"It's Been an Amazing Run"

Folks, please meet (although you likely already have) Anne Bruce Ahearn ’87 and Margaret Pace ’90, Collegiate admission office colleagues who have known each other pretty much forever.

 

When they were growing up, their families were close. All these years later, the closeness remains. They’re North Mooreland Road lifers, University of Virginia graduates, and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters.

 

They’ve shared a 20-plus years’ professional journey in the alumni and development offices as well as in their current roles, AB’s as director of Middle and Upper School admission and Margaret’s as Middle and Upper School admission coordinator.

 

The work — more a calling, actually — has been meaningful, fulfilling, and invigorating, they say. Being lifelong personal friends as well as trusted colleagues has been joyous and enriching.

 

That said, they’re stepping away together. On May 18, AB married Byron Hulsey and will move to Woodberry Forest where he serves as headmaster. Margaret will still be around, just not every day. She plans to substitute, volunteer, and help out any way she can.

 

One morning recently, they spoke, sometimes humorously, sometimes seriously, and at times reverently, of their lifelong connection and amazing ride together.

 

MP: Well, AB is my elder. She’s like the older sister, so I’m going to let her talk about that (which drew laughter from both, of course).

AB: I was very close friends with Margaret’s sister Olivia. We were classmates. We were close from, gosh, almost before school. They lived five blocks or so away from me. It was literally a bike ride away, and I would ride as fast as I could down to her house in Stonewall Court almost every day after school. We would play every afternoon. Then I would speed back down Grove Avenue on my 10-speed because I was always cutting it really close on my curfew. That’s when Margaret and I got to be good friends.

 

MP: I came in 1999 (from the financial world). (Vice-President, Development) Alex Smith hired me as the director of annual giving. I wanted to be back at Collegiate because I was volunteering, I was a class agent, I knew how cool it was to work here, and I loved Alex. I wanted to be working at the place that I loved. When I landed here, I thought I’d hit the jackpot.

 

AB: I came in the summer of 2002. Margaret was one of the first people I called about working at Collegiate. I, like Margaret, really wanted a job here. I’d been in public relations. Took one year off and was looking for the next thing. I knew it would be a great place to work. It would provide more life balance for me than my PR job had. I traveled a lot with that job. I originally interviewed for an admission job. Didn’t get that, but when Amanda Surgner (then the admission director) called, she said, “I have bad news, and I have good news. The bad news is you’re not getting the admission job. The good news is Alex Smith wants to talk to you. Can you hold on for a minute?” She literally transferred me to him, and he asked me to come and be the alumni director. That’s how it started.

 

 

AB: It’s the biggest gift anybody could have ever given me. Working at Collegiate is a gift. To work with each other for so many years side by side, to work with somebody who you trust and love and you can laugh with has been the greatest gift I could ever have asked for.

MP: It has been a gift. It’s very unique, honestly, to be in a place where you get to work with dear, dear friends who you’ve known your whole life but still be able to work through hard times, work through complications, maybe not even agree on things but still be able to work through it all together and still have that love and respect. The other thing is that AB is so good at her job. I learned so much about admission from somebody I already deeply respected and loved and laughed with.

 

AB: Sometimes, people might wonder if you worked with someone who’s such a good friend, do you challenge each other [in a good way] to be better, to think outside the box, to have that growth mindset? Will you take the easy route? Are you not going to criticize or find fault? I think some people could look at us and say, “They went to Collegiate. They’re so like-minded. Is that really healthy for an admission office?” I think it’s the exact opposite with us. We’re so comfortable with each other, we trust each other, and we know our friendship can survive any of that. We can push each other, and we have.

 

MP: Asking the right questions, even when they’re hard or uncomfortable doesn’t mean we’re not respecting each other.There was a lot of change over time at the leadership level. There were a number of tough years where, thank goodness, we were really good friends. And this includes (MS/US admission assistant) Taylor (Kell) too. The three of us are a team. We couldn’t have gone through it without each other, honestly.

 

 

AB: My most meaningful time working with Margaret was when [my husband] Jeff got sick. I was in the hospital with Jeff that October (2004), and we discovered that he had leukemia. Within two or three hours, Margaret and Lynne Berkness (both of whom served in the development office at the time) came to the hospital. They said, “What are you working on? Give us your work. Give it all to us.”  And I did. I handed it all off to Margaret and Lynne and knew without a doubt that it would be handled perfectly and beautifully. I’ll never forget it. It was such a relief for me to know that they were there for me and ready to take on all that extra work so that I could be with Jeff.

 

 

AB: It’s such a great feeling. This senior class was the first class that I enrolled in my admission job in the Lower School, so I think that at this point in time, most of the Upper School and Middle School are students that I enrolled, which is an incredible feeling. When you see kids that we bring in accomplish great things and do so much for Collegiate, it really makes you feel proud and excited, but we both know that the school and the teachers here are the reasons these families are flocking to Collegiate.

 

MP: We raised our children (Emma ’19 and George ’20 Ahearn and Will ’22 and Malcolm ’24 Pace) here and see how they’re thriving, and we’re able to tell those stories to all these families who really want to be at Collegiate. Our colleagues and our children’s teachers, coaches, and mentors are the greatest gifts ever in our lives, and we get to tell families how awesome they are.

 

 

AB: I’ve said this to Byron [Hulsey], so I feel comfortable saying it to you: If I could have both worlds, if I could marry Byron and still work here every day, I would, but it really isn’t practical. I know I’ll be part of another school community, but leaving Collegiate and this huge family that I have will leave a huge hole in my heart.

 

MP: I always wondered if I’d be ready to go when Malcolm graduated. As these circumstances have come together where AB got married and Malcolm graduated, I decided that it’s the right time. This team is too important to me, and Taylor is cutting back her hours, and I didn’t want to stay without the three of us here. It was just naturally the time to move on. It’s been as gift. It’s been an amazing run.

~Weldon Bradshaw