Flying High: Rivier student earns “Silver Wings” while leading, on and off the field

“Anyone who needs me knows, I just have to pull out that planner,” Poulton laughs. Growing up in a military family, a strict routine isn’t foreign to her.

Fresh from Air Force field training, Poulton proudly earned her Silver Wings, a pin symbolizing her successful completion of boot camp and marking her first step to becoming an officer. She now reflects on her military background, demanding schedule, and the balance it takes to succeed as a nursing student, athlete, and new cadet.

Poulton lived in several states growing up, but after her father retired from the Navy, her family settled in Ledyard, Connecticut, where she attended middle and high school. By the time she started looking at colleges, she was set on nursing, and would soon find that Rivier University offered more than she ever expected.

“When it became the time for me to look at colleges, I decided I wanted to go into the medical field,” she says. “I was lucky enough to see Rivier at one of the college fairs, and I knew I had to give it a try. So, I toured Rivier and it just felt like home.”

Drawn to the small-school environment, close-knit class sizes, and picturesque 68-acre campus, Poulton immediately knew Rivier was the right fit. But what attracted her to the University most of all was its excellent resources for nursing students that weren’t found at the other schools she toured.

“At other schools, you don’t get to go into clinicals right away, but at Rivier, we start in the fall of sophomore year, which I really enjoyed. When I toured, I loved seeing the simulations; the patient mannequins talk, they show symptoms, and you can review everything you’re doing in lifelike scenarios. A lot of the other schools didn’t offer anything close to that. And what’s even better is that Rivier keeps building on the technology. It’s already phenomenal, but they’re always trying to make it better for us,” she says.

Upon deciding to become a Raider, she planned to focus solely on academics. But before her first year began, women’s lacrosse Head Coach Maura Ellins reached out after learning Poulton had played in high school and asked if she would consider joining the team.

“I thought, ‘You know what? Why not? This is the best opportunity.’” Poulton recalls, adding that it was a win-win to be involved in athletics again and a reason to stay fit. From there, she balanced nursing classes and lacrosse, and before long, she was leading the team as a captain.

And even that was only the beginning of her commitments.

Nursing was the right starting point for Poulton, but halfway through her freshman year, she began thinking about her future more broadly and realized how much she missed the military community she grew up around in Ledyard.

“I loved it. It was like being part of a team, and I am part of a team with lacrosse, but I felt like I was missing another team in my life,” Poulton says. “I realized that I missed the military aspect.”

That reflection led her to look into the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program at the UMass Lowell campus in Lowell, Massachusetts. After doing her own research, she nervously waited for a video call with an Air Force officer to see if they would accept her as a sophomore, since the program typically prefers students to begin as freshmen.

“I had missed my first year, so I was really scared that they were going to say no to me. But I talked to the officer, and he said I had a great work ethic and have already done so much research about the program, so we could make this work,” she recalls.

Poulton took on the challenge of “speed running” ROTC, where she would be ranked with her fellow cadets in her class. She marked down this milestone in her trusty planner and prepared for her next chapter.

Every Friday, Poulton woke up at 4 a.m. to drive to Lowell from Nashua for physical training (PT), followed by Learning Lab, drill briefings, and classes. Then she would return to Rivier, get a hug and a quick check-in with her roommates, and head straight to lacrosse practice.

In March, when she earned a coveted spot in ROTC field training, Poulton was elated at the news. Sworn into the Air Force in April, right in the middle of the lacrosse season, she still managed to succeed in the classroom and on the field. From May to June, Poulton prepared for boot camp with field training, workouts, and reviewing her ROTC knowledge.

The big day arrived on June 30, when she flew to Montgomery, Alabama, to begin one of the toughest challenges of her life at Maxwell Air Force Base. Poulton was met with sweltering 90-degree heat and marching 10 miles a day while following the strict routines of military training.

Poulton described boot camp as one of the hardest things she’s ever done, but earning her Silver Wings at the end of it made every sacrifice worth it. Looking back, she says none of it would have been possible without the support she received from her mentors and peers at Rivier.

“It was honestly awesome. All those long nights, early mornings, and the things I missed out on suddenly felt worth it. Getting my Silver Wings meant I was officially on the right track toward the Air Force, which I’m extremely excited about. It felt solidifying, like wearing a badge of honor. I felt lucky and grateful for the people in my life who supported me and led me to those decisions. I’d do it again, honestly,” she says.

With this major accomplishment under her belt, what’s next for Poulton in her nursing and military career?

“I’m waiting for more clinical rotations, but I think as of right now, it would be really awesome to do trauma or medical-surgical to start and then move from there with more education and specialization, which the Air Force could offer,” she says.

Whether in nursing class, on the lacrosse field, or serving the country, she’s flying high, with no plans to come down.