A Legacy of Loyalty:
My Family - Bernier

Kendall Wehrle Bernier ’80 now has two more reasons to come back and visit her alma mater: her two daughters (below), Sara ’08 (left) and Megan ’07, both members of Tri-Delta sorority.

Megan Bernier ’07
Student Delegate to the Alumni Council
Captain, Women’s Swimming and Diving

When it came time for me to apply to colleges in 2002, I decided to visit St. Lawrence. My mom, Kendall Wehrle Bernier ’80, was eager for me to see why she had loved her four years here. I had seen countless pictures and all of her Gridirons, heard her stories, and met some of her professors and friends from her St. Lawrence days. Although I didn’t want her to know, I was excited to visit her alma mater.

Once I stepped on campus, it felt ­familiar. There was something about it that intrigued me; there was something about the air and the people that made it different from other schools. Although I applied to several bigger universities, I also applied to St. Lawrence, and when I received my acceptance letter I knew I had been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to become the person I wanted to be. I made the decision to become part of St. Lawrence’s Class of 2007. My younger sister Sara, seeing the same opportunity, made the same decision one year later, matriculating as a member of the Class of 2008.
I have spent two years at St. Lawrence and decided to spend part of this past summer working in the University communications office. I devoted the majority of my time to researching, talking with alumni, and learning about St. Lawrence’s history so I could write about the family legacies of St. Lawrence for this publication.
The more immersed in the project I became, the more I learned about what makes St. Lawrence so intriguing, and so different from other schools. Over the last 150 years, hundreds of people, many of whom are mentioned in this magazine, have dedicated their lives to the future of St. Lawrence, creating, building, and adding to it as the years passed. Before this summer, I didn’t understand why St. Lawrence felt so much more like a family and a home than a college. Now, I know that it is because the people are the foundation of St. Lawrence.

While growing up, Mom used to say that St. Lawrence was the time of her life. For me, it’s been more than that. It’s been the windows and doors to my future, providing me with opportunities that have changed my life. I am now part of the Laurentian family, a family that includes people who are part of legacies that began when St. Lawrence did, and people who will start new legacies.

I decided not to attend a bigger school; I decided to come here, and that, as Robert Frost — who courted his future wife on the St. Lawrence campus — later wrote, has made all the difference. The feeling you get when you walk across campus, the friends you instantly make, and the bonds you have for the rest of your life are timeless.

This unique element of St. Lawrence began 150 years ago when it was just a candle in the wilderness, and through the years, those who have experienced it have passed the candle on to family and friends, creating legacies and connections that extend over generations. Every person who has been part of St. Lawrence has made a difference, has affected someone, or in some way has left a mark here, and because of this, the candle continues to be passed on, never to be extinguished.