St Margaret’s-McTernan’s 137th Commencement

WATERBURY — Mark Anthony Salvatore, MD, a native of Prospect and 1991 graduate of St Margaret’s-McTernan School, delivered the graduation address at the school’s 137th commencement on June 3 at 10:30 am.

Dr Salvatore graduated with distinction in his major from Yale in 1995, earned his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1999, and is expecting to earn an MSc (Masters of Science) from Sacker School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University in 2006. His residency and internship was done at The Floating Hospital for Children, and beginning in July he will finish his pediatric gastroenterology and hepatology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

He is currently on staff in pediatrics at Lawrence General and Lowell General Hospitals in Massachusetts.

Dr Salvatore said his ten-year experience at St Margaret’s-McTernan was very positive, but that he did not just come back to talk to graduates because he was a good student who became a physician. “I am only 13 years older than these graduates,” he said, “but my experience of being so young and having gone through cancer means that I was be able to offer these young people a different perspective on things.

“In life we’re always looking for the next accomplishment, a milestone, graduate school — that’s the length. The width of life is the time you spend with family, children, friends, and reconnecting with teachers. It is easy in my field to be career oriented and lose yourself in 36-hour shifts. I wanted to tell these students to live the width as well as the length of life.”

Dr Salvatore’s commencement address was “peppered with personal stories. I didn’t want to offer meaningless quotes, but tell my story,” he added, hoping it would help students chart the course of their own lives.

Dr Salvatore said that St Margaret’s-McTernan was a special place to him because, shortly after graduating and being diagnosed with cancer, his old teachers were visibly upset and then very happy to hear when his cancer went into remission.

“I really liked the small community and appreciated the fact that I knew students ahead and behind of me. There is a sense of community that stays long after you leave,” he added. “This is embodied in the faculty, the school’s strongest asset. The teachers give a sense of belonging and the sense of community that we all seek. They all remember not only me, but also my parents and siblings. They truly care about me as a friend.”

With a touch of humor, Dr Salvatore noted, he also won the school’s Declamation Award in seventh and eighth grades, and was honored to be asked to speak at the school’s commencement exercises.

St Margaret’s-McTernan School is a co-educational, independent college preparatory school for grades preK–12, located on the Waterbury/Middlebury line. As of July 1, the school will be known as Chase Collegiate School.