celebrated each students’ successes in class by highlighting their work in front of the class. Abriel shared that knowing someone believed in her as a 14-year-old gave her confidence in the years that followed. Sam Garrison’s education at Maeser Prep proved to be as beneficial and full of unique opportunities for him as it was for his classmate Abriel. Sam gravitated to other leadership positions. From sophomore through senior year, he worked on the peer-nominated Hope Squad and was a peer mentor for Special Education. Sam was drawn to STEM classes and became a math tutor as well. Sam (student body vice president) and Abriel (senior class president) participated in the student council. Athletics was also a place of meaningful connections to Sam. Sam participated in track and field and basketball, where calculus was part of the practice discussions. He said that competition came not only on the court or track, but in the classroom too. That healthy competition was motivating to him. “The jocks are also the nerds,” Sam commented, “and that’s what makes Maeser fun.” While Sam preferred STEM classes, he appreciated the liberal arts focus at Maeser. He knew he wanted to go to college and get an advanced degree but didn’t know what course to pursue. He found that his Maeser education exposure prepared him for generals in college and gave him an appreciation of history, literature and world civilization. The focus on discussion through the Socratic method also carried over to college, and to life in general. In college, Sam considered pursuing accounting or engineering. In the end, he decided on accounting — he realized that he preferred the human interaction that comes with business over the theoretical isolation often found in engineering. Sam’s natural organization and leadership skills developed at Maeser helped him get into the integrated Master of Accountancy program at Brigham Young University. Service oriented, Sam served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fort Collins, Colorado. Meanwhile, Abriel accepted a scholarship at Southern Utah University to pursue nursing. After serving a Spanish-speaking mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington, D.C., she transferred to Utah Valley University (UVU). She worked as a medical assistant while in nursing school and as a swim coach at Maeser Prep for two years. She received her BS in nursing from UVU in August 2024. Abriel and Sam graduated from Maeser Prep in 2018. Ms. Gerber’s decision to seat them next to each other turned out to be serendipitous. Always in touch, but apart for a time, they were married on June 24, 2021. Their wedding reception was an early high school reunion. (They’ll have to plan other reunions as student council officers!) Abriel is a nurse for Alpine Pediatrics and volunteers as the social media 15
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