For those still in high school—particularly those facing the dread college application process—it can be comforting hear from fellow students who have tackled application time and have done so successfully.

Enter “The College Nine,” a panel discussion created through a collaboration between the Alumni and College Counseling Offices.

On Saturday, January 9 at 12:30 p.m., nine young alumni will return to campus for a panel discussion and Q&A session with their fellow Wildcats. All Williston Northampton students are welcome to attend the event, which will be held in the Parents Association room.

“We are hoping that current students will have a few takeaways: their alumni peers went through the same process and ended up okay, happy, healthy, etc.” explained Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement and panel coordinator Brittany Weiss in an email. She added that “The College Nine” would also explore “making the tough choice regarding what school to go to if you have a difficult decision to make. What happens if you don’t get into your first choice. What happens if you do.”

Representing the alumni side of the equation will be Cameron Hill ’15 (Yale University), Brendan Hellweg ’14 (Yale University), Elyssa Katz ’15 (Davidson College), Loren Po ’15 (Northeastern University), Marie Innarelli ’15 (Hobart and William Smith Colleges), Jenna Phelan ’15 (Boston College), Henry Lombino ’14 (Wesleyan University), Brittany Collins ’14 (Smith College), and Hannah King ’15 (Connecticut College).

The panel will take place following Saturday classes, with Williston students encouraged to grab bag lunches and join the discussion.

In the six minutes before every game, the Williston Northampton girls varsity hockey team sits in darkness. Upstairs, the Zamboni circles the ice. Downstairs, the team is listening to words. The same words every time.

“The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game. Every minute. Every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone around us to pieces for that inch.”

It’s Al Pacino speaking—and he’s speaking to a roomful of male football players in “Any Given Sunday”—but his words resonate: words of strength, grit, and most of all, unity.

The last point in particular is one the hockey players have taken to heart, and one that’s helped propel them to a record 20 wins, one loss, and four ties over the course of the last season.

On Friday evening, the team came together to celebrate another victory when a trio of players—forward Delaney Belinskas ’16, defender Rachel Rockwell ’16, and goalie Morgan Fischer ’16—signed national letters of intent to play with Boston College, Providence College, and the University of Connecticut,  respectively.

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