Alumnae Spotlight: Meaghan Bertolami ’22, Kayla Fordyce '21 & Kylie Fordyce '21

Meaghan Bertolami ’22 is about to answer a question when something catches her eye in the Providence Student Union.

A few feet away from her a student is walking by, and a piece of red string is attached to the student’s backpack. Bertolami recognizes it.

She has a string on her backpack, too.

“At our club retreat for [Providence College] congress, they give out a red string,” Bertolami said. “The red string symbolizes a Chinese myth [where an invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet and be connected]. The string can never be broken, bent, or cut. … There always this tie, or unifying thing, and it feels that way with Mercy, too.”

For the last three years, Bertolami, and twins Kayla Fordyce ’21 and Kylie Fordyce ’21 have been connected by more than just a red string as members of the Providence College student congress – they have been united by that timeless circle of Mercy.

After only knowing each other in passing at Mercy High School, the trio have hit it off as a members of Providence College’s Student Congress, and grown as not just ever active club members, but as loyal friends.

“We never really interacted at Mercy, but we are good friends now,” Bertolami said. “I feel like I can text them about the most random things – anything really.”

Sure, there are plenty of funny texts to recollect over the last few years, but as student leaders, the bond goes much deeper.

At Providence, the trio have used the levers of student government to help their fellow students, their school, and their community.

“It is very telling that we all felt the drive to join a club and get involved and make change and make this the best place it can be,” Kayla Fordyce said. “I don’t look at my four years here with any regrets. I am happy that freshman year I was able to jump in and get going. I didn’t waste any time. I just got involved so fast and made so many great friends.”

She wasn’t alone, both her sister and Bertolami were quick to give Student Congress a shot.

“The advice I was given in high school was to pick something and stick with it,” Bertolami said.

Bertolami not only stuck with it – she jumped in headfirst. 

Before she knew it, Bertolami was helping to get peepholes installed in a new freshman dorm, traveling to Washington, D.C. to meet with Providence Alumni, and helping plan events for the club’s outreach community, including Visits with Santa for the local community, and this year: Haircuts for the Homeless. And you can bet the Fordyce twins stayed busy, too. Whether they were planning school functions, pushing for the student voice to be heard, or meeting with the president of the college, the sisters have done everything they can to help their school continue to grow and evolve.

Throughout the last four years, each has been elected to office and held various positions of leadership.

“I feel like we have all used our time here to the fullest,” Kylie Fordyce said.  

At Providence, Mercy and Xavier graduates rarely waste their time. During the last four years, the trio said the Providence Student Congress has featured 11 different Xavier and Mercy graduates.  

“It is nice because they get it,” Kayla Fordyce said about the Randolph Road influence.

When they were just starting out at Providence, the Fordyce sisters were encouraged to join congress by another Mercy graduate, Jaime Murphy. They also got to know Mercy graduate Bianca LaBella through the club.

“Coming to Providence, there were people I didn’t know from Mercy, and we reached out to each other, and we became good friends in college,” Kylie Fordyce said.

It also helps that the Mercy graduates share a familiar trait. 

“We are all so excited to be here, but we are also like ‘let’s get this done,’” Kayla Fordyce said. “We are just hard workers.”

Over the course of a 90-minute conversation, that work ethic was obvious.

“My favorite part is hearing someone in my class or someone on my floor or an underclassmen saying we wish we had this and then seeing either me or someone on my committee take that and lead to the change,” Kylie Fordyce said. “That’s been very cool.”

Bertolami and Kayla Fordyce also share similar stories.

“With Outreach, we do things like pictures with Santa, and Easter and Halloween events for the local community,” Bertolami said. “You see these kids get so excited to take a picture with some student who is a Santa. You feel like you made a difference, maybe not in their life, but at least on that day for that family.”

Together, there is a passion for their community, and all things Providence.

“You can get so involved here,” Kylie Fordyce said. “There are so many different avenues you can go down, and I’ve tried so many different things and met so many different people.”

Sound familiar?

It is like what they felt on Randolph Road.

“When I toured Providence the first time, it was like what I felt when toured Mercy,” Kylie Fordyce said.

At Providence, their Mercy values grown, too.

“I’m grateful every day that Mercy set me up on a path,” Kayla said. “I think Mercy instills those values into me that and everything I was taught at Mercy about how to be a good person and how to be a good student has only grown since coming to Providence.”

Bertolami has gained plenty of self-confidence and she credits both schools for that development.

“I have this newfound appreciation that I’m a very capable human being and it is something that both Mercy and Providence have given me,” Bertolami said. “I’m confident that I can do the hard things. People see it in me, and I now see it in myself.”

Now, as they prepare for what lies ahead, the trio are eager to test that confidence and all the lessons they have learned at both schools.

Bertolami, who has been working with the Providence Athletic Marketing & Promotions department during her time at Providence, has recently switched her focus from political science to sports administration and is excited about getting her MBA in the field in the coming years.

As for the Fordyce sisters, they plan to take gap years (one for Kayla, two for Kylie) as they prepare for medical school. And no matter what hospital, school, or state, they ended up at after college, there is one thing they are looking for in the next opportunity.

“Mercy gave me the sense of community and the sense of love that I want to have in every aspect of my life from now on,” Kylie Fordyce said. “I’m looking for the Mercy in everything I see.”