Math major Brianne Boatman ’05 marched onto the Mudd scene with bagpipes in tow. But the adulations she received from her peers at the freshman orientation talent show were just a sign of the great things to come.

Her ability on the instrument reinforced just how extraordinary Mudders really are. Not only is the bagpipe considered one of the most complex instruments to play, it’s also an instrument primarily played by males.

“Learning how to play a tune is not that hard, perfecting it is. It takes a very long time,” says Boatman. “Of course you have to learn the scales, but the unusual thing about bagpipe music is the little embellishments, or grace notes, that separate notes. When you get familiar with all of those, you can start putting tunes together.”

And Boatman’s pipes took her way past her orientation performance to Scotland, where she piped with best and studied mathematics. She practiced at Glasgow’s College of Piping and joined the Milngavie Pipe Band for a European tour. But that wasn’t the highlight of her trip.

“Shortly after I joined the band, I met Cameron (Francey of Dumfries, Scotland),” Boatman says. “We got to know each other on a band retreat and were eventually inseparable. We were married in August of 2005.”

In the Spring of 2005, Boatman led her graduating class to their seats, in 4/4 time, at the HMC Commencement Ceremony. So just as she began her college career piping her own tune, she ended doing the same. And had one heck of a journey along the way.