Off to New Hampshire and Staying Connected at Home

Rhetta Collier, Class of 2017

Rhetta Collier, an ambitious graduate of Hunterdon Prep's class of 2017, is currently at Southern New Hampshire University majoring in General Studies. <more general information to add to her story>

Rhetta recently co-hosted the first ever HPS and HLC Prom-Style Alumni Reunion with her best friend Nicki Pappas (2018). In Rhetta's words, "It was beautiful and joyous to gather alumni spanning graduating years from 1983 to 2020. We all have the common thread of attending a therapeutic school that saved many, many lives, and is the reason why many people are even alive today- myself included. Even 7 years after my graduation, it was moving to see that the sense of community and family fostered by the school still exists just as prominently as when I was introduced to its magic back in 2017. I’m grateful to be half of the hardworking team that saw the idea through to completion, and can’t wait to see what future alumni events await Nicki and I.

What are you most proud of during your time at HPS?

I am most proud of the fact that I reclaimed my life during my time at HPS. When I came to the school, I didn’t think I would live to graduate. Yet in 2017 I graduated with honors and received two scholarships. These are very meaningful details as to how HPS helped me succeed so greatly, but I will always appreciate the autonomy I was granted and encouragement I received more than anything, as it gave me permission to explore myself at my own discretion and fall back in love with things that once made me happy.

What is something at HPS that you loved being a part of?

The community, the chosen family, and the unconditional love for the arts are things I loved being a part of at HPS.

If you had to do it all again, what would you do differently?

I would do nothing differently. I only wish I arrived sooner.

What do you know now, that you wish you had known during your time at HPS?

I can’t think of anything I know now that would have been helpful to know while I was still attending HPS- HPS took very good care of me.