Class Notes

Please write to your class secretaries or send updates to classnotes@wesleyan.edu.

Please write to your class secretary.

Hi everyone. Here are some updates from Class of 2021:

Sofia Murtaugh wrote: “My post-college life in Honolulu has been filled with sunshine, ultimate Frisbee, cannabis, and good friends! I work in a lab, manufacturing products for medical marijuana dispensary, Noa Botanicals, learning about the growing cannabis industry alongside some of the coolest folks in Hawaii. Outside work I am thriving in the island’s Frisbee scene! I’m a captain of Hawaii’s only club ultimate team, Party Wave, a mixed team that competes in the mainland. I’ve also commissioned a community recreation league, captained a number of league teams with my partner, Mikey Palmer, and started a women’s pickup game that’s been going strong for over a year now. 

“I’ve been lucky enough to have two mini-Wes reunions this year already! Tenley Abbott ’23 came to visit and compete in Hawaii’s biggest ultimate tournament, Kaimana Klassic, in February. In March, my classmates Ana Finnerty-Haggerty and Isabel Algrant came for a special beach-filled reunion!” So exciting to learn about Sofia’s post-college life in Honolulu. Sofia can be reached at smurtaugh@wesleyan.edu if you want to connect with her.

As for me, I am halfway through law school. This spring semester I am doing direct legal assistance work through the Civil Practice Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. I am also happy that I attended the Master’s Recital by Hayley Qin ’22 at the New England Conservatory of Music on April 5 and celebrated my friend’s creative endeavors. 

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to send me updates throughout the year and look out for new submission requests.

From Kush Patel: “I graduated from the PA program at Tufts, and I am now a board-certified physician assistant working in dermatology! I have the honor of working in my home state and caring for those that I was born and raised around. I’m looking forward to this new adventure!”

Miles Brooks has been working on the Klamath River Renewal Project in Northern California. Four dams are going to be removed to restore natural flow and fish passage on the Klamath River. Miles is working for the Yurok Tribe, the original stewards of the Klamath River who are leading the revegetation efforts following the drawdown of three reservoirs. They are seeding and planting native plants on the newly exposed sediments to restore the natural ecosystem.

Thanks to Kush and Miles for their updates!

As for me, I’ve been going back and forth from Chicago to Atlanta, supporting my mom, Susie Greenberg (yes, like the Phish song but spelled a little different), and her campaign for Georgia House District 53. Susie is running on the fight for reproductive freedoms, community safety, and economic prosperity in our Atlanta-area community and across Georgia. If you’re interested in supporting her efforts to flip the district—where the governor lives—let me know or Google search for her name to get more info!

Please send news and updates to your class secretary.

Charlotte Pitts just graduated with her master of architecture degree from the University of Virginia and is heading out to Northern California to begin her career at Mithun. She is joined by her fiancé, John Henry Vansant, who will work in Oakland as an in-house law clerk for AFSCME, a public-sector labor union, before returning to the University of Virginia School of Law and Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy for his final year of studies. They are excited to settle down in Northern California and look forward to spending time with fellow Cardinals out West.

Daniel Lee is now working in the Silicon Valley as an engineer for Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. It’s a new product so he is currently testing the device and using it day-to-day to listen to music and to capture special moments. He says, “It’s a cool product you guys should try out at your local stores!” 

After deciding to pursue a crazy career pivot during senior year at Wes, Sonya Levine is graduating from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in May and starting her residency in family medicine at Brown in June. She hopes to work with dancers again one day and get back to her roots! She is marrying Henry Simon(Bates ’16) this summer, and they would love to have lots of Wes visitors in Providence in the coming years.

Ilana Ladis married Dylan Abrams on May 4 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Of course, Erica DeMichiel and Courtney Laermer were instrumental to the day as bridesmaids and by Ilana’s side the whole time. Ilana is moving back to New England over the summer to begin her clinical psychology residency at Brown University and would love to connect with any Wes alumni in the greater Boston/Providence area!

Julia Tyminski graduated from graduate school with a master’s in speech language pathology in May and will be working in Philly in the medical field with adults and children with swallowing, cognition, speech, language, and voice disorders.

Adam Rochelle is still going strong as a cat person. The release party for his Endless Pants album was crashed by anti-pants protestors, but after much discussion and smooth jazz they reversed their position and declared that pants need not end. He is still riding high from playing Bonnaroo last summer with Matan Koplin-Green ’15 in Paper Idol, and this fall he and Johnnie Gilmore ’18 (who just got his driver’s license, go congratulate him) started a fusion band called Low Poly Cactus (poly as in polygon, not polyamory, though circle back on that one later).

Ketrah Mugambe ’18 and I will be tying the knot in August of this year and are excited to celebrate with friends and family including Wesleyan alumni!

I hope you are all well!

Please see updates from our classmates:

Zach Larabee is enjoying his new home in Springfield, Massachusetts, with Betsy, his fiancée, and their dog Roxy. When they’re not working their day jobs in the restaurant tech industry, they’re out enjoying the food and beverage scene of New England, or bartending at a local restaurant. If anyone wants to give or get any recommendations for amazing restaurants in New England, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Zach’s excited to spend his summer weekends exploring the golf courses around western Massachusetts and continue to beat Cameron Rahbar ’15 by only a few strokes during their monthly golf outings. They’re excited to celebrate a few upcoming Wesleyan weddings with loved ones and friends this summer and fall, as well as plan their own wedding in the near future!

Sarah Mi, Melissa Leung, Chiara Wabl, Kellyn Maves, Martin Malabanan, Giselle Torres, Taran Carr, Dacheng Zhao ’18, and Deborah Mi ’14 traveled to Puerto Rico to celebrate my wedding in my hometown of Ponce back in February! We even took a walking tour of the historic area of Ponce, led by Melina Aguilar ’10, through her tourism company, Isla Caribe. From Sarah: “It was an amazing time reuniting with old friends and a reminder that our alcohol tolerance is not what it used to be…!”

I am also excited to announce that I matched to residency in ophthalmology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque—which I found out about during the cocktail hour at my wedding! Please let me know if you are out there and would like to connect or have any advice or recommendations—they will be greatly appreciated. I can’t wait to spend (at least) the next four years in the Southwest, closer now to several Wes friends on the West Coast.

Stay well!

Mariam

Please write to your class secretary.