Schools

Bravery, Motivation Fuel Hamilton Senior's Journey to Graduation

Hamilton High School senior Mary Duncan battled through over 25 surgeries while she attended school, but fear is not in her vocabulary. Her focus on education became her motivation to push through to graduation day.

Some students look back on their time in high school and recall the difficult challenges they overcame to get that diploma. Some students moved to a new school, broke up with a long-time sweetheart, or battled through poor grades.

There’s no dismissing the trials and tribulations of teens at that tender age of development. However, some teens’ mountains are another teen’s molehills. That could be said for Hamilton High School senior Mary Duncan, whose friendly and casual demeanor masks an inner bravery that even she may not realize she possesses.

She’ll transition to a new period in her life Saturday when she grabs her diploma in that annual bittersweet moment. But it wasn't an easy path for her. 

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You see Duncan enrolled in Hamilton High School as a sophomore after her family moved from Tennessee. A move to a new town is enough to throw many teens a sinking curveball. However, she also lives with Spina Bifida, which can be an incredibly painful and frightening disease.

A Difficult Battle 

And in 2010, when many HHS students were prepping for exams, getting fitted for prom dresses, or going to football games, Duncan was preparing go under the knife for what would total more than 25 surgeries. Eleven of those operations were head surgeries to fix a shunt that wasn’t working correctly. It all started in 2010 when she started having headaches and experiencing blurry vision.

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“Since I’ve moved up here I’ve had over 25 surgeries. So, I’ve worked hard to overcome that and get through school,” Duncan said. “The longest I’ve been in the hospital was over two weeks, and in that two weeks I had four head surgeries.”

During her bout of surgeries, she was homebound and was home-schooled, and she transitioned to half days at school. All the while, she was focused on getting back to school and being with the friends she had quickly forged bonds with at Hamilton.

“I started getting really depressed just being at home all the time and not interacting with other students,” Duncan said. “My education keeps me motivated.”

I couldn’t help but ask whether she was afraid during that troubling year, and if she had any advice for other folks in the midst of a difficult period in their lives. 

But in a quiet, Tennessee-style twang, Duncan described the ordeal in a matter-of-fact manner. 

“You just stay motivated. Think about what makes you happy and go toward that goal,” Duncan said. “Just keep going. You’ll get through it.”

Duncan’s bravery hasn’t just helped her; it’s been an inspiration to others at Hamilton. Robin Oehlert, who is Duncan’s advisor at Hamilton, has worked closely with her over the past year. Oehlert has a deep respect for the maturity and poise Duncan exudes.

“What I will always respect about her is how she can just overcome whatever is in her way at the moment,” Oehlert said. “She’s way beyond her years in maturity … she’s overcome more obstacles than most kids in her 19 years. She really knows what she wants and what she has to do to get there.”

Duncan hasn’t had a surgery in over a year. The relief was evident in her smile. And in the entire 20-minute conversation, Duncan never mentioned fear. However, she did point out our own Wisconsin-style twang when I noted her distinctive accent.

“People talk funny up here,” she joked. “Ya’ll have more of a nasal sound.”

Toward the Future

Duncan said her feelings about leaving Hamilton are a little bittersweet. Many of her friends will be heading far from town to schools around the state and the country. She’ll also be enrolling at Waukesha County Technical College in fall, which is a building with unfamiliar hallways. She’ll begin studying business later this year.

“I’ve always liked interacting with people, and that’s basically what you do in that occupation.”

She hopes to become an administrative assistant. This summer, she’ll be working with her father at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin doing exactly what she hopes to do.

She also got a car as a graduation present from her parents, one which will be specially tailored to allow her even more independence. But she’ll also have time to focus on her real passion — ballroom dancing.

“I’m really into ballroom dancing. I take lessons at Fred Astaire in Brookfield,” Duncan said. “I’ve only done one competition, and I got first place. It was a bunch of dances like the waltz, tango, rumba, and more. I did 11 dances in one day.”

And if you’re wondering, she’s not a big fan of “Dancing with the Stars.” 


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