CLASS OF 2006 | 2017 | ISSUE 1

Sara and Justin Schmidt have moved from NYC to Seattle. They welcomed their second son, Simon, last March and big brother, Jonah, is happy to have a new addition. Sara is a clinical psychologist at the University of Washington, where she works on research in dialectical behavior therapy and post-traumatic stress disorder. Justin is working as a music publicist.

Adam Bernier married Virginia Aloi-Deheza in Buenos Aires on Dec. 21. Their immediate families, including Sarah Bernier ’08, were in attendance. The couple hopes to celebrate with their friends and extended family this summer. They live in Somers, N.Y., where Adam works as a producer, audio engineer, and sound designer for musicians, theaters, and events in NYC and Westchester County. He was also featured on the back cover of Wesleyan in the middle of tackling the cardinal mascot at a recent Reunion!

Daniel Dykes is a third-year associate at the New York office of international law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle. He does cross-border work involving Latin American clients, which is a welcome opportunity to use his Spanish.

Kate Longley-Wood is an ocean mapping coordinator for The Nature Conservancy’s Global Oceans Team. As a huge fan of the ocean and the unexplored depths, I say congratulations to you, Kate!

Joseph McElligott is the director of business development for Guggenheim Investment Advisors, LLC. He was elected to be the vice-chair of the Wesleyan University Alumni Association and is a part of the Binswanger Prize Committee.

Teddy O’Connor spent 2016 in Portland, Ore., where he worked on the first season of Comedy Central’s Jeff and Some Aliens. In need of a break, Teddy booked passage on a small boat to sail around the world and find himself on the sea.

Shaine Truscott celebrated a new marriage, and a decade of living in Seattle, and working as a professional rabble-rouser for the long-term care workers’ union of Washington and Montana (SEIU775). She works alongside political genius Adam Glickman ’94. They are working to defend the Affordable Care Act and protect federal funding for Medicaid.

Tal Beery is busy in NYC and completing his M.F.A. He is part of Occupy Museums, an artist collective that holds open assemblies on the steps of museums and works to reclaim public spaces to display meaningful culture created by and for the 99 percent. Tal and Occupy Museums will be exhibiting a work called Debtfair at the Whitney Biennial in March.

Ali Osborn is completing her final semester at Rutgers University, where she will receive an MFA degree. Her thesis exhibit went up in January at the Mason Gross Galleries in New Brunswick, N.J.

Zach Strassburger is now the law clerk for the Honorable Carmine Sturino in Houston County, Minn. Zach is the sole clerk in a rural one-judge county. You can read Zach’s law journal article, “Medical Decision Making for Youth in the Foster Care System” in the John Marshall Law Review.

Technologies of Religion: Spheres of the Sacred in a Post-Secular Modernity, by Sam Han ’06, is out now from Routledge Press.

Congratulations to Liz Khoo and her husband, who welcomed their son into the world last September. His name is Hubble Zhiwen Green, named after the astronomer and telescope! They moved to San Francisco where Liz works as a digital product designer and her husband is a stay-at-home-father/woodworker.

In October, Stephen and Jemma Braun Siperstein ’05 welcomed their first child, Nathaniel Elliot, who has brought much light and laughter to their lives. Stephen received his PhD. from the University of Oregon and is teaching English and environmental humanities at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn. They’re excited to be close enough to Middletown to enjoy the occasional breakfast at O’Rourke’s.

Congrats to Hanako Moondance and her husband, Alex Salazar, who welcomed their son, Atlas Alexander Kai Guandique-Moondance, on Oct. 2. He is a healthy and happy chunk of cuteness!

Daniel Sweren-Becker ’06 creates a vision of a not-so-distant future world in which a random group of babies is chosen each year to be the smartest, best looking, most athletic members of society in his literary debut, The Ones (imprint/Macmillan Children’s Publishing).

And last, but certainly not least, congratulations to Sophie Karp and Evan Katin-Borland who welcomed their daughter, Lucy, on Aug. 7. They are tired and happy, but only five percent tired and 105 percent happy.

As for me, Calvin Cato (I never get to put my own name in bold), I’m currently contributing video game reviews to Tom’s Guide. If you want to know about hot virtual reality games, check out the articles. I am also hosting and producing a stand-up comedy showcase on Monday nights at Freddy’s Bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn. For every person who attends, we donate $1 to organizations that help underrepresented communities and causes. Past charities include the Native American Rights Fund, Planned Parenthood, The Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. If you know of any charities or causes I should donate to, please feel free to e-mail me.

Calvin Cato | catocals@gmail.com