“My favorite memory is skit night. It was a night to let go of the stress of studying and come together as a class, while having a lot of laughs—mainly at the expense of the professors!—but in good fun and spirit.” —Christie Scala Amorosino (’93,’94)
“Coming full circle and having the honor of lecturing to the wonderful students on surgical anatomy of the upper limb and hand as they sat in the same seats I sat in 20 years previous.” —David Ruchelsman (’00)
“Miss Setterberg was reading King Lear to our English class and became so enthralled, she left the classroom reading aloud, walked through the gym, down the stairs, circled the area, returned up the stairs—still reading aloud—and reentered the classroom on her knees.” —Ami Holland Seebode (’59)
“I remember having to be rescued off the roof of a dorm on Park Street by a fire truck. I had gone out to get a football and couldn’t crawl back in. Elsbeth Melville, Dean of Women, was very mad at me and threatened to send me home.” -Bonnie Brooks (’63)
“Talking with Dr. Bev Bullen—She always had a smile on her face as well as a smile in her beautiful blue eyes. She was a good listener, mentor, and supportive educator who helped me reach my professional goal to become a sports nutritionist.” —Nancy Clark (’79)
“My favorite memory of Sargent took place in the spring of 1980, my senior year. I was the president of the undergraduate Speech and Hearing Association and organized a first-ever continuing education conference for local therapists in the profession. On the day of the conference, held in the law school auditorium, I remember looking out over the large crowd and thinking ‘I did it!’ Our first student-organized symposium for practicing speech and language pathologists. I remember how proud I was of this achievement.” —Randi Jacoby (’80)
“I had the opportunity to learn from and interact more closely with a brilliant group of faculty and challenge and be challenged by a group of classmates who were similarly passionate about the rehabilitative sciences. To say we bonded as a class is an understatement. Instead, we built a community of diverse yet like-minded, soon-to-be professionals. While most of our courses were challenging, nothing compared to our Tuesday and Thursday evening practicum course. It always left us feeling simultaneously both exhausted and invigorated. I will never forget how we would all walk down to the Uno’s at the corner of Brookline, Commonwealth, and Beacon after each class to decompress over shared plates of nachos, mozzarella sticks, and pizza. When I think about all the memories I accumulated while at Sargent, I miss the class community most—what I would give for another one of those post-practicum nights.” —Michael Silverman (’91)
“Going to Sargent Camp as a freshman. The ropes courses, erratics in the woods, bonding with classmates around the bonfire at night, getting to know everyone a little bit better—great times.” —Kerry Blossfeld (’99,’01)
“It has been 58 years since I graduated, and the predominant reflection and most unforgettable impression which seems to surface, is experiencing the care, support, and encouragement each day shared by the dean, faculty, and my classmates. At Sargent—then and now—there is continually an atmosphere of excitement, encouragement, cooperation, and learning. This feeling is commonly referred to as Sargent Spirit—which, by the way, is still very much a part of my personal well-being.” —Lorraine Marut Cocolis (’63)
“In the summer of 1959, a package arrived at the post office in my little town of Searsport, Maine, and it contained all of my uniforms from Wright and Ditson of Boston. It held my navy blue tunic with the Twiness emblem; blue shorts; a white pull-over, short-sleeved blouse; my navy blue cleats; my light brown dance skirt; and a few other things. I finally knew that my dream of going to Sargent was going to come true. In my junior year, I earned my red and white sash to go with the tunic and I knew I was going to make it through college!” —Bonnie Brooks (’63)
“The biggest honor of my life, as an alum, was to be given the Twinness award. I never could have dreamed that I would have been chosen for this prestigious honor. Sargent Spirit of Sargent School has been my guiding star throughout my adult life!” —Bonnie Brooks (’63)
“Senior year was the best. We were worked to the bone. We were overwhelmed with assignments and projects and presentations. So in the lounge we created a chart with all the assignments across the top and our ID’s along the side. At the conclusion of each day, we met in the lounge. We tossed our completed paper, or project in a box that had the number of days to graduation marked off. We then checked off with fanfare a completed box. On the due date of the assignment, the papers were brought to class en mass. The chart was titled ‘We Shall Overcome.’” —Carolyn Cohen (’65)
“The majority of my Sargent memories seem to surround the time spent at Sargent Camp. The class of 1970 went to Sargent Camp three times, first on an orientation weekend at the start of freshman year, then for several weeks after freshman and sophomore years to learn all the skills we couldn’t experience on the BU campus. Those weeks were always challenging and always fun! A memory that has stayed with me, perhaps not a “favorite” memory, but “strongest” memory may capture it better: During our sophomore Sargent camp experience, I broke my leg. This happened when trying to learn proper high jump technique. At the time, we did not realize it was broken, although I was in tremendous pain. I spent a night in the infirmary and the next day I tried to walk but, when I couldn’t, my creative cabin mates and friends fashioned a stretcher to cart me around to where we needed to be. Still in pain after a day or so, I was taken to the Peterborough Hospital. An X-ray did not show a break, so we headed back to camp with caution from the doctor: “You Sargent girls are all alike! You suffer an injury and think you can get right back at it!” For the remainder of the time, I tried to participate in every activity from golf to lacrosse to field hockey to getting into and out of a canoe or sailboat. I couldn’t understand how I could be in that much pain if my leg was not broken. I did the best I could and tried to ignore the discomfort. Within two days of arriving home after camp ended, my father brought me to our local hospital in Maine. Yes, I did have a broken fibula, so on went the cast. The doctor told me that I was lucky that the bone had begun to heal correctly. Although this experience was challenging, what stays stored in my memory is all the support and care I received from fellow campers as they lived and demonstrated the Sargent Spirit.” —Andrea Anastasio Cayer (’70)
“Wonderful memories of all sports: Class of 1959 won basketball honors all four years. Cageball games in the old gym! Playing and learning sports I had never heard of. Sargent Orchestra with Nina Spaulding. Fun in the dorm. Modern Dance in Marsh Chapel.” —Hilda Lord DeMoya (’59)
“My favorite moment from Sargent has to be serving as a peer mentor during the transfer student receptions and sharing my experience with incoming Sargent students. Also, I appreciate all of the time I spent in my academic advisor’s (Debbie Claar) office!” —Wesley Jones (’21)
“Having to make sure the seams of our stocking were straight and having to dress up for Sunday dinner; the compulsory breakfasts where many of us had on our pajamas rolled up under the tunic (and the debate: did you iron the entire white blouse we wore under the tunic or just the part that showed?); standing up on the T all the way to our affiliations so that the back of our white starched uniform dresses had no wrinkles until we got to the hospital.” —Mary Ault Harada (’57)
“Sargent was always on the forefront of purposeful and meaningful education! Thank you!” —Connie Kapral (’70)
“My favorite memory of Sargent was the excitement of being in gross anatomy at the beginning of the program. We had such great instruction, from the professors to the lab instructors, and it really set the foundation for being a PT. Being able to learn the body at that level, including the hands-on learning from the cadavers lab along with the scenarios that were an introduction to problem-solving dysfunctions, was so exceptionally rewarding.” —Eric Steenburgh (CAS’92, Sargent’99)
“All the Move Up Days were wonderful. That is when each class sang their own songs as we approached the next year and, at the end, one song was chosen as the most creative. The whole college experience was great because we were a small school and got to know everyone. We had not moved to the Boston University campus and were still located in Cambridge. I met many lifelong friends.” —Inez McLaughlin (’57)
“In 1977 I wanted to attend the AOTA conference and, with two classmates, received permission to fundraise. One day, the dean came to purchase some baked goods and asked if we had raised enough funds. When we replied that we were short $50 each, he covered it for us. This kindness is something I will never forget—and going to the AOTA conference as a student laid the groundwork for inspiring me to want to be a leader in occupational therapy.” —Karen Jacobs (’79)
“All of the freshmen had to live in Charlesgate Hall. The first night we were all there, we were summoned to the top floor, into the turreted room of an upperclassman. The lights were out, candles were glowing, and we were asked to come to the windows and look down. There, eight floors below, on the sidewalk of Charlesgate East were gathered our freshman sisters, carrying candles and singing Sargent songs in three-part harmony. It was magical and was only the beginning of the singing that so inspired me over all of those years and today!” —Bonnie Brooks (’63)
“Here is a funny memory from the early ’80’s: We would get up early to do hearing screenings for young children with our audiology professor, Dr. Schill. He would drive a few of us to a school. One day, we drove on the expressway through one of the tunnels under the Back Bay and Tunnel Radio came on. Who knew that under the city was a radio station broadcasting Boston news only underground?” —Wendy Lustbader (’83,’84)
“We were walking to the senior bungalow on the first day of Sargent Camp, about 1962, and we were surprised to see equipment redistributed in all the wrong places as a prank. On the hockey field were perched canoes. Someone had emptied the boat house. At the flagpole, golf stuff was in salute and, after further investigation, we found hurdles squared on the softball diamond. After the meal when PE department chair Dottie Bryant rose to speak, the air was electric. She made no acknowledgment of the prank but we all had a lot of work in front of us, replacing equipment to use during our day! Wouldn’t I have liked to be the fly on the wall to see the gang by flashlights portage the canoes.” —Carolyn Cohen (’65)
“When my father passed away in the late ’50’s, he was waked at home in the Italian tradition of the time. Dean Makechnie drove all the way to our home in Mansfield to pay his respect to my father, my family, and me. I was so moved by his effort on my behalf.” —Jeanette Ferri (’59)
“In 1959, we were not allowed to wear pants to school, which was one mile up Bay State Road paralleling the Charles River. The wind off the Charles and the driving snow turned our legs purple, our noses red, and brought us into class breathless and oftentimes with runny noses!” —Bonnie Brooks (’63)
“I remember Sargent Shriver coming to Sargent in 1962 to recruit people for the Peace Corps. It was one of the most exciting moments in my time there. I filled out the application and got accepted with the possibility I would go to Ceylon. Life and an engagement stepped in and I didn’t go and I have regretted it ever since.” —Bonnie Brooks (’63)
“Sargent Camp was magical! I remember Dean Makechnie walking me around Half Moon Pond one early morning after he had been sent for by the staff to find out if it was me—the little country bumpkin from Maine—who had driven the bulldozer over the playing fields at night and then jumped off, with the bucket down so it plowed up the fields. We would never tell who did it and we all had to get up at 5 a.m. for days, put our bathing suits on, and rake fallen leaves out of the water at the pond, but still no one ever told. I ended up, after one long day of all my outdoor sports classes, taking off my socks and cleats to find them soaked with blood and a gigantic leech living on my leg. The infirmary could not get it off and I had to be taken to the hospital in Peterborough to get the thing removed! This is one story of many!” —Bonnie Brooks (’63)
“Our class took on the project of refurbishing the “Smoker”—this was a lounge, or rather a room off the second floor locker room that allowed smoking. With the help of local parents, we painted, cleaned, and hung new drapes. The furniture for the coming Student Union was lining the sidewalk. Several of us helped ourselves. Three weeks later, the University sent two teams of groundsmen to remove our new digs. It took them one week to move the sofas and chairs back. We were back to classroom excesses. We were so proud.” —Carolyn Cohen (’65)