Class Notes | 2010s

Thanks to all my fellow classmates for their submissions. Here we go!

Ben Smith writes in from Chicago, where he is developing a science fiction radio comedy and looking for brilliant Wesleyan voices to audition. Contact him if you’d like to participate! Bennett Kirschner is engaged in a round-the-clock method acting exercise to play the role of Rick Freehold in “i dreamed i was decent,” a semi-autobiographical tale by John Locke Schmidt. If anyone visits New Orleans, watch for him on Canal Street—he is easily spotted in his distinctive sleeping mask. Chris McNabbwas the editor for an interactive documentary (theand.us), and the project won an Emmy award in the category of New Approaches: Documentaries. The documentary has received a lot of success since launching last June; it was awarded Best Interactive Documentary by World Press Photo earlier this year, and a short film cut from it went to Sundance in January. But the Emmy has kind of taken the cake!

Since her last update, Kristen Salustro has written and started up a Kickstarter for her second novel, and the book will be officially released on Nov. 18. It’s titled Unbroken Light and is the sequel to her first novel, Chasing Shadows. She’s slowly but surely building up an audience for both her science fiction series and her Etsy shop. While she’s still living and working in New Jersey, there’s a strong chance that she’ll be moving to L.A. next spring and is looking forward to that interesting turn.

Shemuel Garber just moved to Vienna to start an MA in philosophy at the University of Vienna and works as a genital autonomy activist in collaboration with the German organization intactive.V. Adam Burt graduated from UConn this spring with a bachelor of science in nursing and is now employed at Backus Hospital in Norwich, Conn., as an emergency department RN. Melody Oliphant just moved to New Haven to begin a two-year fellowship in a genetics research lab at Yale’s Child Study Center. Robert Vance is in his second year of law school at Berkeley. He is also being published in the upcoming role-playing game Exalted, Third Edition. Sandy Durosier started working full time at Yale School of Medicine in the Department of OB/GYN and Reproductive Services as a post-graduate associate. She studies the association of an inflammatory chemokine and preterm labor. Kevin Curtin recently moved up to Boston and would love to reconnect with other Wes folks there. He’s working for Summit Partners, a global growth equity firm that invests in rapidly growing companies in technology. Randy Linder is entering his second year of the associate’s program at Capital Group, an investment management firm based in LA. He’s heading over to San Antonio for a short rotation with their service analytics team. Randy is also still playing chess and doing Brazilian jiu jitsu during his free time. If any Wes alums are in the area, contact him to re-connect over coffee/drinks!

Nick Devane is taking his company, Homemade, through the Techstars NYC program. He’s living with Augustin Vita and Nate Howell ’14 in the Big Apple. He spent a lot of last year finding himself, briefly stopping to begin work on a quasi-biographical creative short fiction piece, and truly believes that he’s most of the way there. Nick is looking forward to mentoring Matt Gross ’15, as he moves in with the crew and begins his pursuit of a musical odyssey across NYC. As always, Nick is taking care of Zulu and making sure to spend lots of time with techies and former Wes celebs.

Kelsey Muller, on track to graduate with her master’s in biomedical engineering from USC in December, is working at SynTouch, LLC, a prosthetics and robotics company that specializes in bio­mimetic sensors. In her non-existent free time, she has taken up rock climbing and trains city squirrels to help the LA recreational department clean up local parks. After working at AquaJust and serving as a New Sector RISE Fellow, AmeriCorps affiliate, and content designer for the National Corporate Engagement team at Year Up, Evan Hazelett started work in the Bay Area this September at social enterprise Imperfect Produce, America’s first ugly produce brand that seeks to turn food waste into food access while “redefining beauty in produce.” About 20 percent of produce grown on American farms ends up in landfills because it doesn’t meet the strict cosmetic standards of our supermarkets. Imperfect buys this ugly produce directly from California farmers, boxes it up, and provides a delivery service and pick-up locations for consumers at up to 50 percent off grocery store prices.

Kevin Brisco wrote that he and his housemates contemplated adopting kittens at their home in NOLA. However, they decided three kittens were unbecoming of young professionals. So they settled for a cactus and several succulents instead.

Laura Yim | Lyim@wesleyan.edu

Please write to your class secretary:

Daisey Perez | deperez@wesleyan.edu

Lots of exciting news from the class of 2011!

Laura Heath and Allegra Stout ’12 report, “We’re thrilled to announce that we are getting married! We got engaged in August and are planning our wedding for late 2016 or 2017. We have been living in a cooperative house of 11 people in Boston since Allegra’s graduation. Laura is pursuing her PhD in archaeology and teaching in the writing program at Boston University. Allegra works as a community organizer at the Boston Center for Independent Living, a disability rights and services organization.”

Isabel Magowan graduated from Yale’s MFA photography program in May. Over the summer her works were shown at Danziger Gallery in NYC and Regen Projects in LA. She’s based in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she continues to make video and photographic works. Isabel’s work can be found at isabelmagowan.com”

Elana Scudder Gaines writes, “Mike and I are still loving New Orleans! He is finishing up law school and I have been working hard on expanding my invitations, stationery, and graphic design business, Elana Klein.”

Jared Gimbel just finished his degree in Modern Jewish Studies at JTS. He now works as a translator and teacher of Germanic languages in the New York area. His new tabletop adventure game series, Kaverini, was released in August to public acclaim, with installments either published or being planned for Flanders, Antarctica, Austin, Krakow and Papua New Guinea (among others) and a video game iteration of the series on the horizon.

Eliza Gordon writes, “I started a new job this year as the bilingual reading specialist/instructional coach at Brooke Elementary, still in Austin, Texas. This is my first year out of the classroom after teaching for the past four years and it is quite a change! I am also in my second and final year of my master’s degree in educational administration through the Principalship Program at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). My new role has already been a great learning experience, as I move towards becoming a principal, although I do miss the classroom very much.”

The former Tamar Charles reports, “I recently got married to Derick Beresford ’13. I’m now Tamar Beresford.

From Katie daCruz, ”This past September Andrew Kneynsberg ’09 and I got married in Newport, R.I.”

Becky Eidelman writes, “In March of this year I became engaged to Todd Rosenthal ’10. I now work at the New England Board of Higher Education as the project coordinator.”

Eli Kendall is living in Boston and is in the last year of the social work program at Boston College. He spent a great weekend in Rochester visiting Chris Doucette with Aaron Melendez, Emily Kodis, and Hannah Robinson.

Margot Boyer-Dry reports, “I’m still at betaworks and also publishing a culture newsletter called Lorem Ipsum. It’s super Wesleyany-—pop culture on top and sociology underneath—and people can find it at loremipsum.wtf.”

Donovan Arthen informs us, “I am in the Republic of Georgia, working as a sommelier and getting ready to import natural wines to the U.S.”

Last but not least an update from Joe Giaimo: “Our 5th Reunion is right around the corner. Registration opens in March and rooms go quickly, so do not wait to sign up. Our goal is to have at least 374 of us back to celebrate five years! If interested in participating in the Reunion committee, please contact Brittany Richard, assistant director of the Wesleyan Fund, at brichard@wesleyan.edu.”

So great to hear from so many of you this round! Look forward to seeing everyone in May for our 5th year Reunion! Wow!

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

The Class of 2010 has a handful of updates to mention for this edition:

Long overdue kudos goes out to Matthew Lamothe, an executive producer for Jeff Rice Films in Beverly Hills, Calif., who this year celebrated the debut and acquisition of his indie feature, I’ll See You in My Dreams, starring Malin Ackerman, Sam Elliott, Blythe Danner, Martin Starr, Rhea Perlman, Mary K Place and June Squibb. The film sold and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival back in January. Matt is the son of Dr. Henri Lamothe ’80.

In October 2015, Evan Perkoski defended his dissertation, Organizational Fragmentation and the Trajectory of Militant Splinter Groups, at the University of Pennsylvania. Evan is now spending the year as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government while he applies for academic jobs down the road.

Dan Bloom updates us that he “is the co-founder of Slope, a tool that makes it easy for teams to work together on visual content.” In the spring, his company was accepted into Microsoft Ventures Accelerator. He moved to Seattle to work closely with Microsoft and grow the business. The company now has eight employees and is growing fast. “If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, come say hello!”

Emily Sheehan has been living in Philadelphia for the past four years. For the past two she has been working at her current job, a board-certified music therapist in an inpatient behavioral health facility, working with adults and adolescents in crisis. “The most exciting recent event in my life was getting married to my longtime partner, Gilbert Gavigan, on July 25th, 2015, and getting to see awesome Wes alum friends there—Alice Kirkland, Melody Wang and Jon Gillick ’09, Emily Hoffman, and Hallie Coffin-Gould.” Emily was also lucky enough to see Pope Francis ride by in his Popemobile and attend his outdoor mass on the parkway while he was in Philadelphia this past September. She’s feeling “very grateful for the past year :).”

Finally, I’m happy to announce that Ramanan Sivalingam was named one of Institutional Investor’s 2015 Rising Stars of Wall Street Research. The annual list is prepared by Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team. The research team asks Wall Street’s foremost buy-siders to identify distinguished up-and-comers who have been publishing buy-side economic research for less than three years and who seem destined for greater prominence in the industry. This year’s list reflects the opinions of 675 individuals from nearly 370 firms that collectively manage an estimated $5.9 trillion in U.S. equities. This is a great honor for Ram who adds that he is “eager to help fellow Wes students who want to get started in this industry.” Congratulations!

As always if anyone has notes to add—anytime—feel free to send me an e-mail at:

David Layne | DavidALayne@gmail.com

The class of 2014 continues to kill it. Here’s what they’re up to:
Jessica Titlebaum is gearing up to attend Michigan State college of veterinary medicine—class of 2019.

Jeremy Judelson writes, “I am working at Mass Appeal magazine and have put on lots of weight since graduation.”

John Steel is working at a pharma startup in Westchester, N.Y., with a bunch of other Wes alums including Hannah Plon. Very exciting and thrilling company (currently focused on women’s health, as well as sports nutrition and diabetes).

Henry Cheung just finished his first year of teaching in the Bronx through Teach For America and is enjoying the summer by conducting fascinating clinical research at Bellevue Hospital. Next year, he will be leading his school’s geometry and precalculus departments, spearheading in the creation of the curricula, training new teaching assistants, and guiding new teachers joining the department. In addition, he is expanding his organization, Equal College Guidance, to aid the juniors and seniors in both SAT math and the college admissions process.

Laura Getchell and Kevin Hughes worked at a company called OPENPediatrics, which is sponsored by Boston Children’s Hospital. OPENPediatrics is an online digital learning platform that provides open-access educational resources to clinicians worldwide. The mission of the program is to build an international community of clinicians sharing best practices from all resource settings around the world through innovative collaboration and digital learning technologies. Through their website, clinicians can access academically rigorous and peer-reviewed content, including expert medical educational videos, interactive device simulators, protocols, and medical calculators. They currently have users in 125 countries. To those pursuing a career in medicine, particularly in pediatrics, this is a wonderful, free resource. Their website is openpediatrics.org and anyone who is a medical student can register for a free account to gain access to all of their content.

Joshua Krugman now lives in Glover, Vt., where he works for the Bread and Puppet Theater, a political puppet theater, and hangs out with Hailey Sowden ’15, who works at a local sheep dairy and orchard. He often sees Leah Frost ’05 at Couriers or the C&C, local grocery stores, and at the Bread and Puppet farm. His poems appear in summer issues of Osiris and Matter Monthly.

Matt Leibowitz writes, “I’ve been spending the past year building my own organization, Consent is So Frat, which works to make consent and healthy relationships part of what it means to be a fraternity brother or sorority sister. We currently have campus representatives on almost 50 campuses and are working with the White House’s “It’s On Us” campaign as an official partner to develop Greek specific programming. I’ll be speaking on the “It’s On Us” Panel in D.C. next month at the Make Progress Summit, which will also include Senator Gillibrand, Senator Cory Booker, and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. I hope to connect with other alumni doing great work in this field!”

Katherine Clifford spent this past year working at the UCSF memory and aging center as a clinical research coordinator. She is now starting medical school this fall at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Michelle Agresti and Rachel Rosengard are roommates and have survived their first year in New York, despite their apartment’s best efforts. They are currently looking for a new apartment, and now on their list of requirements, in addition to affordable rent, is no mushrooms growing out of the kitchen ceiling (despite how scientifically stunning it was the first time). Michelle is working as an actress, attending acting school, and has a variety of jobs, including being a zombie. She just wrapped filming on a series of short films that she created with a fellow actor, and the crew was all Wesleyan! If you have any contact with her on the Internet, you’ll hear about it. Rachel assists in PET/MRI brain imaging to study schizophrenia and substance abuse. Trained in phlebotomy, the quality of your veins is one of the first things she’ll notice (and love) about you! Off the clock, Rachel volunteers at a nonprofit bookstore cafe.

Simon Riker writes: “I’ve spent my year since graduation working as a freelance musician, mostly in the theatre. I have worked on two new musicals as an assistant and orchestrator. I’ve played keyboard for New York regional theatre productions of Sweeney Todd and The Little Mermaid. I work as a music director at the Play Group Theatre in White Plains, N.Y., and as assistant music director for the Summer Theatre of New Canaan. Me Prometheus, my caveman musical, was produced at William and Mary in April and my co-writer and I are currently rewriting it and looking for its next opportunity to run.”

Hello, All! It has been two years since the Class of 2013 left Wesleyan. We’ve embarked on journeys near and far, collected master’s degrees or are enroute to becoming PhDs, changed jobs/lives/cities a few times, and we’ve stuck by each other through it all.

Chantal Ferguson, Suzanne Gallo, and Emily Wolcott are just about to move out of the Jolly Rogers house they have shared for the last two years. Emily and Suzanne are getting their master’s in social work and Chantal is starting her MD/PhD at UMass. They are frequently visited by local classmates including Thomas Kassel and Andrew Perlmutter. Current pastimes include competitive knitting, basket weaving, and soup-making competitions. Weekends are often concluded with team bowling and all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. If anyone is visiting Boston, the Jolly Rogers crew would love to have you at their new digs close by.

Trevor Michelson will be representing the United States in the lightweight single sculls at the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea in July. Randy Linder is working at Capital Group in Los Angeles. Bennett Kirschner started a small theatre ensemble/Vietnamese pop-up in New Orleans called the Cobbleslop Group. Their first production, titled Feast & Crime, went up this past March and was a resounding success. Their next production, titled John Locke Schmidt: The Unforgiven Betrayal of a Close Friend will be in mid-August at a small art gallery, and he would love it if any and all Wesleyan grads could make it!

Joseph O’Donnell is over half way done with a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, which spans 2,189 miles from Georgia to Maine. He is fundraising along the way for Hike for Mental Health, an organization devoted to promoting mental health research and hiking as a therapeutic activity. To follow or donate for mental health, visit psychhikes.com. Chloe Lalonde and Ceili Brennan are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail the summer. As of this message, they are on top of Mount Whitney! 766 miles out of 2660 down. They are also wearing their Wesleyan Cross Country T-shirts and repping our alma mater.

Ross Gormley is starting an MFA program this fall in creative nonfiction at UNC Wilmington. Before he enrolls, he is traveling out West on a trip made entirely possible by Wesleyan friends—many thanks to them. Sarah Cassel will be beginning a master’s degree in criminology at the University of Cambridge, U.K., in Oct. Ever since participating as a writing tutor in Wesleyan’s Center for Prison Education, she has become passionate about working in the intersecting field of prison reform, rehabilitation, and racial justice.
Last year, Lia Monti moved into a historic home in Brooklyn Heights built in 1834 by Walt Whitman’s father (with help from young Walt). She graduated this May from Columbia University with a master’s in postwar Japanese art history. Janet Cushey moved from Seoul to NYC in August of 2014 to begin a position as an investor relations associate with a small firm that works with oncology and drug development companies. Anna Swartz is living in Bed-Stuy, writing for The Dodo and looking forward to some scenic drives through good ol’ Connecticut this summer. Walter Rodriguez started a new role this year in global procurement at Pfizer, where he’s been since graduating from Wesleyan. His daughter, Adriana, just graduated from kindergarten this June. He is looking forward to many summer weekends in NYC with her at parks, zoos, aquariums, and gardens. She loves taking the train from New Jersey.

Taran Catania has spent the last year in Washington D.C., working for an international bird conservation organization. Previously, she spent a few seasons in the field catching migratory shorebirds in Delaware Bay. She loves D.C., but does not love the Red Line metro. Evan Okun is now a central leader of Circles & Ciphers, a restorative justice organization or young people of color who are court and gang involved. This coming August, the organization will hire Cherkira Lashley ’15 to start a branch of the program for young women. This past May, Cherkira and Evan brought Circles & Ciphers to Wesleyan to facilitate conflict resolution circles with various groups on campus. One such circle focused on rebuilding community between residents of fraternities, Women of Color House, and Open House. Evan Okun has also brought with colleagues and Wesleyan alumni together to release an album, Well Lit LP. The debut music video can be found on YouTube: E. Oks—Beez (ft. Ash Frost). More music, articles, and poetry can be found at E-Oks.com

Chelsea Goldsmith has an update from the 410: “Cassie Liu came and visited me. The rest of you are still in trouble.”

As for myself, I’m continuing to enjoy the spoils of the Bay Area and am about to hit my two-year mark at Apple. Still making my way through SF gastronomy and exploring the world whenever time permits. Thanks to everyone for writing in and best wishes to all my classmates!

As another cohort of freshman begin to make Wes their new home, it is time to reflect on the adventures our 2012 classmates!

Zachary Cuong Nguyen and Mari Sahakyan both chose to attend UC Berkeley-Boalt School of Law last fall and have been roommates ever since. As their 1L year came to a close, they set off for their summer jobs; Mari was at the US Attorneys Office in San Francisco and Cuong spent the summer at the SEC in New York. Mari writes, “I am very lucky that one of my best friends from Wes is also in the program with me…and so live on the Wes connections!”

Mari continues her praises with another Wes alum, “Possibly the kindest and most-grounded individual from our class (and someone I am very lucky to call my friend) is finishing up his master’s in just about a week at the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy!” I know we can all share in a round of applause for Justin Pena; we fully expect to hear about your accomplishments in the news.

And continuing the Wes connection overseas, William Miller, Nica Latto, and Phillip Ross have been living in Prague, Czech Republic, for the past two years. Will and Phil work for dueling social media marketing companies, while Nica teaches English and teaches people how to teach English. Recently, Nica began organizing trips throughout the Czech countryside, Phil settled down with a cat and a car, and Will completed a treacherous drive to Mongolia. They spend their free time gallivanting around Europe and would welcome a visit from any other Wes alumni!

Nathan Mackenzie recently returned to the U.S. in Nov. 2013 after working with Shining Hope for Communities in Nairobi, Kenya, since graduating. He has moved back to his home state of Colorado and worked for two nonprofits in Denver focused on local economy and local food economy work. Since July 2014, Nathan has been a part of El Pomar Foundation’s Fellowship program, which is a two-year leadership development program in Colorado Springs.

And back to my stomping grounds in BK, Lila Rachel Becker has finally settled in Brooklyn with all the many other Wes alums after living in Maine, Mass., and D.C. Lila directs plays professionally, most recently at The Flea and in the Source Festival in D.C.! She is thrilled to collaborate with cello wizard Mel Hsu ’13, who is composing and recording music for one of the plays. Outside of the rehearsal room, Lila works as a grant writer at BRIC.

As for me, I am rounding out my fourth year in the Big Apple, and hope to see and hear from many more Wes alumni. Wishing the class of 2012 all the best in all their endeavors!

Class of 2011, hard to believe but our Fifth Reunion is less than a year away! For those of you who don’t know, Reunion and Commencement weekend is May 19–22, 2016. Please be looking for information via e-mail on how to register! Hope to see you all there!

Updates from our class: Ivan Maulana reports, “I’ve just graduated from Texas A&M with an M.S. in geology, and am starting work as a petroleum geologist with an exploration and production company in Singapore.”

Alex Bean writes, “Its been a fun final year at Dublin School in New Hampshire! I had a unique opportunity to coach the snowboarding team at Dublin School and we ended up winning a Lakes Region championship for the first time in school history in our Slopestyle competition. Although I will miss Dublin dearly, I am excited about my next move as the director of institutional giving at the School of the Holy Child in Rye, N.Y.”

Devon Hopkins is enjoying the muggy D.C. summer, continuing to run the marketing team for EveryAction, a nonprofit CRM platform. He will be traveling to Italy and Croatia this summer with Emma Lewis, Katie Colasacco, and Allie Rowan, and is looking forward to Henry Kiely’s wedding in August!

Maryann Platt is moving back East from UC, Irvine, to finish her PhD at Columbia. “See you soon, Manhattan!”

Ross Shenker writes, “After working professionally as an actor and director for a few years, I will be attending the University of Louisville in the fall for my M.F.A. in acting. I will teach a theater appreciation course in the first year and introduction to acting in the second and third years for undergraduates as well.”

Guangshuo Yang informs us, “We have celebrated the successful conclusion of a year-long program on local history with a live performance in Pittsfield, Maine. As the co-leader of “Local & Legendary,” a local history initiative funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Maine Memory Network, I have been volunteering with local residents, schools, and NGOs in an effort to raise communal awareness of local memory. We collected and digitized local artifacts related to the Civil War, organized book panels, brought in speakers, established QR-imbedded history boards, and restored some war-related sites in town. It’s been a fun and rewarding ride for me, particularly as an outsider.”

Amanda Faraone writes, “I’m working at One Story (one-story.com), a literary nonprofit in Brooklyn, and just finished my MFA in fiction at Brooklyn College. In July, I’m getting married to Alex Anthony ’10, who is finishing his PhD in philosophy at Rutgers.

Last but not least, Eliza Jane Gordon accepted a position as a bilingual instructional coach and reading specialist at Brooke Elementary School in Austin. She is halfway finished with her graduate program at the University of Texas, where she is working on her master’s in educational administration in the Principalship Program. Eliza will graduate the same weekend as our Fifth Reunion!

As always, keep the updates coming! Looking forward to seeing you all back on Foss Hill very soon!

Greetings Class of 2010, I hope you enjoy the following updates from our classmates around the country:

Niki Holtzman is thrilled to report that she and Nick Hayes ’09 were married July 26 in Chatham, Mass. They were happy to have been joined on Cape Cod by a strong contingency of Wesleyan friends from our class and beyond. Niki and Nick started dating at Wesleyan in the spring of 2008.

Micah Weiss reports that he will begin rabbinical school at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia this fall.

Also continuing his education in Philly is Jeff Katzin, who is starting a PhD program in art history at the University of Pennsylvania. Jeff completed his MA in art history at the University of Texas at Austin back in 2013.

I’m excited to report that my Wesleyan hockey teammate Sam Decock and his wife Tracy have welcomed their second child, Annie, into the world. Annie joins Sam and Tracy’s energetic 2-year-old son Tyler. The Decocks are enjoying life and working at the Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Conn.

Kait Halibozek started her new job as the campaign coordinator in Picture Motion’s L.A. office back in March. Picture Motion is the leading marketing and advocacy firm for issue-driven films, and has offices in NYC, L.A., and D.C. She loves working with nonprofits and other progressive organizations to change the world through film. In her spare time, she continues to co-write and produce the web series Zach and Anton Save the World with her boyfriend. It’s a sci-fi comedy about two guys who move into a house where the downstairs bathroom happens to be a portal to other universes. Alex Finkel ’08, Dara Jaffe ’09, Ben Kuller ’11, Brian Velsor ’11, Amanda Sonnenschein ’14, and Christian Schneider ’14 have all helped out on one episode or another. Kait loved seeing everyone at Reunion and can’t wait for the next one!

Katherine Kitfield Bascom has a new job with CrossFit Solace, a dynamic athletic training facility in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan. She is performing with aerial hoop and pole dance, and helping run a circus school in Brooklyn. She also tutors with the IRC and works as a freelance editor, and is still in love with the NYC hustle.

Leah Lucid, who has been doing research for the past three years, is now working towards a PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Washington. Leah is also singing in a choir and enjoying Seattle life with her puppy, Moose.

Finally, while we are several months removed from Reunion at this point, I’d like to say thank you once more to everyone who made it to Middletown for an incredible weekend. “Officially,” 373 of our classmates gathered on campus—a Wesleyan five-year Reunion record! I trust everyone had a blast, reliving the glory days on Foss Hill, waxing nostalgic at dinner in the Russell House gardens, or in some cases, enjoying a cold one once more in Clark Hall. It truly was a pleasure to see everyone and I hope our 10-year even a fraction as good. Thanks also for everyone’s contributions to this edition!

The class of 2014 is continuing to take the world by storm (in true Wesleyan fashion). Here’s a glimpse into what your classmates are up to:

Jason Mix started a job as a relocation accounting analyst at Cartus in Danbury, Conn.

Natalie Robichaud is “doing what all English majors do and working for a technology-based hedge fund in NYC. Of course.”

Lizzy Steiner says: “Hi, everyone! I completed the Columbia Publishing Course in July (along with Hanh Le ’12) and am now interning at a literary agency in Brooklyn. I love living in NYC (especially since many of my friends and Rho Ep sisters decided to move here) and am having fun working in publishing. If anyone is interested in the Columbia Publishing Course/wants to talk about publishing in general, please feel free to e-mail me at esteiner@wesleyan.edu.”

Lawyer in training and yogi Anya Morgan writes, “I’m in my second semester at UT Law in Austin, Texas. I teach yoga once a week, I’m on the Texas Law Fellowships board, and I’m a research assistant for my Critical Legal Studies professor. I’ll be working at the DLA Piper Austin office as a law clerk this summer.”

Julian Harris is working in the sports industry at a startup in NYC, OpenSponsorship. They were recently featured in Forbes; the future looks bright!

Alex Cantrell moved back to Boston and is busily leading a double life: By day, he works through New Sector Alliance (a nonprofit fellowship program that matches young professionals with nonprofits) at Jeff’s Place, a children’s bereavement center in Framingham. By night, he is endeavoring to launch Sealed, a social app that allows users to send time-delayed photos, videos, and gifts. He wishes that he’d had Sealed during college so he could have captured some of those gloriously youthful late nights and sent them to his friends to unlock on their 50th Reunion. Reach out to him if you want to help make it happen!

Tom Brewer: “From Tulsa, I headed westward by bus, ultimately landing softly on the couch of Casey Feldman ’12 in Santa Monica. Inspired by SoCal’s palm trees, dry heat, and pretty faces, I have been working diligently from aforementioned couch on a book of semi-erotic poems, all based on my most beloved sitcom characters: Ross, Phoebe, Rachel, Joey, Monica and, of course, Chandler. I plan to sell the rights to Friends with Benefits (working title) to a big-time LA movie studio by spring of 2016. With any luck this penniless English major will be able to cash in on his much-cherished but oft-maligned liberal arts education.”

Maurice Hill started his career in higher ed administration: he’s an admissions counselor for Kenyon College. He recruits students from the Chicagoland area, Michigan, and Toledo, and he works with the director of multicultural admissions on the recruitment, retention, and success of students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Sarah Litton Burkett: event coordinator and media relations at Henke & Pillot downtown lounge and kitchen in Houston, Texas.

Yusaku Takeda writes, “After graduation, I moved to NYC to take a position as an IT consultant. But realizing that academics is a better fit for me, I quit my job and moved back to Japan. I work as a research assistant at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy of Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo. It’s nice to be back home.”

Maureen Gorman: “I live in Brooklyn with my husband, Aurelien. I’m a junior consultant at a financial technology firm. A bit after our intimate wedding back on a gorgeous October day in my hometown of Milwaukee, Aurelien and I spent a lovely honeymoon in New Orleans, enjoying the unique architecture, delicious food, and bayous. We love taking advantage of all of the cultural offerings of NYC and our proximity to Prospect Park!”

From our nation’s capital, Maggie Feldman-Piltch writes, “Julian Purkiss and I are living in D.C. with our newly adopted and incredibly adorable pitbull, ziva bell hooks. (Pretty sure no one cares about this, but just in case, I’m finishing up a national security and international trade fellowship and he’s working at a non-public, tuition-free school for boys in South East.) We’ll be hosting the Wes GOLD party on April 2 and really look forward to seeing everyone. Leo Liu, Izzy Rode, Olivia May, and Benny Doctor are close by, and we get to play Settlers, drink boozy milkshakes, and be homesick for the crunchy people of Wesleyan on the regular. I also see Emma Daniels ’13 weekly during Congressional Chorus rehearsals.”

Leslie Lai started her PhD program in cognitive science at Brown. Her research investigates how perceptual information is transferred to conceptual understanding in human vision. Leslie is interested in how color and perceptual organization influence the way people process visualized information.

Nick Buffie is working at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, DC. He writes blog posts on economic policy, provides research assistance for various economists at the Center, and tracks CEPR’s appearances in the media. His writings to date have focused on the Affordable Care Act’s positive effects on the job market; the pace of economic recovery; hidden regressive features of the tax code; the conditions necessary for wage growth; the difficulty of prolonged unemployment; and living standards in the U.S. versus other developed countries. His writings have been cited in various newspapers and media outlets for public policy.

It’s always great hearing from you all. Never hesitate to write. Much love,

Mary diaz | mcdiaz@wesleyan.edu

Class Notes intern: Susannah Betts ’15