By Mary Hammers, Hillbrook writer
Once upon a time at Hillbrook, two 3rd grade students met during a popsicle stick project. One was a tall, quiet boy who chose to build a popsicle stick house. The other, an athletic girl who decided to make a popsicle stick horse and was baffled that the boy would rather build a house than a horse. Little did they know the two would someday grow up and make a home together as husband and wife, but only after the horse-loving girl became a world champion equestrian vaulter. This is the real-life, fairytale story of Megan (Benjamin) and Michael Guimarin, graduates of the Hillbrook Class of 2002. We’re not 100% certain, but they may be the first couple to meet at Hillbrook and later get married. We recently caught up with them to learn more about their lives then and now.
Your story is so sweet. Did this start as a schoolyard crush or did you reconnect later?
Megan: We met in third grade in Mrs. Minor’s class, back when there was only one class per grade. Michael had been at Hillbrook since preschool, but I came to Hillbrook in third grade. I remember Michael (or “Mike G.” as he was called back then) being the smartest, tallest boy in the class. Michael was “the nerd” and I was “the jock” in grade school. He was often in his own world, but I remember respecting (and being envious of) his intellect. In Middle School, we started to get a little closer, but there was definitely no hint of romance for me until high school.
Michael went on to Bellarmine College Preparatory, while Megan attended Saratoga High School. Both were very busy with sports. Michael as an elite swimmer and Megan, an elite equestrian vaulter.
Megan: We were both heavily involved in our sports programs and both felt pretty disconnected from our high school social lives. We kindled an online relationship over AIM (ha!) and were able to connect on a level we hadn’t previously connected when we were in grade school. I felt like Michael “got me” when no one else did. Michael invited me to a dance at Bellarmine our freshman year, but I was too focused on my vaulting career and didn’t want to “mess things up” by dating a boy, even if I did like him. Michael was persistent though and kept asking me out. We went on one date as sophomores and one date as juniors. Eventually, he won me over by writing me a poem in Latin in December of our senior year of high school.
Megan vaulted throughout high school and was named the 2006 World Equestrian Games (WEG) women’s vaulting champion, the 2006 WEG Team Silver medalist, 2008 World Championships Team Bronze medalist, and three time women’s national vaulting champion. Michael was busy with competitive swimming and academics. It didn’t leave much time for dating, but they remained connected throughout high school.
Megan: That’s one of the main reasons I didn’t want to “date” Michael in high school. I was so worried it would mess up my vaulting career! I started vaulting in third grade and finally retired in 2012. Michael and his mother actually attended the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, when I became World Champion, and I’m so grateful they were both there to celebrate that moment with me.
What did your friends and family think about you two former classmates reconnecting romantically?
Megan: Our parents seemed to be mostly on board. Actually, I think my parents just couldn’t believe there was a boy who I loved more than horses! And our classmates definitely thought it was an odd match at first, but our friends eventually got it.
They went on to attend different universities. Michael, Princeton, and Megan, Cornell, but they stayed together throughout their college years. Post-college, Megan and Michael started making plans to build a life together. As they talked about marriage, they even considered a wedding on the Hillbrook campus. Though they ended up getting married elsewhere, there were a number of Hillbrook people in attendance. Today their lives are busy with children and work.
Megan: We live and work in San Francisco. Michael is a technology sales executive and I have my own business, Also Mom, which is a resource for motherhood wisdom, thoughtful parenting advice, and highly curated product recommendations for millennial moms. We have two girls, Alice (Ali), who’s three, and Cora, who just turned one. We’re fortunate to have all four grandparents within a one hour drive.
Now a wife and mother, Megan has given up competitive vaulting, having sold her horse before her first child was born. She says in some ways equestrianism and caring for her horse helped prepare her for motherhood. Megan served for a time on vaulting related-boards, as well as Editor in Chief of “Equestrian Vaulting” magazine, but says now with the girls, “time is precious!”
Asked whether we might see their family back at Hillbrook some day?
Megan: We still live in SF and hope to stay here, but Hillbrook is definitely on our radar. We’ve toured some schools in SF and nothing quite compares.
Michael: To this day, Hillbrook holds an incredible place in our hearts. I trace our passion for education, art, and nature directly to our experiences at Hillbrook School. That’s something we want more than anything to share with our children. If it could have happened, we would have been married at Hillbrook.
Megan’s father, Steve Benjamin, served on the Hillbrook Board of Trustees for 14 years, seven as President, and Michael’s father, David Guimarin was a trustee for 5 years, so the school is clearly close to their hearts. In fact, the inlaws jokingly say they draw on their experience working together on the Board when negotiating the occasional family deadlocked decision. Asked to describe what is special about the Hillbrook experience, Megan and Michael point to the breadth of the education and wide, outdoor spaces to explore:
Megan: Hillbrook is such a special community. When I think about Hillbrook, I think about the people first. We’re still in touch with our closest friends from our time there, and some of our favorite former teachers are now our friends. These people have shaped us. I especially loved spending huge amounts of time outside on that beautiful campus. Michael and I both remember afternoons where the teachers would “forget” to ring the recess bell, and we’d just spend extra time climbing trees and dirtying knees. I also, of course, love that I met Michael there.
Michael: I can’t describe in words how special my experience at Hillbrook was to me. I discovered and cultivated an appreciation for art through our hands on interactions in woodshop, pottery, fine arts, photography, and so many other disciplines. School was a broad introduction to many educational topics and a force multiplier for my curiosity. A guiding hand and a place that afforded structure to a wandering mind.
I am also profoundly grateful for the opportunity to share so many memories with my classmate and now-wife, Megan. Though we were never close at school, our mutual experience and shared values continue to serve as the foundation for our relationship.
For Megan and Michael, popsicle sticks may be at the foundation of their relationship, but it is clearly fortified by stronger stuff than that. Here’s to our alum Megan and Michael Guimarin and the school that brought them together as children and helped shaped the adults and parents they are today.
Thanks for this fun trip down memory lane, Hillbrook and Mary Hammers! We really hope our grandkids get experience the specialness of Hillbrook School one day.