be there for four years, and is then signed on for five years of service, and then has a world of opportunity.

“If I like it, I’ll stay in, but otherwise, I can go off to get a job somewhere else,” Marvel said.

Marvel’s focus has been on math and science classes, with his top subject being physics, and engineering classes like computer-assisted and architectural design.

“I want to do civil engineering, so this relates.”

Marvel moved to Gilmanton, from Concord, in fourth grade, and enjoys skiing and hiking. This put him in a great spot, with Gunstock Mountain Resort just a few miles away, and Mount Major nearby in Alton. He has competed on the cross country, track, and Nordic skiing teams.

“I have really enjoyed hanging with the team members, team feeds, and going to the beach and hiking with friends,” Marvel said. “The best part about Gilford is the people.”

He praised the school staff, and described his material design and architecture teacher Dan Caron as a mentor who inspired students to work hard. Marvel recommends younger students follow that lead, as it has helped him in his academic success.

“Hard work and determination — if you want to do something you might not necessarily be the best at it, but if you put the work in, you can get the results.”

Jade Nicolas

Nicolas has a love for French language and culture, which has helped direct her future aspirations. She will be heading to Harding University, in Arkansas, to study elementary education with French licensure.

“They have a lot of study abroad opportunities where I’d be able to go to France, or even Africa, where there are a lot of French-speaking countries,” Nicolas said. “Hopefully, I can maybe even teach abroad with the schools.”

She has traveled to Montreal, and visited France last spring, and was able to use her foreign language speaking skills in a real-world experience.

“France was really cool,” Nicolas said. “It’s very different than I expected. I went with my dad, and we went to some smaller towns outside of Paris, which I really liked, because it was not as touristy.”

A Gilford resident, Nicolas loves taking in the geographical perks of living in the Lakes Region by hiking, going to the beach and skiing. She is a member of the school tennis team. Nicolas lauded teachers, coaches, and classmates for creating such a positive experience, and offered advice for younger students to be their own person.

“Don’t dictate your high school experience off of what your friends are doing,” Nicolas said. “Especially in my freshman year, I shied away from certain opportunities, because I didn’t know who else would be there. I might have missed out on some things because of that.”

Noah Suranyi

A lifelong Gilford resident, chemistry is what Suranyi truly enjoys and excels in. Suranyi is taking this interest to the collegiate level, attending the University of New Hampshire, in Durham, to study chemical engineering. He doesn’t know where this will take him exactly, but has ideas of entering the manufacturing world, after receiving a college diploma.

“I think it is more straightforward than other sciences like biology,” Suranyi said. “I just like how it is very logical, with the periodic table.”

Suranyi said the people of Gilford have been great to him over the years. This includes a solid group of friends and teachers who have been supportive and compassionate. He also plays Dungeons & Dragons, which is a highlight of his high school experience.

“That’s definitely my favorite club at Gilford High School,” he said. “It’s really fun. But definitely the people in Gilford, the students and teachers, they are really nice.”

Suranyi has an interest in board games and card games like Magic the Gathering and Dominion. He enjoys hiking, recently ascending the nearby peak of Mount Major, and has hiked many others with his family. He loves to fish with his dad in their canoe, with hopes of hooking a pickerel or perch.

Challenging himself has been the key to Suranyi’s success, which he recommends to students coming up through the school district.

“Try and take the hardest courses you can,” he said. “Obviously, do what you're passionate about, but you should push yourself to do more than what you think you can do, so you can push yourself to being even better.”

Maria Tilley

Tilley will attend Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine, majoring in biology on a pre-veterinary track, and take a minor in music. She will also be skiing on the college’s Nordic team.

Tilley is a Nordic skier who competes for the Golden Eagles, as well as the Gunstock team. She has ridden horses for more than a decade, and is an avid musician who plays a number of instruments including fiddle, mandolin and flute. While she played in the school band, Tilley enjoys jamming with musicians around the Lakes Region.

“I play a lot of music, playing mandolin and flute in a few bluegrass bands that are local, around this area,” Tilley said.

Tilley, who lives in Gilford, enjoys research, and has found this is where she is most successful. Combining her love of music and research, she completed a project about how social media influences bluegrass music.

“When you have the opportunity and the freedom to learn more about a topic that interests you, I think that’s fun.”

Tilley said Gilford and Gilmanton are small, tight-knit communities, where everyone seems to go to bat for each other.

“Whether they graduated, had a kid who did, or will graduate in 10 years, everyone is just very supportive.”

Tilley’s advice to younger students comes from her own personal key to success: staying busy and not wasting a “single second” on something that isn’t beneficial.

“Filling the day with as many activities as possible is how I try to live, and I just think that’s the best way to go about life.”

Isabelle Walton

Walton will be attending Colorado State University this fall. She is an animal lover, while also enjoying the sciences, and this year, took a course on animal care management that led to her future endeavors in the veterinary field.

“I’ll be going into animal sciences, on the pre-vet track, and want to be a veterinarian,” Walton said. “Having dogs started it, but I grew up riding horses. I’ve done that for 10-plus years now, so it sparked my interest. We also live in a pretty rural area that has a lot of farmland.”

Walton grew up in Gilmanton, and enjoys skiing and hiking, and likes being outside riding her horses, running, and playing with her dogs. She skies Gunstock, along with Vermont mountains, like Killington and Sugarbush.

Heading to Colorado for college will fit nicely in her future, as she is looking forward to being in close proximity to the Rocky Mountains, with skiing and hiking all around.

A key to Walton’s academic success was studying hard, and also embracing activities outside the confines of the classroom, or the inside of a textbook.

“Don’t just go home and do your homework,” Walton said. “Go for a run or a hike, or go apply yourself in a sport, or go skiing. That ultimately leads to you being happier in your day, and lead to success in school.”