CLASS OF 2019 | 2023 | FALL ISSUE

Hi everyone! Here are some updates from our peers:

Devon Cooper has wrapped up her time as UMass Memorial Health’s first genetic counseling assistant where she had the opportunity to work with an amazing group of genetics professionals and provide care to the central and western Massachusetts communities. This past summer she made the cross-country trek back to California to pursue her master’s degree. And this fall she is joining Keck Graduate Institute’s Class of 2025 in their Master of Business and Science Program. Devon is also excited to be so close to home—she hasn’t lived within driving distance of her parents since starting school at Wesleyan in 2015!

Kati Young is now working in ministry, serving at Grace Lutheran Ministries in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. She also loves her mini-goldendoodle, Boaz!

Nicolas Fernandez currently serves as a sergeant in the U.S. Army. He recently completed the DOD’s 10-month Special Operations Combat Medic course that turns ordinary soldiers into medics, capable of administering lifesaving medicine in austere environments worldwide. The program culminated in a one-month rotation to emergency departments throughout the United States where he used his skills to save and treat real patients.

His current path is that of a civil affairs medical sergeant (38W). As a 38W, he will receive additional training in veterinary care and public health principles (i.e., infectious disease, water, sanitation, hygiene) in order to provide humanitarian assistance to people, local governments, and NGOs in remote regions around the world.

Josh Nodiff graduated from the Columbia Climate School with an MA in climate and society. After researching climate policy and urban design with the mayor of Cartagena, Josh is now assembling a climate arts and storytelling consortium between universities, museums, magazines, and more.

And as for me, I have recently begun a position as a research fellow at the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy where I study affordable housing and land use policy.

CLASS OF 2019 | 2023 | SPRING ISSUE

Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well and staying safe. Here are some updates from our peers:

Katie Tyner recently published a co-authored, open-access article in Politics & Policy with Farida Jalalzai covering women prime ministers during COVID-19. Katie and Farida interviewed 45 politicians, civil servants, medical professionals, local journalists, and other leaders for this study, including Iceland Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdóttir and New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson. The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12511.

Sarah Paulson graduated this summer from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands with a master’s in marine biology. She recently started a new job as a coastal restoration science technician with the Nature Conservancy. Sarah’s girlfriend Anna Knes also recently received a master’s—hers in forensic science from the University of Amsterdam in October ’22. Both recently moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and together they are looking at adopting a cat!

Special thanks to everyone who reached out with their life updates. Keep an eye out for my next email about the next edition of the alumni magazine soon.

CLASS OF 2019 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well and staying safe. Here are some updates from our peers:

Michelle Fisher begins her master’s in library and information studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison this fall. In January 2022, she left her job at Epic to start a new position as the nights and weekends supervisor at Memorial Library on campus. Michelle continues to play ultimate Frisbee with fellow Throw Culture alumni Kylie Moynihan ’17 and Ben Kaufman ’16, and she is always excited for other classmates to venture away from the coasts and join her in the Midwest!

Gabriella (Gabby) Castorena graduated from the University of St. Thomas in May 2021 with her master’s in clinical mental health counseling. Gabby is enjoying her 16-hour shifts at a psychiatric emergency room as a master level clinician on the weekends and is a therapist at an inpatient mental hospital during the week. Once Gabby finishes her LPC–A hours to be fully licensed, she plans on working part-time and furthering her education in the medical field. Before applying to medical school, Gabby is exploring travel opportunities.

Josh Nodiff is beginning graduate school at Columbia University for a master’s in climate and society. He will be studying narrative media, climate science, and public policy at the new Columbia Climate School.

Dennis White recently finished a master’s degree in labor studies at UMass Amherst and is working as a staff organizer at the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico, organizing the faculty union at the University of New Mexico.

Helen Karimi graduated again from Wes with an MA in 2020. She then went on to pursue her MS at the University of Connecticut, where she learned about the field of neuromonitoring. She is currently a first-year medical student at Tufts University School of Medicine and is really excited about a start-up she co-founded this past year called Neuroplex Industries, Inc. Her and her business partner’s mission is to increase the safety of surgeries by providing resources for improving intraoperative neuromonitoring services. Helen invites you to learn more about her recent endeavor at www.neuroplexindustries.com.

Special thanks to everyone who reached out with their life updates. Keep an eye out for my next email about the next edition of the alumni magazine soon.

CLASS OF 2019 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well and staying safe. Here are some updates from our peers:

Kati Young is a PhD student at Marquette University. She uses budding yeast to study Huntington’s Disease.

Kevin Le finished his master’s program at University of San Diego in health care management in December. He is walking in May and welcomes anyone to come through to San Diego to celebrate! He also finished a year at his current company Arena Pharmaceuticals.

This spring Rachel Williams is starting her second semester as a PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University in the modern languages and literatures department, with a focus in Spanish. At Hopkins she is once again sharing a department with Sophia Shoulson ’18, slowly launching a Wes takeover of campus. She is looking forward to exploring Baltimore more and meeting up with Wes friends up and down the Eastern seaboard—catch her on the Acela on any given weekend!

Rebecca Goldfarb Terry is currently living in Philadelphia with Ben Hornung ’18. She will be pursuing her nurse-midwife and nurse practitioner degrees at the University of Pennsylvania this fall. As they both formerly captained Wesleyan’s Throw Culture Frisbee team, Ben and Rebecca continue to play Frisbee together in the Philadelphia area.

Last fall, Wesley Villano moved to Kanab, Utah, to work as a field guide for Wingate Wilderness Therapy. His partner, Ainsley Kass ’20, also works there in the same position.

Special thanks to everyone who reached out with their life updates. Keep an eye out for my next email about the next edition of the alumni magazine soon.

CLASS OF 2019 | 2021–2022 | WINTER ISSUE

Hey everyone! Hope you all are continuing to stay safe and healthy. Here are some updates from our classmates:

Samantha Schreiber will be starting a school-clinical PsyD program at Pace University in the fall.

Josh Signore will begin a PhD program in chemistry in fall 2021 at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Nikolas Ortega will be relocating to San Francisco in August 2021. He’s looking forward to experiencing the Bay Area and the rest of the American West Coast. Niko cannot wait to connect with other Wes folks out in SF! If you’re out there, don’t hesitate to reach out.

He also recently completed the Colorwave Fellowship, a program designed to help close the racial wealth gap in venture capital and the startup ecosystem—making the innovation economy more accessible to BIPOC.

Katie Tyner moved to D.C. in July for her new job as a fellow at the Cohen Group, a government relations advisory firm. She looks forward to reconnecting with fellow Cardinals who are in the area!

Zachary Obstfeld finished his first year of his master’s at the University of Chicago. He’s enjoyed working with faculty here, including Michael Kremer and Brian Williams. This past summer he worked for the World Bank and is planning a trip to Joshua Tree.

Amy Breitfeller and her pal Cara Bendich ‘19 stayed in Middletown after graduating. She stayed to work in the Wes Office of Admission as an assistant dean, and Cara worked with both Upward Bound Math-Science and GEARUP, two programs that provide extra academic and mentorship resources to high-poverty school districts and primarily serve low-income students throughout their time in middle and high school. Cara worked in both Middletown and Meriden.

Throughout their two years living in their home on Home Avenue, they have had an incredible array of truly authentic, warm, and caring roommates (including Meghan Jain, Breanna Cavanaugh, Mackenzie Mitchell ’20, Michelle Nivar ’20, Emily Moon ’21, and Clare Glickman ’21). The two years following graduation spent in this beautiful home had been filled with such incredible love, heartfelt laughter, and life-long friendships. Their time there has been unforgettable.

Cara and Amy are both heading off to NYC to become full-time educators, a dream they’ve had since working with Kindergarten Kickstart, a project that is part of the Cognitive Development Lab at Wes (Cara worked with Kickstart for three years, and Amy for a year during undergrad). This upcoming year, Cara will be a teacher of mathematics for 4th and 5th graders at the East Harlem School, and Amy will be a teacher of PE and Fitness for 4th-8th graders and the head coach of the girl’s lacrosse program at Trinity School.

And as for me, I am starting graduate school in the fall at the New York University Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. There I will be studying public policy with a focus on inequality, race, and poverty.

Special thanks to everyone who reached out with their life updates. Keep an eye out for my next email about the next edition of the alumni magazine soon.

CLASS OF 2019 | 2021 | ISSUE 1

Hi, Class of 2019! I hope everyone is doing well (and at this point is getting vaccinated)! Here are some updates from our classmates: 

     Alex Pachter (she/her) is going on a year and a half as a software engineer at Capital One Bank. She spent the first part of quarantine home in Brooklyn and is now working remotely from Burlington, Vermont. Her favorite lockdown activities these days are alpine and cross country skiing, long walks to the corner and back, and hot chocolate with Baileys.

   Aaron Cheung (he/him), who is continuing to live with Dominic Vazquez (he/him) in Berkeley, California, is excited to begin his fourth semester of law school.

     Miles Warren (he/him) and Gustavo René’s (he/him) film, Bruiser, was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival in 2021. The world premiere took place at Sundance at the end of January! A bunch of different Wesleyan alumni were involved in the project.

     Katie Tyner (she/her) started as a fellow at The Cohen Group, a strategic advisory firm in DC, on March 8. She is excited to join this incredible team and the DC community!

     Kevin Le (he/him) started a job at Arena Pharmaceuticals as the CMC operations associate for the tech ops group. He is finishing up his final year at the University of San Diego towards a master’s in healthcare informatics/management and leadership.

     Gabriella (Gabby) Castorena (she/her) is graduating in May with a master’s in clinical mental health counseling from The University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. Upon passing her licensure exam (NCE), she will be interning as a mental health counselor (LPC-A) in a local mental health clinic. During her internship, she will begin her journey to complete her prerequisites for nursing school, which she plans to apply for in Fall 2023 at Texas Women’s University.

     Huge thanks to everyone who shared this time around! Look out for an email from me soon about submissions for the next edition.

CLASS OF 2019 | 2020 | ISSUE 3

Hey everyone! Hope you all are continuing to stay safe and healthy. Here are some updates from our classmates: 

Anna Knes (she/her) has moved to the Netherlands to pursue her second master’s degree (her first being Wesleyan MA ’20). For the next two years, she will study forensic science at the University of Amsterdam. While she will miss her family and friends in the United States, she is excited to explore Europe, and she is thankful that COVID-19 cases are quite low and well-managed. Anna isn’t the only Wes alum living in the Netherlands, however, as she is accompanied by Sarah Paulson (she/her) who moved to Groningen, a town two hours away! She is pursuing a master’s in marine biology at the University of Groningen. Follow their travel Instagram @thestroopwafeleffect for more updates!

Zachary Obstfeld (he/him) just started a master’s in public policy at the Harris School at UChicago. 

Katie Tyner (she/her) recently completed her Master of Science in Politics Research from the University of Oxford (Balliol College). She absolutely loved her time in Oxford. This year she is working from home in Connecticut, co-authoring a few research projects and serving as a substitute teacher for fifth and sixth graders to help out the community during this COVID-19 craziness. She hopes everyone is keeping safe and happy.

Aaron J. Cheung (he/him) is still in Berkeley, California, and still living with Dominic Vazquez (he/him). Aaron sleeps a lot but wants to say hi to all his friends.

This fall Wesley Villano (he/him) is starting a master’s program in Chinese medicine at the New England School of Acupuncture. He is currently living with his girlfriend, Ainsley Kass ’20 (she/her).

Robin Waterman (she/her) just started a dual-degree PhD program in plant biology and ecology, evolution, and behavior at Michigan State University (East Lansing, Michigan), working with Professor Jeffrey Conner. 

Nic Yeager (he, they, she) is living in Austin, Texas, writing culture and politics articles for the Texas Observer and a few other publications. They wrote a guidebook about Austin that’s out now, even though it’s not a great time for travel. They’re hoping everyone is staying safe, sheltered, and politically engaged however they are able.

Marisella (Sella) Andrews (she/her) started school as an MBA candidate at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. Sella plans to pursue a specialty in health sector management and strategy. 

Thank you to everyone who shared their life updates with us this time around. And check your inboxes for another email from me soon! 

Justin Campos | jxcampos@wesleyan.edu

CLASS OF 2019 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

Hey, Class of 2019! I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy (and inside!) amidst the global pandemic we are facing. Here are some updates from our peers:

Jackie Leete is living in Washington, D.C., and working in a lab at the National Institutes of Health investigating traumatic brain injury and sleep disturbances (although currently, she is working from home!). She plans on applying to PhD programs this fall with a focus on sleep research.

Shana Laski is moving to D.C. this summer to start a position at Mosaic Theatre Company as their resident dramaturgy fellow.

Rebecca Goldfarb Terry is living in Philadelphia with her dear friend and fellow Cardinal, Carina Flaherty. She spends most of her time working at Temple University Hospital as a Community Engagement Representative with the Office of Patient Experience. When she’s not at the hospital, she’s hanging out with her dog Emmie or playing frisbee.

Anna Knes just finished Wesleyan’s BA/MA Program in late April and will soon start a summer internship at the Connecticut State Crime Lab. In the fall, she will move to Amsterdam to start a two-year master’s in forensic science (coronavirus-permitting, of course).

Aaron Cheung hopes that the Class of 2019 and their families remain safe. Aaron is working, as part of his pro bono project, with the ACLU of Northern California on surveillance and privacy issues. It is important for everyone to pay attention to COVID-19 tracking, as it may leave unwanted precedent for future unconsented privacy invasions. Dom Vazquez and Aaron have also moved. They are living together again, for the third year in a row. Dom is still teaching seventh-grade world history and science in Oakland, Calif., remotely now, and has been accepted to a teacher credentialing program, which will keep him busy over the next two years. He’s doing much less hiking and much more Netflix binge-watching.

Jennifer Gagne is finishing her first year in the classroom as a Kindergarten and ENL teacher. Her district has recognized her and her team for their distance learning efforts that are low-tech. She is also finishing her first year of her master’s in urban childhood education and TESOL program.

Andrea Weires was working as a peace corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic until COVID-19 hit. She was evacuated from her community in less than 24 hours. She now lives in Minneapolis, Minn., and recently started working as a paralegal at an immigration law firm. She wishes health and safety for the Class of 2019!

Allison Quintana just finished her post-baccalaureate year at Smith College in their math and statistics department. And she was also sent home several weeks ago, along with every other student across the country, to finish her last semester. Her plan for the fall is to go to grad school at the Brown University School of Public Health to get her ScM (master’s degree) in biostatistics. Assuming Brown will allow for in-person classes, she is currently looking for apartments in Providence. She says, “It’s a very interesting time to be entering the world of biostatistics and public health.”

After graduating, Fred Willis moved to Bangalore, India, and started working full-time as a business consultant/data analyst, partnering with various Fortune 500 companies on projects to improve their business processes. During his time abroad, he had the opportunity to travel all over India and parts of Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Nepal. He even met up with several Wes alumni and current students, which was comforting to connect with familiar faces amidst so many unknowns! Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, he has since returned to NYC where he continues to work from home as he waits out his move to Dallas, Texas, for his current project with Citigroup. He hopes everyone is keeping safe and doing well.

Joy Adedokun is finishing up her accelerated program for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa. Upon completion, she looks forward to joining “the most trusted profession” on the frontlines. She hopes everyone is healthy, staying connected, and still has a reason to smile in these peculiar times.

Rosanne Ng had a fantastic year in the San Francisco Bay Area, working in LinkedIn’s Strategy and Analytics Program. She recently moved to Dublin, Ireland, to continue working in LinkedIn’s EMEA headquarters (where they call it the Strategy and Analytics Programme).

Daniel Gordon is working for Google as a part of the software engineering residency program, where he works (remotely at the moment) with a variety of different teams in the NYC Google office.

Thank you again to everyone who shared! Look out for an email from me about the next edition of the alumni magazine soon.

Justin Campos | jxcampos@wesleyan.edu

CLASS OF 2019 | 2020 | ISSUE 1

Hey, Class of 2019! Hope everyone is doing well. Here are some updates. George Poulos is working on his YouTube channel and clothing brand, Arrow Skate Co, in NYC. He is rooming with Maddy Paull and Izzy Creavin this year.

Kati Young is living in NYC where she studies DNA repair as a lab manager for Professor Lorraine Symington at Columbia University.

My favorite former housemate, Dom Vazquez, has moved to Berkeley, Calif., and is roommates with Aaron Cheung (again). He is teaching seventh-grade world history and science at a public charter school in Oakland, and he is looking into starting a teacher credential program in the summer, though he’s not sure where yet. He is enjoying life by the Bay and is filling his free time with hiking and SAT/ACT tutoring. Meanwhile, Aaron is still in law school. He sends his regards to the class of 2019.

Rachel Williams is starting her second semester as an English teaching assistant in Segovia, Spain, where she works with primary school kids from second to sixth grade. She will be in Spain at least until June and potentially for another school year after that before making her return stateside.

Adam Wells has started working as a content manager at a digital music distribution company called AudioSalad in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

Nikolas Ortega has been living in Ann Arbor, Mich., since July working full time as a business consultant at Google. Through his work, Nikolas partners with countless small to medium-sized businesses throughout the U.S. to fuel their long-term growth—via Google’s products and solutions. He’s been making the most of living in the Midwest.

Jordan Legaspi has been spreading Christmas cheer in Taipei, Taiwan, where he is teaching English as part of his Fulbright Grant with Fulbright Taiwan. He shared with us a photo of a very tender moment where he sang the song “Silent Night” in English while his students responded singing “Silent Night” in Chinese.

Big thanks to everyone who chose to share their life updates with us! Watch for my next email for the next edition of the alumni magazine.

Justin Campos | jxcampos@wesleyan.edu