Bray Holmes never thought she would’ve ended up staying in Montana and doing what she does now. Holmes planned on being a surgeon all throughout high school, but things always change. She ended up earning a $20,000 scholarship at Carroll College after touring the campus. Holmes studied at Carroll for nursing and graduated in the winter of 2022. Holmes now works for the Population Health Department and at St. Peter’s Health in Helena, MT. Holmes’ job is the Community Education and Outreach Coordinator and she makes sure people keep out of the hospital and that they stay healthy. 

Bray had lots of inspiration throughout high school. Lots of teachers supported her and helped her make the decision of what to do. Melissa Cahoon helped Holmes branch out and explore all opportunities. “I always knew she was going to do something good. I saw a spark in her that I could just tell she was going to do something good in life.” Cahoon said she was very reliable and knew she was going to choose the right thing and fall in love with it. 

Ayler was a huge asset in Brays’life.  “She is sassy, funny, confident, inclusive and compassionate.” says Becky Ayler. Ayler was her Human form and function teacher and chemistry teacher. Ayler says there were so many memories with her but her favorite one was when Bray asked her to sing happy birthday to her brother Gabe his freshman year. 

 Holmes is very grateful for her education at PHS because it taught her lots of things. Holmes wishes that there were more opportunities for college credits during high school and that there was more opportunity to practice how to study for college. Holmes’ advice for incoming seniors is “That it is okay to not know what you want to do.” She changed her mind multiple times about what she wanted to do and she is very happy for what she chose to do. “Being a college senior is way easier than being a high school senior.” says Holmes. It can be hard to move on with your life but it is good to open a new chapter.

Holmes never would have thought that she would have ended up graduating early and securing a professional job before graduating from Carroll. Holmes suggests that you stick it out and do something out of your comfort zone because you never know what your true passion is. Holmes recommends that you take all the AP courses you can to try to get as many college credits as you can, because you can graduate early and save money.