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Q&A: Drury's Carlson Reflects on Road to Williams
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Sports
06:41AM / Sunday, April 24, 2016
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Olivia Carlson with her late mother, Patricia, at the Drury soccer Senior Day last fall.


Carlson, No. 31, with Drury team mates earlier this year.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Olivia Carlson understands the value of a strong community.
 
Last fall, when her mother, Patricia, died after a long battle with cancer, the Drury High School senior drew comfort and support from her family, her friends at school and a larger community that included some supposed rivals.
 
"When the funeral came, I got cards from Lee High School's athletic department, the Lenox basketball team, they just kept coming," Carlson recalled this week. "When we played Wahconah, the Wahconah coach gave me a bouquet of flowers before the game. She was just like, 'We want you to know that we're one big basketball family.'
 
"At the wake, the Greylock girls team came. The Hoosac girls team all came through the line, and they had a game that night. They came at 5:30 in their uniforms and came through the line. And our Drury boys team came through the line.
 
"I really think some of the best kids in the high schools are on those athletic teams — the kids who get involved."
 
As the Drury valedictorian looks ahead to June's graduation, Carlson knows that she will remain a part of the North County community — now as a member of Williams College's class of 2020.
 
This week, the three-sport standout sat down during some rare down time — taking a break from her work at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where she is taking a class this spring — to talk about the road that led her to Williams, her hopes for the future and sometimes trying senior year.

What are you doing at MCLA this spring?

Answer: Last year, I took precalculus over the summer at the school through dual enrollment. And this semester I'm taking 'Intro to Psych.' It's awesome because I get to earn a little bit of college credit, and I don't have to pay for the credits because it's through dual enrollment with Drury.
 
Were you early decision at Williams?
 
A: I was early decision. Kind of what solidified my decision to apply that way was I did a chemistry internship over the summer. I got to work under Professor [Charles] Lovett, who is from my hometown, Stamford, and I worked side by side with some juniors and seniors at the college doing chemistry research with bacilli catalase and E. coli. And just the atmosphere and the environment there, I really enjoyed it. I kind of found my home away from home on campus, and everyone was so helpful. I just loved the atmosphere of everyone helping everyone and the excitement surrounding that research.
So that's what solidified my decision.
 
I did apply early decision, which is binding, once you're accepted.
 
I was accepted in late November. I was really excited. It was a weight off my shoulders because everyone was scrambling with their college decisions, and I had it all figured out.
 
And then suddenly ...?
 
A: My financial aid package came back, and it was not what I had hoped it to be. So I pushed my decision to regular decision and looked at some other options. There were a few schools who were recruiting me for basketball, some small D3 schools, so I looked at that option. I was really thinking about coming either here or Castleton [Vt., State College] and trying to graduate in three years with some dual enrollment and AP credit.
 
But I didn't give up on the Williams thing. I pursued a meeting with Financial Aid. I wrote a letter kind of documenting some extenuating services.
 
So you were able to appeal their decision?
 
A: Yeah. Well, usually they're pretty set in stone, but I really felt like there were a lot of things they didn't consider. There were a lot of medical bills from my mom. My brother is still in school, too. There were a lot of factors.
 
And I actually had a lot of people — the community kind of rallied around me. I had a lot of people writing letters to the college saying, 'This is a great member of the community, and you should be doing a lot to help this local girl go to your school.' That was really encouraging.
 
They listened, and they came back with a much more reasonable number. So I am committed again, hopefully for good.
 
I'm really excited.
 
Tell me more about the chemistry internship last summer.
 
A: I had shadowed a few classes of professor [Charles] Lovett's, and I really fell in love with his classroom presence. I sat in on an upper level chemistry class of his. It was a lot of pre-med students, a lot of juniors. And you would think, 'Oh, it's just going to be a PowerPoint presentation and students taking notes.' But he was so interactive. He knew every student by name, and he called them out. He knew their interests. He knew their majors. And he had break in the middle of his class, and he played guitar for 15 minutes. He played a Billy Joel song, and he had the lyrics on the board, and everyone was singing along.
 
It was such a great environment. I was like, 'I want to go here. I want to be a part of this.'
 
What kinds of things did you end up doing in his lab?
 
A: I was like a lab assistant to some of the more upper-level chemistry students. They were doing in vitro and in vivo cultures. And I would take pictures of some of the slides and things like that. I'd help clean up. I got to do a few labs and record those in my lab notebook and get some hands-on
experience. They're fortunate enough to have such high-grade equipment that we don't have access to at Drury.
 
I came from a very small middle school where we had one microscope. And you go there and they have the new equipment, and they're doing all this cutting-edge research. It's really awesome to be a part of that, even if I was just washing test tubes.
 
So it sounds like you're looking to major in chemistry?
 
A: I don't have to declare officially yet, but I want to major in chemistry and hopefully concentrate in molecular bio. That's kind of along the pre-med track.
 
Med school would still be even further down the road, but is that your ambition?
 
A: My goal is med school. Through taking care of my mom and being exposed to the medical field, I really want to go into the medical profession.
 
I'm actually going to be taking a CNA course starting in May (at Berkshire Medical Center) and hopefully be employed as a [certified nursing assistant] at one of the local nursing homes. I think that will get my feet wet in the medical field and give me some hands-on experience.
 
I think starting as a CNA will give me a greater appreciation for trying to work my way up. I think CNA is a really difficult position.
 
I'll start that monthlong course just about as soon as school lets out.
 
I love the person-to-person interaction of the healthcare field. And I've always been kind of a science nerd.
 
You've mentioned your mom a couple of times, and obviously as you were going through the application process for college, at the same time you were dealing with her situation and her passing. But if I understand the timeline right, you heard from Williams before she passed, right?
 
A: Over the summer, I would go to my internship from 9 to 12. That's when we'd have a caretaker at the house. And then I'd spend most afternoons with her, telling her about my dad.
 
In my college essay, I wrote about the fact that during that summer, I was feeling like I didn't have control over a lot of things. But over the summer, I trained for a half marathon, and that's kind of where I found control. That's what I put a lot of my energy into. As she was getting weaker, I was getting stronger.
But I applied early decision, and she passed Dec. 7 and I heard from Williams on, I think, Nov. 28. It was very, very close.
 
So, she got to learn of their decision?
 
A: I remember, the head of admissions, Richard Nesbitt, called me personally to tell me the news, and I missed the call. So I had a voice mail. And when I heard the voice mail, I was in the gym, and I tripped and fell over the stationary bike, I was so excited.
 
I went right home from the gym, and I remember playing it at her bedside. And she wasn't talking a lot at the time, but she smiled and said, 'I knew.' She knew the whole time.
 
That was really exciting. And my dad says that when she passed, all of her children were in a good place. We were all in a stable place.
 
I think she wanted me to go there. I think she wants me to be close to my dad. I think she knows that's where I belong.
 
So I'm really happy it all worked out.
 
And she didn't have to go through that uncertain period with the financial aid issue.
 
A: I think that was a really stressful time. I came back from a meeting with Financial Aid, and there was a lot of uncertainty. That was before I had written a letter of appeal. I was like, 'Oh, my goodness, I've got to apply to all these schools.' And it was right before Christmas break, and I was applying to all these big institutions. But I was thinking, 'I can't go someplace where I'm going to walk around campus and not see people that I know.'
 
Being here and being at Williams, I walk down the street or walk to class, and I'm always seeing people I know. My professors all know my name. I really want to be in that kind of environment.
 
Definitely, a lot of my peers want to get out.
 
There's always that question for kids who have the option to go away to college and choose to stay close to home. Does that concern you at all?
 
A: I think a lot of my friends want to get out and experience a different town. A lot of them think, 'Berkshire County is so small. There's nothing to do here. There's nothing to do in North Adams.' But I think wherever you go there are going to be issues. I know Berkshire County has it's problems, but it's no worse than anywhere else.
 
I think there's a lot going on here. I think we just have to buy into that.
 
I think even Williamstown has a different culture than what I'm used to. I think there's so much going on on campus that I'm really looking forward to throwing myself into that.
 
I also want to continue my community involvement. I coach basketball at the Y. I volunteer. And I want to continue that because I think community ties really keep me focused ... I'll have the local insight, and I can tell my new college friends, 'Oh, this is the best place to go for dinner,' or, 'You've got to go to the Hub.' I'm excited for that.
 
You said the internship last summer solidified your decision. Had Williams been on your radar before that just from having grown up so nearby?
 
A: My junior year and last summer, I toured 22 schools. I definitely explored a lot of options. I knew wanted to stay in New England, but I toured as far away as Johns Hopkins in Maryland. I definitely knew I wanted to pursue science, and after touring so many campuses, I narrowed it down to small schools.
 
I knew Williams was a little bit of a reach, but my dad used to take me to soccer games when I was 7 years old, and I remember going down to Cole Field and watching games. I've always been a fan of Williams basketball, and I've watched coach [Pat] Manning.
 
You can see the atmosphere. When you go to sporting events at some schools, you'll see a few people wearing the school colors. But when you go to Williams, everyone is wearing purple. And they just have such a culture. When you're standing on the sidelines or walking through campus and you see everyone in their Williams apparel ... I felt like I just want to be a part of this.
 
Coming from a close-knit high school, I thought I want to go to another close-knit community. It just made sense.
 
I did tour schools similar to Williams. I toured Amherst. But I think this is where I wanted to be, and it had everything I wanted.
 
Are you going to play sports at Williams?
 
A: I'm really hopeful I will. We just had Williams Preview Days, which is kind of an admitted students day. I got to spend a night with a host student. I got to sit in on three classes; my favorite was oceanograpy — high school doesn't have anything like that.
 
And I have been in contact with coach Manning. Nothing's official.
 
She didn't recruit you, though. So you'd be trying as a walk-on?
 
A: She came to a few of my games. They're a really high level, competitive DIII basketball team. But I got to play a little pickup last Monday with the team. Definitely it would be an adjustment coming from high school to the college level.
 
But I think I would know I'd kind of have that bench-warmer role. But that's kind of what I look for in athletics. I've never been the star of a team. I buy into the community part. My teammates have always been my best friends, and especially in the last year they've been such a support system.
 
I really look for that structure. I think that's what I'd want the most from participating in athletics in college. They really give you a set schedule. You can't sleep until noon if you have practice at 8. It gives you a good structure, and I think I thrive when I'm busy.
 
If it doesn't work out, I'm sure I'll be busy in the library anyway.
 
You mentioned your teammates being your support system for the last year, and I hadn't asked, but how long was your mom sick?
 
A: She's been battling cancer for seven years — off and on radiation. I think when that number was printed in the obituary, a lot of people didn't know. They had no idea she had been sick for that long.
It really culminated in the last year.
 
On Senior Day for my soccer team, my mom hadn't left the house for three or four months. We had been doing hospice care out of the house. She hadn't even been going to doctor's appointments or anything. But she wanted to go to my Senior Day.
 
I said, 'Mom, you don't have to. We'll videotape it.' We had videotaped some other games. And she said, 'I'm coming.' So for Senior Day, my dad rolled her down the big Drury hill to my game, and I don't think there was a dry eye at the field. They really rallied around me.
 
There were a lot of times I was going to be late for practice because I had to wait for my dad to come home, and my coaches were so supportive. I had a few past coaches who would say, 'Come to my house for dinner,' or, 'I made some ziti and dropped it off.' Things like that.
 
My mom passed the day before the [preseason] jamboree for basketball. My dad said, 'You're not going to the jamboree. You're not playing.' And I said, 'Sure, I'm going to the jamboree. I can't sit still.' That's kind of the person I am.
 
So we played Hoosac Valley in the jamboree, and I'm very close to a lot of the Hoosac girls. I've played AAU with them for the past six years, I think. It's a great group of girls, and I'm a big fan of coach [Ron] Wojcik's. So we went to the jamboree, and there were so many people there that I couldn't even warm up because everyone was pulling me off the court and giving me hugs. That's where I needed to be.
And that's how it was all season.
 
… And I think it was a great way for me to expand my support group beyond my family and school into the whole county. That's something that really brought us together. I'm thankful for that.
 
So you have a monthlong class at Berkshire Medical Center starting in May and then freshmen report to Williams in late August or early September or whenever. Do you have any break coming up?
 
A: My family goes to the Cape for a week, so I hope to do that. I love being outdoors, and me and my friends have already done the Pine Cobble hike. We did the Cobbles in Cheshire the other day. I take my dog for a lot of hikes.
 
I just love the are. Something I hope to get involved in at Williams is they have a great Outing Club. So I hope to get involved in that. They have a great summer orientation group, Wolf, where you go out and camp.
 
That's a great plus of being at Williams. If I went to a school in Boston, I wouldn't have access to that.
 
I'm glad everything worked out for you. I had first heard about your acceptance the end of November and I was all set to talk to you then, but then suddenly everything changed.
 
A: I think it would have worked out. I think I could have had a great career and done the fast track and been out in three years. And I was looking to maybe play basketball and soccer.
 
But I think I'm really going to be challenged academically at Williams. And I'm excited to be in a classroom where everyone wants to be there. The few classes I did sit in, I think the professor barely got to speak because the students were discussing things, they're arguing, they're bouncing ideas off each other.
 
And I'm really excited to be exposed to people from different cultures that I haven't been exposed to, people who have different economic backgrounds, different social backgrounds — being exposed to the way they think and gaining a new perspective.
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