CLASS OF 1995 | 2020 | ISSUE 1
Hello, Class of 1995! Bo writing for this issue and I’ll start with my own updates. I’m still living in New York’s idyllic Hudson Highlands, working on digital products, raising two really fun little humans, and playing soccer as often as my knees will allow. I get face time with Mike Kleinsteuber, Kiersten Miller, and Laura Roberts ’97 occasionally.
Jennifer “Parker” Dockray is still living in Oakland CA, co-parenting a delightful 13-year-old, and working for reproductive justice. She is the executive director of All-Options, a national organization supporting people in all their experiences with pregnancy, parenting, abortion, and adoption.
Brett Jones, international woman of mystery, writes: “I’ve been living in Suva, Fiji, for the last two years, where I work as a foreign service officer for USAID, and my husband for the State Department. Next month, classmate Nicole Robinson ’96 is coming to Fiji for a visit. Our next assignment is Canberra, Australia, starting this March.”
Jacob Waples and Sandy Miller have been living in Golden, Colo., for 20 years (!), aside from a two-year stint in Santiago, Chile. Jacob works at a small consulting company in Golden as an environmental geochemist to support mine permitting and closure. Sandy is a baroque cellist, teaching and performing in Denver. They see a group of Colorado Wes alumni regularly for skiing, geology discussions over beers, and to hang out with each other’s’ kids, including Tom Rutkowski ’96, Hillary Hamann ’94, Josh Pollock ’96, and Adam Hobson ’97.
My WesCo Up-4 hallmate, Cheryl Mejia, is always good with the updates, so of course she sent one for our Reunion issue! “Going into smaller private practice from large interventional pain group. Loving what I do. It’s a thank’ful’ job (as opposed to thankless job). Wife and I are doing great. Living in western Maryland. Enjoying boutique fitness like heart rate training programs, barre, and snowshoeing. I miss Son Tran ’95 because he moved to Canada with his ortho surgeon spouse.”
Speaking of Up-4, Adam Hirsch is living in Madison, Wisc., with his wife and two kids, not far from Matt Edes-Pierotti. Adam’s working remotely as a software developer for Axios and doing occasional hobby forays into fiction writing and podcast production. Nicholas Moran, who along with spouse Adair and dog Tala are currently traveling the country performing in Jurassic World Live Tour, got to visit with Adam when he brought his daughters to see the show in Milwaukee this past November. Nicholas will be touring North America for at least another year but encourages everyone to look him up if the show passes through your area.
Sabrina Prince sends some long-distance love: “I moved last year from New York to Germany for life and love. I am still working on health care advertising and have relocated to our European offices. I still speak regularly with best friend Jacqueline Moon and received an adorable Christmas card from Frank Truslow of his lovely wife and adorable two sons!”
Rob Armstrong and his wife Wylie are back from London and buying a house in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, with their 10-year-old twins. Rob still writes for the Financial Times. He says: “Amazingly, we are as dull as this makes us sound, but people should come visit us anyway. I see Russell Agle and Scott Laton ’94 all the time, and they are just like they were 25 years ago, only more so.”
Stacy Taylor writes: “I’m still living outside of Portland, Maine, helping my husband Jason run our animation shop, Little Zoo Studio. Our son Niko is turning 5. (Last Reunion he was only a few weeks old, so I missed it.) Niko is really into dinosaurs and Legos and making me pick up things in his wake.”
David Biello is still in New York, now as the science curator for TED Talks and working on a next book, among other side hustles. Still hanging out with Marcus Green, Shobana Shankar, and others. He’s father to two wonderful kids, Beatrice (12) and Desmond (10), and is always looking for pro-tips for the tween/teen years!
Greg Rolland writes: “I am in my eighth year working at Deerfield Academy—a western Massachusetts boarding school—in financial administration and, with my wife as the nurse director and my eldest daughter now a ninth-grade day student there too, it’s a convenient family set-up. I see nearby Peter Follet and Stephanie Flaherty regularly, and Peter and I hiked some of the upper-Hudson river valley with classmates Justin Stern and James Becker ’97 this past fall. Made proud of Wes recently (again) after reading its Common Reading selection for all incoming students: Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum co-authored by two inspiring alumni. Also just finished a memoir of Jimmy Carter from about 25 years ago, and it’s amazing to consider how much peace-making he did even just in the years we attended Wesleyan. A true embodiment of compassionate faith in action. Time to move forward. Go Wes!”
After two “rollercoaster” years as CFO at the National Network of Abortion Funds, Jen Levine-Fried took a bit of a swerve and moved into a finance position at Suffolk University in downtown Boston a year ago. She’s still staying connected to abortion rights, serving as the treasurer on the Board of Medical Students for Choice, and is also on the finance committee of her synagogue, which is currently composed 100% of Wes alumni.
Finally, news from Jessica Peterson: “My family and I moved back to the Denver area in 2015 (after almost 15 years on the ruggedly beautiful western slope of Colorado). In 2017, I started working at Front Range Community College (which is the largest community college in the state, serving approximately 28,000 students annually). I have wholeheartedly consumed the proverbial Kool-Aid and am happy to play a small part in helping so many students improve their circumstances. (I have to sheepishly admit that I was not fully aware of all the ways in which community colleges provide educational and career opportunities to traditionally underserved populations.)”
Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com
Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com