Rachel Gaidys
Rachel Gaidys graduated from Norwich in 2001 as a biology major. She is now a third-year resident at Montana Family Medicine Residency after earning her MD at the University of Vermont.
Our alumni community is small, but our college experience is, in many ways, so unique that it serves to bind us together. Norwich alums look out for Norwich people.
~ Rachel Gaidys
At Norwich, you are taught to think for yourself and encouraged stand up for what you believe – even when that means going against the grain. That’s what leadership is about. Any woman at Norwich has to have a strong sense of self to come out successful. We’re a minority. That’s not a hardship, but it demands confidence and discretion.
I made a lot of great friends at Norwich, women and men, civilian and Corps, Americans and non-Americans. My friends are in graduate school, working in powerful firms, doing research, nursing, teaching, coaching, and serving in the Army. They’re all over the world. We have Norwich and Northfield, Vermont, in common. Our alumni community is small, but our college experience is, in many ways, so unique that it serves to bind us together. Norwich alums look out for Norwich people.
Although I was a civilian student, I can say the Corps is what makes Norwich special. Even if you’re a civilian, the Corps impacts you. The respect, the values, and the traditions of the Corps permeate the school – the “Yes, sirs,” the “Yes, ma’ams,” stopping at 5 o’clock when the flag comes down. It affects everyone. One of the best parts of Norwich was listening to taps every night.
Since graduating, I’ve encountered a hundred kids who attended other schools – and most schools have some sort of honor code – but none them attended a school with an honor code as alive as Norwich’s. As a Norwich student, the honor code is something you honestly live by. The values espoused by Norwich get ingrained in you. Those values make us better citizens and more desirable colleagues.
