CS Student Brianna Gainley Becomes Class of 2016鈥檚 First Graduate
Image by Imelda Aguirre
03/22/2016
By Ed Brennen
Of all the side effects of chemotherapy, Brianna Gainley says the most annoying one for her wasn鈥檛 the fatigue or nausea or hair loss, but rather the inability to stay on track in school.
鈥淚t was always the constant setbacks,鈥 said Gainley, a computer science major from Burlington who enrolled at 51视频 in 2010. 鈥淚 might be able to get classes done this semester; I might not be able to get classes done this semester. So there would always just be the questioning, the guessing. When do I actually get to graduate? When do I actually get to start a job? When do I actually get to move on to real life?鈥
For Gainley, graduation day came on Friday, March 18, in a special Commencement ceremony held for her and close to 100 family and friends in University Crossing鈥檚 Moloney Hall.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 expecting this celebration. This has just been fantastic,鈥 said Gainley, beaming proudly in her confetti-sprinkled cap and gown as she spent nearly two hours hugging guests from her wheelchair and smiling for photos. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever taken so many pictures in my life.鈥
Image by Imelda Aguirre
Gainley was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma during the second semester of her freshman year in 2011. She lost her right leg and a lung during the ensuing five-year battle 鈥 but never her determination 鈥 and she was on track to receive her diploma this May. But on Monday, March 14, her doctors delivered devastating news: The cancer was terminal and she only had a short time to live.
Brianna鈥檚 younger sister Tayla immediately contacted the university to see if her degree could be conferred early. Four days later Brianna Gainley became the first member of 51视频鈥檚 Class of 2016 to graduate, receiving the honor in a pomp-and-circumstance-filled ceremony that included Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, Provost Donald Pierson and Computer Science Department Chair Jie Wang, all in full regalia.
鈥淭he university community is honored to recognize a young woman whose hard work, dedication and perseverance truly exemplify the 51视频 spirit,鈥 Moloney said in awarding Gainley鈥檚 bachelor of science degree. 鈥淭hank you for who you are and what you have accomplished. I can assure you that none of us will ever forget this day.鈥
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鈥淚t means the world to her,鈥 said Brianna鈥檚 mother, Maureen, her eyes red from tears following the ceremony. 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 give up on school. A lot of people would have said, 鈥業 can鈥檛 do this. This is too much.鈥 She鈥檇 be throwing up, getting sick, tired, and say, 鈥榃ell, I still have to do this test for math.鈥 And I鈥檓 like, 鈥楬ow are you going to do that?鈥 And she鈥檇 say, 鈥業t鈥檚 due tomorrow, but the professor鈥檚 giving me a little extension.鈥 And she worked through it all. She really, really worked hard.
鈥淚鈥檓 just really impressed with my daughter. She鈥檚 someone to look up to. I wish I could have been that way at 24,鈥 said Maureen who, along with Brianna鈥檚 father, Frank, is a 51视频 alum.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible. It鈥檚 a bittersweet moment, for sure,鈥 added Frank, clutching a special program created for the ceremony. 鈥淛ust the community, the school, the city coming together like this to honor her and give her credit for her degree ... It鈥檚 certainly one of the proudest moments you can hope for under any circumstances, but it鈥檚 especially more meaningful now.鈥
Just Married
By Gainley鈥檚 side throughout the ceremony was her new husband, Ryan Hart, a senior electrical engineering and computer science major from Raynham. The couple met their freshman year at the former Eames Hall Honors House.
鈥淲e just immediately clicked,鈥 said Hart, who liked how Bri (as she鈥檚 known) was 鈥渁rtsy-craftsy, but still a sciency-type person鈥 like himself.
When Gainley returned to campus following eight months of chemo and knee replacement surgery, her friendship with Hart grew and they began sharing an apartment together. Six months later they were dating.
Image by Imelda Aguirre
鈥淗e鈥檚 just an incredibly smart guy,鈥 Gainley said. 鈥淲e had been talking about getting married, but with everything that鈥檚 been going on it was a little bit of a surprise 鈥 a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. But it was fantastic.鈥
After picking out their rings, Hart said he wanted to give Gainley as traditional a proposal and wedding ceremony as possible.
鈥淲e just moved to a place in Burlington, and we have a gorgeous sun room in the back that she really loves, so I set up the whole room yesterday as a wedding,鈥 Hart says. 鈥淢y dad wheeled her in and I proposed to her and an hour later, after she got ready, we got married.鈥
Gainley painted her fingernails bright green to match the dress she wore for the engagement. They also matched the floral dress she wore under her robe for Commencement a day later. 鈥淚t was a double-decker thing,鈥 she said with a smile.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to cross everything off Bri鈥檚 bucket list, and this was the big one that I was so sad that I wasn鈥檛 going to be able to do for her,鈥 Hart said of the Commencement ceremony. 鈥淚鈥檓 really glad Tayla was able to pull this together with the university.鈥
Seizing Every Opportunity
One of Gainley鈥檚 favorite computer science professors, Holly Yanco, was overseas in South Korea and could not attend the ceremony in person. But Yanco was still able to congratulate Gainley live via video chat on a laptop, in spite of the 13-hour time difference.
鈥淧rofessor Yanco has just been an incredible force for me,鈥 Gainley said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 so involved in everything in cutting-edge tech, and she makes sure her students get their hands on it, too.鈥
That includes a national NASA robotics competition in 2013 in Houston, where Gainley鈥檚 team, the Rover Hawks, took first place. Gainley considers it the highlight of her academic career.
鈥淚t was such a cool experience to be part of that team,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think a lot of people were expecting us to do as well as we did. It was one of those super-cool experiences that you just ... weren鈥檛 expecting to win. And when you did it, it was wonderful.鈥
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Assoc. Prof. William Moloney, who called the ceremony 鈥渢he single nicest thing I鈥檝e seen in my time at the university,鈥 recounted a semester when Gainley asked if she could receive an 鈥渋ncomplete鈥 in his computer science course because she needed to be out for several weeks to have a lung removed.
鈥淚 almost fell over. If someone tells me, 鈥業 need to have a lung removed,鈥 it鈥檚 hard to fathom that they鈥檙e even thinking about the fact that they鈥檙e going to finish the course,鈥 said Moloney, who had Gainley in three of his courses. 鈥淏ut she was determined. She鈥檚 an amazing, amazing person.鈥
Gainley was just as hard-working outside of the classroom, landing a series of internships and professional work experiences over the past five years that included a student developer position at CodeRight Inc., a dynamic scan engineer position at Veracode and, most recently, a software developer position at Cognition Corporation.
鈥淚 really tried to do as much as I could in terms of keeping an internship or keeping some kind of work experience because, even if I couldn鈥檛 get the classes done, even if I couldn鈥檛 get the grades I wanted in the classes, at least I could still get work experience and still get that kind of thing on my r茅sum茅,鈥 Gainley said. 鈥淕etting that kind of experience under my belt was very important to me.鈥
As the Gainley family, which also includes daughters Shaylinn and Marlea, continued to hug guests and commemorate the moment with photos, Maureen marveled at the young woman Brianna has become.
鈥淪he鈥檚 the strongest women I鈥檝e ever met. She doesn鈥檛 cry. Until the most recent news, she hasn鈥檛 cried,鈥 Brianna鈥檚 mother said. 鈥淎nd with all that she's gone through, she鈥檚 still maintained her sweetness and her sense of humor. I don鈥檛 know where that came from. I learned a lot from her.鈥
