Class Notes | 2000s

Victoria writes: Max Baehr still lives in New York, which feels like it’s been going on both forever, and for all of 15 minutes. New York is like that, apparently. He lives in Brooklyn with his girlfriend, Abigail, and is planning on getting married mid-next year. So, fiancée, technically. In any case, she’s pretty cool. He’s recently taken a client-facing position with the marketing product Percolate, for which he is anxious and excited in equal measure. Max isn’t the only one tying the knot. Zach Canter recently (July 11) got married to the beautiful Christina Canter (née Ditolla), in Boston, their hometown. Many Wesleyan alumni and their spouses attended, including Gabe Landes ’02 (Zach’s brother-in-law), Shavawn Dean Waelsch, Chris Waelsch, Joe Pepe (best man), Brian Mahr, Tim Cullen, Molly Adams Mautone, Alex Mautone, James Picariello, and Hannah Stubbs Picariello ’06.

Allison Wilcox got married to her longtime partner, Will Connell, at her family’s farm in upstate New York, Woodshill Homestead; Mike James and Veronica Slaght were among those in attendance. Will and Allison then moved from Louisville, Ky., to the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire, where Allison has since started her residency in general surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. They’d love to connect with any fellow Wes alums in the area!

Grace Nowakoski also had a whirlwind summer spent in the Pacific Northwest. She attended three weddings, including Jacqueline Rubinstein’s to her lovely bride, where it was nice to reconnect with the three out of four bridesmaids who were Wes folk: Nicole Sugerman, Emily Keeler, and Rosa Cohen-Cruz, spent time with her husband Jeff Diteman’s family, and grilled with old friends in Portland, Ore. Sadly, she didn’t make it to Brooke Duling’s wedding in beautiful windy Astoria. She’s happy to be back in western Massachusetts, where she gets to see Katie Koerten almost as much as she wants to, and runs into Rachel Lindsay ’05. She works as an assistant to a quilt artist and is training to become a doula while Jeff gets a PhD. She’s looking forward to her second New England autumn in six years!

Wesleyan grads are making a lot of great career moves. Eric Altneu is living in Houston for residency and is looking for other Wes grads in the area! Kerem Alper moved back to Istanbul, his hometown, to start a design incubator called Atölye Labs (atolyelabs.com) and opened a co-working space called Atölye Istanbul (atolyeistanbul.co) for the creative community.

Kimberly Greenberg graduated in May from an MBA program at the University of Notre Dame, which was a great experience—oh, and very different from the Wesleyan environment, to say the least! She then moved out to the Bay Area to work with a tech start-up, and her goal is to ultimately work in impact investing. As always, she loves catching up with Wesleyan folks out here and elsewhere 🙂 Hit her up if you’re in the Bay Area and want to catch up, crash with her, etc.!

Over the summer Daphne Clyburn graduated from Bennington College’s Master of Arts in Teaching a Second Language program. She continues to teach Spanish at Saint James School in Hagerstown, Md., and she is excited about taking what she learned both at Wesleyan and Bennington and rethinking what learning a language looks like for young people today!

Patrick Meaney just wrapped shooting on his first narrative feature film, Trip House. The movie shot in LA for a month in August and had the assistance of several younger Wes grads on the crew. It will hopefully be out next year.

After graduating from Temple Law and practicing in Philadelphia, Amy Rosen now works as a corporate governance analyst for CQ Roll Call in Washington, D.C. She recently finished the Ocean City, N.J., half marathon in 1:54:52.

When Brian Dilks-Brotman last checked in, he was working in Philadelphia as a wage and hour attorney, helping victims of wage theft obtain the compensation owed to them by greedy bosses who tried to cheat them out of their pay. He has since changed jobs, but he is proud to say that he is still fighting greedy bosses, as a staff representative for a public sector union in New Jersey.

Other Wesleyan graduates are helping to create the Wesleyan classes of the future. Janine Criscuolo Sax and Ben Sax just had their first baby girl on May 8th—Zoe Caroline Sax!

Zachary Kolodin and his wife, Hilary, celebrated the birth of their son, Jett, on Sept. 3, 2015. Zach graduated from NYU Law in May 2014, and is now an associate at Boies, Schiller & Flexner. He will be clerking for Judge Edward Korman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York starting in 2016, followed by Judge Chester Straub of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Zach, Hilary, and Jett live in Brooklyn.

Victoria Pinsky and Megan Harrington | wesleyan007@gmail.com

Madeline Shapiro Samit produced the film The Diary of a Teenage Girl, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was released by Sony Pictures Classics and came out in theaters Aug. 7. The cast includes Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard and Kristen Wiig. The film is set in the backdrop of 1970s San Francisco and involves a teenage artist with a brutally honest perspective who tries to navigate her way through an affair with her mother’s boyfriend.

Alex Weber is pursuing the American dream in Beijing, China, with his wife, children, and dogs. He is a senior business development manager at Rosetta Stone, curing monolingualism one case at a time for Chinese and foreign businesses and organizations.

Teague Hopkins is the co-host of StartUpJab, a talk show about startups and the people who start them. Past guests include pro gamers who have discussed the business of eSports, the Press Secretary of NASA, and Steve Sunu ’08 who talked about the business of comic books.

Daniel Dykes attended his 10th reunion for the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program at Mystic Seaport. He lives with his girlfriend in Manhattan and recently celebrated one full year as an associate at international law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle.

Rebecca Rosenfelt and her husband, Michael Yamartino, relocated from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon. They will continue in their roles as product managers at Airbnb and Pinterest respectively. They enjoy hosting Airbnb guests and friends from around the world in the in-law apartment beneath their house and spend most of their spare time convincing friends and family to move to Portland.

Hannah Gay has launched malinaSI Social Impact Consulting, which connects and strengthens mission-driven organizations and individuals. Feel free to reach out to her if you or your company could use some help driving social impact! She was also very excited to catch up with her pals at the Oct. 24 wedding of Marianne Reyes and Mike Lima ’08.

Hanako Moondance completed her master’s in library science with certificates in storytelling and youth services. She hopes to gain employment in a public library somewhere in Los Angeles. Laura Rindlaub completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Denver in August 2015. Her internship year brought her and her husband back to New York City in 2014. She is a postdoctoral fellow at a private psychotherapy center in Long Island, where she specializes in dialectical behavior therapy. She and Risa Cyr were bridesmaids in the wedding of Samantha Marshall to Phillip Hurst in late October 2015 in what I’m told was a beautiful celebration!

Sam Han got married in July 2015 in New York City to Zarelda Marie Goh, a magazine editor in Singapore. Wesleyan folks in attendance include Bettina Schlegel, Daniel Reif, Shayna Jeffers, Quiana Stokes, Alyson Mance, Willy Friedman, Jess Smith, Noah Isaacs, Ming Alterman, Kate Bryant, Lauren Stossel ’07, David Stein, Liz Dee, Mike Murphy ’05, Elizabeth Isaacs ’05, Jeff Haynes ’07, Nick Garin ’08, Sara Kim ’07, Liana Kohn-Gardner ’07, Tala Bouzarjomehri ’08, and Josh Stephens ’07. Sam works a professor of sociology at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He is fortunate to have had two books published: Technologies of Religion: Spheres of the Sacred in a Post-Secular Modernity and Digital Culture and Religion in Asia. Big congrats!

Arielle Edelman married Adam McHenry in Milwaukee. In attendance were Lizzy Cohen, Will McCue, Cara Chebuske, and Matt Ferrisi ’03. They fondly reminisced about living together at 72 High Street. Arielle is working in public health and human rights at Open Society Foundations, with a whole crew of Wesleyan folks, including Catesby Holmes ’05 and Jeff Stein ’10. Congratulations!

Congrats to Emily Seife who wed Josh Nathan-Kazis ’07 in Queens, N.Y., on Jan. 3, 2015. Wes aluma in attendance include Emily Klasson, Alison Koch, Meredith Steinberg, Marjorie Kaye, Kate Angell, Steve Rubinstein, Sara Kaplan-Levenson, Aaron Sussman ’07, Adam Chamberlain ’07, and Brandon Stein ’07.

Curt Murphy and Dawn Murphy just had a baby on Aug. 23, 2015. Hunter Murphy will hopefully be in the Wes class of 2030-something. Hunter has already visited Wesleyan so it’ll be an easy transition! Willy Friedman and Jess Smith are also new parents! Their daughter Ruby Max Friedman was born Sept. 23, 2015, and is doing great! Congratulations to Luke Basta and Jessica Basta, who now have a second son in their home! Their son, Theo Augustus Basta, was born Aug. 8, 2015.

As for me, I’m still in New York City working as a freelance editor. I currently co-host a show in Park Slope in Brooklyn at Freddy’s Bar every first and third Monday. The show is the longest running stand-up comedy show in Brooklyn and is going 12 years strong. I always give away free candy and chocolate, so feel free to stop by!

Calvin Cato | catocals@gmail.com

Jeremy May is living in New Haven and doing an oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital (PGY-3). He and his wife, Anna, welcomed their first baby, Magnus, in August. They will likely move back to California when Jeremy is done with his residency in 2017. He keeps in close touch with other Wesleyan grads Josh Holland, David Wyant, and Blake Maybeck.

Obhi Hazarika is in his first year at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Burlington is an interesting change from San Francisco. A creature of habit—and while the weather holds—he still commutes exclusively by bicycle and motorcycle, and manages to play the drums almost every day. He and some classmates are thinking about starting a band called Foramen Magnum P.I.

Mary Hui has been living in Cambodia for the last six years, has constructed its first rock climbing gym, and hopes to use climbing as a tool to build up confidence and trust in young people. You can support her crowdfunding campaign here at tinyurl.com/phnomclimb.

Robyn Schroeder married Andrew Tobolowsky (whom she met at grad school at Brown) on June 13th in Dallas. She also finished her Ph.D. this summer, and she’s staying in Providence for a post-doctoral fellowship at Brown’s Center for the Public Humanities. She has had the chance to see lots of very dear Wes friends in Dallas: Jeremy Abrams, Jess Weidmann, Evan Losow, Lynn Levy, Dave Ruder, and Michael Andolina and Marissa Brostoff ’07 flew in from New York, where they all live and work; Leon Hilton ’07 was there, and had just about finished his Ph.D. in performance studies from NYU. Emily Polak brought her Texan husband, John, down from Boston. Annika Brink and Jon Psotka came from D.C., where they work in environmental justice and labor rights law respectively. The Portland contingent was Dylan Meconis, Lisa Eisenberg ’06, and Ben Birdsall ’06.

In September, Anay Shah went to Tanzania for vacation, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and came down engaged to his girlfriend, Sheeba Jacob!

On Aug. 2, Jemma Braun and Stephen Siperstein ’06 were married in a small ceremony surrounded by family and friends in the courtyard of the Davison Art Center. They felt blessed to be back on campus to share such a wonderful life event and want to thank Rabbi Leipziger Teva, Kathleen Roberts, and John Kehoe for making the ceremony and celebration unforgettable.

Ez Cukor is enjoying life in New York City and a (not so new anymore) job at the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Danielle Dixon, Dan Fox, and Hillary Rubesin spent a week in California in August attending the weddings of two of their 64 Fountain housemates. First up, Jana Luft married Jason Barbose on Aug. 2nd in Sonoma (and celebrated with Naomi Ekperigin, Mel McCrea ’06, Susanna Nadler ’06, too!). The following weekend Ali Gomer married Andrew Martinez in Pasadena on Aug. 8th. And in between the two weddings, everyone celebrated Dan Fox’s birthday in San Francisco! It was a wonderful week of celebrating new beginnings and old friendships.

MARCELLA Winearls | marcellawinearls@gmail.com

Hey, Class of 2004! You continue to share some great updates and we’re happy to share them…

Vincent Balsamo was named assistant principal at Crosby High School, in Waterbury, Conn., in March, his son Joey just turned 1, and he and his wife purchased a home in Prospect.

Nearby, Lelah Baker-Rabe ’04 says: “My family and I recently returned to Connecticut after 10 years in Los Angeles. My husband, Dylan Osborn ’05, and our two sons, Truman (3) and Holden (1), just moved to Norwalk and are preparing ourselves for our first real winter in a decade. We’re looking forward to reconnecting with our east coast family and Wes friends.”

Shanta Cortez-Greig tells us she got her LCSW—she’s a social worker and has been working as a forensic clinician at the county jail. “But I am currently working on my music career. My debut album came out in 2013 and a new EP entitled “7” is being released in the next month. Also, (and I’m super excited about this!!), I am embarking on a national tour—The Guerrilla Gigs Tour Across the USA! I will be brazenly busking every major city and national landmark in the country as a maverick musician.” Her tour launches in Boston on Oct. 4th, where I will be playing The Burren. I will then be making my way northwest, then down California and then back to New England, making 27 scheduled stops…” More information can be found on my website: ShantaPaloma.com. (P.S. People can sponsor me at Gofundme.com/ShantaPaloma2015.)

Ashley Elia Weller tells us she’s expecting! “My husband and I are looking forward to having our first child, due in January 2016. That’s about it for now.”

Peter Thilly says he received his PhD in history from Northwestern University in September 2015, and is currently working as a faculty fellow in East Asian Studies and History at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.

Mike and Kate Patterson Gilles are thrilled to announce the birth of their daughter, Natalie Caroline, on July 17th. With newly minted big brother Sebastian, they still live on Capitol Hill in DC, where they’ve received much-appreciated Wesleyan village support, including from Anna Christensen ’03, Liz King ’03, and Suzy Sacher ’03.

Gina Zorzi Klein tells us: “I’m proud to announce that, starting Oct. 4th, my publishing house, ARC Press, will have an entire bookcase in Barnes & Noble stores. We are partnering with B&N to fill the gap between listening to books and reading independently. Wes alums with small children, please go to your local B&N to Learn to Read with our Training Wheels Series or check us out on the Web at trainingwheelsseries.com.”

And from Rebecca Hall: “Twelve years after meeting, due to an auspicious Wesleyan housing pick that landed us both in a lovely 10-person low-rise apartment, Sam Fletcher and I got married last fall in Charleston. Several Wes alums were there to celebrate with us, including Anna Teeter ’04, James Panczykowski ’04, and Kingsley Choi ’05. Since then, we haven’t wasted any time and are excited to have purchased our first home in Old Greenwich, Conn., and to welcome our first child in fall 2015. Sam works as a copywriter in Westport, and I am a dermatologist practicing in Stamford.”

Jenina NuÑez | jenina.nunez@gmail.com

Meeghan Whooley Ward | meeghan.w.ward@gmail.com

Eve Hadley is a nurse-midwife in Rockport, Maine. She and her husband welcomed their son, Solomon Sugar Nelson, in January.

Jessica Ely is splitting her time these days working at Wolff Olins, a creative agency in NYC, and spending weekends at her house in the Berkshires where she paints and volunteers at the organic farm next door.

Roberta Pereira was appointed the producing director of The Playwrights Realm, an Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to supporting early career playwrights. She also continues to run Dress Circle Publishing, the premiere publisher of theater-themed books.

Neville Galloway-Williams has earned the title of Dr. Galloway-Williams. She is completing a postdoctoral fellowship specializing in PTSD at the Baltimore VA Medical Center. She, her partner Joshua, and daughter Alice (4), are thrilled to share that a new baby will be joining the family some time around Thanksgiving this year. They would love to hear from anyone living in the Baltimore area.

Johanna Russ and Rebecca Cohen welcomed their second daughter, Flora Josie, on June 28. Along with big sister Iris, they live in Chicago where Jo is an archivist for the Chicago Public Library and Rebecca is an attorney for the Office of the State Appellate Defender. They are also very proud of Vanessa Carbonell, who earned tenure at the University of Cincinnati where she teaches in the Department of Philosophy.

Chris Watters published a book, The Gamer’s Bucket List, in which he recommends a diverse selection of video games for your edification and enjoyment. He still loves living in Berkeley, with Jill Green ’02, who continues to outdo herself as the properties supervisor at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

On a beautiful July day, Amra Turalic and Jimmy Maynard were wed in Brooklyn, N.Y. Amra and Jimmy live in and enjoy all that New York City has to offer. Amra still works in healthcare PR and is loving it.

Christopher Walsh and Austin Horne Walsh welcomed their son, Cary James Walsh, in August.

Juliet Werner works as a segment producer on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and loves that living in NYC means she’s surrounded by great friends from Wesleyan.

Sonya Behnke Page was married to Emlen Page on Aug. 8, 2015 in Walpole, Maine. The couple celebrated with family and friends, including many Wesleyan alums.

Ricardo Watson welcomes the birth of his first child, Ricardo Junior, born March 2nd in London.

Aaron Gilary is in the D.C. area working for the Census Bureau, producing labor force estimates and conducting research for the Current Population Survey. In February, he and his wife, Jennifer Styles, welcomed their daughter, Nora Jane Gilary.

AMY TANNENBAUM | atannenbaum@wesleyan.edu

Lots of congratulations for babies and weddings:

Sharon Light welcomed a new baby—Pia Morgan Light—in July, joining her big sister Orit in the family! Nat Katin-Borland and Amy Strekas ’03 welcomed their first child, Dylan, this year. Matthew Seidner and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed their fourth child, Elijah Zev Seidner, on Oct. 3. Big sisters Talia and Perla and big brother Jonah were all very excited. And Rachel Kriger and Nick Corso welcomed their new son, Maayan, on Aug. 13th. Rachel is returning to her acupuncture practice in Philadelphia, treating children and adults.

David Krieger and Alicia Feichtmeir ’03 welcomed the arrival of their son, Elliott Solomon Krieger, on Sept. 24. David and Alicia live in Seattle, where David is a strategy director at Expedia, and Alicia an employment and labor attorney at Foster Pepper. Sara Shandler Banks and Peter Banks ’01 are enjoying life in Brooklyn with their growing family—Hazel is a thriving 3-year-old superhero/warrior princess/mermaid and they welcomed daughter Rowan to the mix in February. And Lauren Geller Rascoff gave birth to her third child on Oct. 12, joining big brother Jonah and big sister Roselle. Lauren is working as an urogynecologist at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn.

Katie Fuller married the Australian love of her life, Louise Wilson, this past July in Chatham on Cape Cod. Katie also recently started working for both the French Government Economic Service and the French Mission to the UN in New York.

Lots of geographical and professional moves:

In September, Allison Kennedy moved to California to serve as the historic structures specialist at Joshua Tree National Park. She looks forward to preserving the cultural landscapes, including historic mines, homesteads, and ranches.

Jamie Wong relocated to Los Angeles, where she continues to run her startup, Vayable, and develops original travel content for television and the Web.

Julia Matsudaira is back in San Francisco and living close to her Wes roomie Leah Ralph. Having received her MBA last year, Julia is building on her years in the nonprofit sector with her work in private wealth management, where she is focusing on philanthropic and socially responsible investment strategies for individuals and families.

Ben Allen earned his PhD in political science at University of California, Berkeley, in May, taught economics there over the summer, and is moving to Washington, D.C., with his girlfriend to pursue a career in international public policy.

Ernest Hartner moved with his wife and two kids, Max (4) and Sam (2), from Miami, Fla., to Barcelona, Spain, in August, transferring from Banco Sabadell America to Banco Sabdell Spain. He is expecting a visit from Britton Boyd in early 2016. He is hoping to find some other Wesleyan alums living in the city.

Hagar Berlin is officially settled in her new home in Brookline, Mass. (after spending the last 10 years in San Francisco), with her husband, Jon Spack, and daughter Hana.

Suzanne Appel moved to Chicago, where she is now the director of external affairs for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She’s already run into Jesse Lava, director of policy at the Chicago Department of Public Health, on the El train and hopes to reconnect with all the Wes people in the Windy City. She recently saw Una LaMarche, who made it out to Illinois for a Young Adult literature conference (her humor memoir, UnaBrow, made the New York Times best seller list in June).

Sarah Krainin is on hiatus from LA theater and back on the East Coast, teaching scenic design as a visiting professor at Duke.

And in other news:

The Wesleyan night at Hamilton on Broadway was a veritable ’02 reunion, with star, composer, lyricist, and MacArthur “Genius” Lin Manuel Miranda, taking top billing. Theatergoers included Xan Young, Sarah Krainin, Owen Panetiere ’01, Suzanne Appel, Jocelyn Greene, Anne Macri, Christine Dejong, Jen Guarniani, Elena Weller, and Chessa Ring O’Grady. Krainin described the night as “unrivaled spectacularity.” Tickets purchased supported Wesleyan financial aid and two scholarships.

Will Gardner is celebrating the fifth year of Alma del Mar Charter School in New Bedford, Mass., where he is the founder and executive director. He has the great privilege of working alongside star teacher Taylor DeLoach ’13 and Capital Campaign Chair Jack Braitmayer ’57.

Registered architect Kristen Suzda celebrated her fifth wedding anniversary this summer. Kristen is working on deep green buildings and affordable housing (including a project in Meriden, Conn.). An avid bike rider, she completed her first two triathlons this summer.

Andrew Goldstein is the chief digital content officer of Phaidon and Artspace, leading an international team to cover contemporary art and culture.

For Emily Isaacs, the past two years have been big—she got married to her husband, Erik Greensfelder (they met working at Outward Bound in 2006), she started a private practice as a therapist in Boulder, Colo., and became the executive director of Women’s Wilderness, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women and girls develop courage and confidence through outdoor adventures.

Kasia Deuel lives north of Boston, where she chases after her toddler Emmett. She is working at The Pew Charitable Trusts as a senior associate on ocean conservation issues and finishing her master’s at Harvard Extension School in Sustainability and Environmental Management.

Jessica Angell lives in Cambridge, Mass., hard at work on her software start-up, Cabbige, a Web application that helps small, diversified farmers manage their business. Cabbige is a MassChallenge finalist and recent recipient of Reynders McVeigh 2015 Social Impact Entrepreneur Award.

Sasha Foppiano Martin published her debut book Life from Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Forgiveness through National Geographic Books in March 2015.

As for me, by the time you read this, my daughter Scarlett will have just turned 1. I am still the vice president of original series for Spike; in 2015, I produced the scripted event series Tut starring Sir Ben Kingsley and 50 episodes of Bar Rescue. I am now working on our next scripted series (announcing soon), as well as a documentary series about cyber-security pioneer and presidential hopeful John McAfee.

JUSTIN LACOB | justinlacob@gmail.com

Aryn writes this time: Here goes my first stab at doing class notes. I want to say a big “thank you” to Mara for handling them all by herself up until now. We will be divvying up class notes from here on out.

Ross Evangelista is still working as a real estate agent in NYC but he’s looking to grow his business abroad. He will be taking a trip to Singapore in a few weeks to meet clients and investors and will be staying with Russel Antonio ’03 for a few nights, too!

Lauren McCarthy has just published a book with Cornell University Press. It’s called Trafficking Justice: How Russian Police Enforce New Laws, from Crime to Courtroom. Lauren is also still at UMass Amherst working as an assistant professor in legal studies and political science.

Ben Spatz’s book, What a Body Can Do: Technique as Knowledge, Practice as Research was published by Routledge in March 2015.

Since we’re talking about our books, I’ll chime in and mention that I was a major contributor and editor on the marketing book Fix: Break the Addiction That’s Killing Brands, published in February 2015 by Cult Collective, Ltd.

ARYN KALSON-SPERANDIO | arynsperandio@yahoo.com

MARA VOUKYDIS | maravee@gmail.com

Please write to your class secretary!

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Your fellow classmates have been busy earning degrees, publishing works, traveling, and getting married—read below for more details!

Kwabea Osae-Kwapong just received her MBA from Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business.

Rachel Berkowitz graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in May. In July, she will begin a one-year optometry residency at the Boston VA healthcare system in Brockton, Mass. She is sad to leave Chicago, but is looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and Wes alum in Boston!

For the last three years, Jake Abrahamson has been writing and editing for Sierra, the magazine of the Sierra Club. His piece on solar power in rural India will appear in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015, to be released in October.

Seth Halpern graduated with honors from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. He purchased a condo near Dupont Circle and is now working in new product development at Privia Health.

Laura Masulis moved and took a new position at MassDevelopment working on the downtown revitalization of Springfield, Mass.

Sara Deniz Akant’s first book of poems, Parades, was published by Omnidawn in Oct. 2014, and a full-length collection, Babette, is forthcoming from Rescue Press this November. She’s also the author of chapbook titled Latronic Strag, published by Persistent Editions in April 2015. She mostly lives in New York and plans to begin a PhD in English at the CUNY Graduate Center this fall.

Mike Repplier is a booking producer at ABC News, securing competitive interviews for Good Morning America and digital platforms. He recently traveled to Germany to cover the German wings plane disaster. Last November, he ran his first NYC marathon and is currently deciding whether to train for this year’s race… or if the summer would be better spent drinking sangria on the beach.”

Daphne Schmon finished directing a feature documentary called Down to Earth, which follows Venezuelan Ernesto Gainza on his journey to achieve a Guinness World Record for skydiving with the smallest and fastest parachute in history. Trailer available here: seek-films.com/project/down-to-earth/

Keiko Hamano writes, “I am in my second year of practicing as a certified massage therapist. After receiving my initial training I went on to complete an additional course in neuromuscular massage therapy. My education and experience in massage has exposed me to a whole new world of health care practices. This has sparked my interest in complementary and alternative medicine, especially chiropractic and acupuncture. I have been accepted into the doctor of chiropractic program at the Southern California University of Health Sciences in Whittier, Calif., and I’m starting courses in September. I’m also hoping to complete a masters’ of acupuncture and oriental medicine as well. I am passionate about providing holistic health care options to people suffering from pain or disease. I believe in the power of these fields on their own, but feel the best way for me to serve others is through a multi-disciplinary practice. Looking forward to taking the next step on my journey of helping others through health and wellness!”

Megan Nash and Charlie Kurose ’10 were married on June 6 in Chicago. They were thrilled to celebrate with so many of their Wesleyan classmates: Chris Goy, Graham Immerman, Catherine Kast Stickney, Erik Underwood, Jenny Ajl ’10, Abby Blake ’10, Dan Charness ’10, Chris Foley ’10, Matt Nestler ’10, Jamie Pesuit ’10, Rachel Schwerin ’10, D Williams ’10, Julia Heffelfinger ’11, Zoe Jick ’11, Rick Maynard ’11, and Sophie Sadinsky ’11.

Finally, Paul Edwards will be going to Germany with a grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD, German Academic Exchange Service) for his dissertation on the reception of jazz culture in interwar Germany.

Thanks to those who submitted notes. Please keep them coming in!

Our class has been busy, including myself. My husband, Paul, and I had a baby girl, Eliza, in May and couldn’t be happier! But we’re not the only ones who were visited by the stork… Johanna Richlin writes: “News from Baltimore: my husband, Gabe Paquette ’99, and I welcomed with great joy our baby daughter, Antonia Bard Paquette, into the world on June 5. We’re over the moon, as are her long line of Wesleyan alum relatives: grandparents Pamela Bard Richlin ’75 and Dean Richlin ’74, great uncle Gar Richlin ’67, and aunt Sara Richlin ’04!”

Ben Smyser will soon join the proud parents as well. He writes: “This is my first class note, so I have a lot to tell! I got married to a beautiful woman named Elanor Schoomer in the summer of 2012, and she and I are having a baby, due in September! I’ve been admitted to the bars of New York and New Jersey and am working as a corporate associate at a large law firm, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, LLP. After living in Atlanta during law school, Elanor and I now are back in Brooklyn, still hanging out with many of my (now our) Wes friends.”

In somewhat related news (the opposite side of delivery), Lillian Siegel recently moved to Boston and started work as a nurse-midwife with Harvard Vanguard, delivering babies at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. She looks forward to reconnecting with other Wes folks in the area. Drop her a line!

Meanwhile, Leslie Prado is in her last year of PA/MPH. Her first clinical rotation is OB/GYN, where she is seeing the birth of many babies. She was able to scrub in for a few C-sections, and is excited to get the rest of her clinical rotations done and figure out where she would like to practice.

Joe Stankus, along with Destin Douglas ’09, spent the last year producing a movie called Jackrabbit, which premiered at the 2105 TriBeCa Film Festival. The movie was made possible with the help of several other Wesleyan alums, specifically gaffer Sam Jones ’10, key grip Tim Curtin ’07, co-editor Talia Barrett, and composer Will Berman ’04.

Aaron Tabak writes: “After six years in NYC, I’ve moved to Portland, Ore., and am now working for SMART (Start Making a Reader Today), a statewide literacy nonprofit based here.”

Nick Benacerraf started working as a full-time theater professor last fall at Kean University in New Jersey. He still lives in New York, where he co-runs a Wes-based company, The Assembly, which is currently in residence at the New Ohio Theatre in the West Village and has a new show coming up July 15–18, called I Will Look Forward to This Later. Check out assemblytheater.org for details. Recent beloved work includes a show called Up and Away, which is an immersive experience for autistic children at Lincoln Center. It previewed last spring and will premiere this fall.

Emily Rosen-King shares: “I’m getting married on June 27th to Jared Chester (whom I actually met through a Wesleyan friend at a birthday party more than five years ago!)”

Other ’08ers taking vows include Micki Baron, who married Jamie Hiteshew in September 2014 in San Francisco, where they have lived since graduating from Wes. The ceremony was officiated by Kai Johnson. Micki graduated from UCSF Medical School this summer and is now an OB/GYN resident at UCSF. Jamie is a project manager at BRIDGE Housing Corporation, where he develops low-income housing in the Bay Area

Shivani Kumar is graduating from MIT Sloan this spring in the Class of 2015 with an MBA. Afterwards, she will be joining McKinsey & Company. Rebecca Gitlin graduated this year, too, with her Ph.D. in clinical psychology; starting in September, she’ll be doing a Women’s Behavioral Health postdoctoral fellowship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Emily Gallivan has spent the last year adventuring. Last summer she drove to LA to take a course at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, and ate more tacos than she ever had in her whole life prior. Emily then drove up the Pacific Coast Highway through California to wonderful Seattle, followed by Yellowstone, Minneapolis, Madison, and Chicago, seeing Wesleyan alums all over. Upon her return to the D.C. area, Emily worked for a digital library nonprofit, finally learning a bit of what Jacqueline Chapman has been talking about all these years. Fall saw a trip to the Barber Vintage Motorcycle Festival outside Birmingham, Ala., and in spring one to Ireland. Come August, she will head to California to start graduate school at UC, Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, pursuing a master of architecture.

Becca Broches is on to a new adventure, as well. She writes: “After spending three years in D.C., and one in Boston, I am very excited to be moving back to NYC in September where I will spend the next two years working as an Equal Justice Works fellow in the Bronx, providing legal services to food entrepreneurs who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer.”

Caroline Raclin, meanwhile, is now the health coordinator for the International Rescue Committee in Jordan. She oversees four primary health clinics and a small army of community health volunteers that serve Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians along the Syrian border. She adds, “If any Wes alums are ever in Amman, look me up!”
Finally, Ruby Ross writes in: “It’s been a busy year! I did a house concert tour in Boston in January and one in California in March. I’m currently doing a house concert tour on the East Coast, which includes fellow Wes alums among the hosts, so I’m looking forward to some Wes reunions! Later this summer I’ll be moving into a new house and going to Costa Rica, and then in the fall I’m getting married!”