Micki Pierce ’16

Alumni Voices

Micki Pierce ’16

Beaver Experience:
I graduated from Beaver in 2016. I was a lifer so I started in the fall of 2009. Walking in, I was kind of nervous but my brother walked in with me and seeing him high five all of his friends on the first day of school I realized, “This is going to be it. I’m going to have a good time,” and it was such a great experience. I remember my first class in 6th grade and I’m still friends with the person that I sat next to, Nicole Irving. I was in a bunch of different clubs and sports teams. Then, my advisor encouraged me to try something different. So junior and senior year in the spring, instead of playing a sport I decided to do the costumes for the musical. That was a totally different experience. I love Beaver. They want you to try everything. You don’t have to stay in one category. Mr. Greenberg always left his door open and always gave me words of encouragement. Also, Mr. Robinson was great. I don’t even know how he did it but he helped me become a math student, which I never thought i would be. What’s great about Beaver teachers is that they make themselves available to their students because they want them to succeed. They want to challenge you but they also want to see you do well. Marvin, one of the maintenance guys, was the nicest guy at Beaver. He was the person that let you in at 9 o’clock at night when you forgot your homework or whatever.

What is #happeningnow in your life?
After Beaver I got recruited to play field hockey at Mount Holyoke College. If it weren’t for Miss Ellman I probably would have taken a gap year. I had the best four years of my life while I was there. I did a self-designed major in American studies with a focus on race and gender. I wrote my thesis on the hurdles of being a black female athlete. Right now I’m getting my master’s in sports management at Boston College. I find myself back at Beaver coaching because I emailed Mr. Gould and Miss Collins and said, “I see that you have a head coaching spot available for the varsity field hockey team. I just graduated. I played all four years. I was a leader on my team.” We interviewed and it was just really great to have them welcome me back. I’m kind of a young to be head coach but there’s no better time to start.

“Being at Beaver, coming to the field every day to coach those kids in the fall, that helped me to get outside, stop watching the news, see these kids that are still showing up for school and field hockey and working really hard. It was just refreshing to see such positivity every day.”

– Micki Pierce ’16

Advice to Beaver students:
Don’t be ashamed to ask for help. If I was struggling or I needed help, I always tried to fly under the radar. That’s just not the best thing to do. Those teachers want to help. They’re
excited to help. That took me a while to learn.

Beaver Country Day School admits qualified students of any race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, handicap status, national origin or ethnicity to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, handicap status, national origin or ethinicity in the administration of its educational, admission, financial aid, athletic or other school-administered programs or policies.