Class Notes

Dr. Merissa Blais lives in Old Greenwich, Connecticut with her husband and two kids. She has an orthodontic practice  in Scarsdale, New York, seeing both children and adults.

      Amy and Tom Hodgman are living their best 2020–2021 life stuck inside their home in Evanston, Illinois with their two kids (Quinn, 7 and Sam, 9) and two dogs (Nesta and Frank). Lately Tom has taken to snowblowing not only his own driveway and front walk but also the entire alley and half of the street. He offsets his fossil fuel usage by working at The Nature Conservancy. Amy runs a bustling tutoring business while also monitoring the kids while they remote school and cooking delicious dinners that her children refuse to eat. Both Amy and Tom feel like most of their time is spent either walking their dogs or telling their children to turn their iPads off. On a positive note, there has been a lot of forced family fun time camping, hiking, swimming and skiing in Michigan. Go Cardinals!

     Tim, Jessica, Lius (9), and Josie (7) Harrington are moving from the Bay Area to Ann Arbor, Michigan to be closer to Jessica’s family. Tim continues to practice corporate law at Google and Jessica remains in marketing. Hit them up if you’re in the area!

     Jessica Ely and her husband Will Carter moved to Arlington, Massachusetts last year, and they welcomed their new baby, Carly, on November 7. Back in Boston she’s been running into lots of Wes alums in the area, including Megan Crowe-Rothstein at daycare pickups.

     Jules Jones has been living and writing movies in Poland for the past three years. She’s embarking on her directorial debut, a self-authored psychological horror flick, in winter of 2021 if Pandemia allows. She still plays rock music, although she hasn’t seen her band Pop-up Books in person since March of 2020.

One year later most of us are still cooped up in our homes, our kids not in school, and still riding out the pandemic. But as the world opens up and vaccines become available, it’s still great to see that Wesleyan alumni are flourishing. And what’s even crazier—next year marks our 20th Reunion! A few updates from our classmates this time around:

      Michelle Carney (Rabinowitz) developed and produced a new docuseries on video games for Vice called Reset: The Unauthorized Guide to Video Games.

      Eric Donelan left the U.S. State Department in late 2019 and moved to Seoul, Korea with his family to take a position with the Coupang Corporation as the head of global security and workforce protection.

      Monica Coquoz sends out “a friendly hello from Seville, Spain,” where she is based. Melissa is a therapist, mindfulness and yoga teacher. She’s “dancing to stay happy and energized. Big hugs to all!”

      Suzy Gerstein lives in New York City with her husband, David, her eight-going-on-14-year-old son Harvey, and her almost three-year-old daughter Judith Rose. Since the pandemic hit Suzy has had to pivot her business. Suzy writes, “For the past decade-and-a-half I had made my living as a freelance makeup artist (doing mostly shoots and red carpet). With that no longer viable, I have begun to teach one-on-one virtual makeup lessons. Fellow ’02-er, Nicole Cohen, has given me invaluable PR coaching. I have also been staying sane doing my homegirl Jen Guarnieri’s Yoga Collective workouts and filming Instagram makeup tutorials (with voice by daughter, Judy).” Suzy’s IG handle is @suzygerstein; you can follow along with her! One of Suzy’s first clients was another fellow ’02er Lily Walton (McDowell), who has a new interior design business. Lily lives in Ojai and her design website is lilywalton.com.

      As for me, I’ve been riding out the pandemic with my wife and kids in the greater Vancouver area since September, having spent the fall on Salt Spring Island (seven weeks), Quadra Island (two weeks), and skiing in Whistler (one month), while settling in West Vancouver for the winter and spring (and going back to Los Angeles in the summer). I’ve been working remotely, continuing in my role at XTR. At XTR, we’ve been busy building one of the best documentary studios in the world—we produced eight films that premiered at Sundance 2021 and two films at SXSW 2021. And we are in the middle of production on three documentary series, as well as six feature documentaries, and we also launched our ad-supported streaming platform Documentary+, which is available anywhere you stream content, including docplus.com. We are building a home for passionate nonfiction fans and so far the platform has been doing quite well!

     Keep the notes coming!

Hello 2001, Thank you to all who wrote in with your notes. We have been locked in a scene from Groundhog Day for the past year, and so reading your good news is a welcomed distraction. You have reminded us that there are still plenty of things to celebrate.

    Melody Moezzi’s latest book, The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life, just came out in paperback in March. She is living in Wilmington, North Carolina with her husband Matthew Lenard ’00 and their two ungrateful cats, Keshmesh and Nazanin. Melody is working as a visiting associate professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington while Matthew is finishing his PhD at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

     Don Kim recently moved to Los Angeles and is building a 28-unit apartment building near downtown. Exciting!

     Mary Robertson admits she’s white knuckling it through the pandemic with her two young kids, Malcolm (5) and Maxine (2). But she adds that a bright spot in these dark times was executive producing the documentary film Framing Britney Spears for The New York Times, FX and Hulu. It’s still available on Hulu and Mary says she’d love to hear what you think. If the buzz generated by this documentary is any indication, we’re pretty confident any and all feedback will be overwhelmingly positive!

     Finally, Raymond Kuo shares that he has not one, but two books coming out this year. George Mason University and Westphalia Press published Contests of Initiative: Confronting China’s Gray Zone Strategy, and Stanford University Press will publish Following the Leader: International Order, Alliance Strategies, and Emulation. Seriously Raymond, how did you do it? We barely scraped together enough inspiration this year to put on real clothes once in a while.

     As always, it’s a pleasure to hear from our Wes community near and far. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. Keep in touch!

Allison Larson and her husband Ron welcomed their second child, Erin Madden, in July. She joins big sister Victoria Lee.  Evans Anyanwu writes “Happy to report that I was interviewed by Angela Yee ’97, Charlamagne tha God and DJ Envy on The Breakfast Club, to discuss a mental health app, U; Good? that I co-founded with a friend. You can find the interview on YouTube.”

     Kori Reesee would like to share, “The recent opening of my restaurant, Roc N Ramen, located in the Little Italy section of the Bronx (606 E 187th St., Bronx, NY 10458). Roc N Ramen is a casual eatery serving authentic Japanese ramen with a Caribbean twist. Our motto is Asian Bowl, Caribbean Soul.”

     Theresa Trinder published a children’s book, There Is a Rainbow, inspired by the rainbows made by children all over the world during COVID-19 lockdowns. Called “the perfect pandemic book” by School Library Journal, it’s a testament to our kids’ resilience and hope for a future that’s more safe, kind, and just. From Chronicle Books, illustrated by Grant Snider.

    Calvin P. Warner writes, “The past year has been challenging, but the little things have a habit of rolling along, oblivious to the mayhem wreaked by larger events. Our son Jesse was born March 2020, just as the lockdown started here in Ohio. I finished my fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine in Columbus in September, and we moved back to Cleveland later that month. I’m now working in my first attending physician job at University Hospitals in Cleveland, mostly doing inpatient palliative consults with a smattering of outpatient. Though the transitions have been tough amidst the pandemic, there is a lot of light in the darkness for us.  Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe, and I hope to see you in person in the not-too-distant future. If ever you’re in NE Ohio, look me up.”

     Melissa Stevens and Rob Debbane welcomed their third son Nico this past summer. After 10 years as head of Camron US, a communications agency focused on design and architecture, Sarah Natkins has been made global head of design.

         Ku Yoo writes “I left my private practice to join a client as its general counsel. The company is in the fitness/retail/childcare space. I am temporarily in Phoenix, Arizona for the job (still mostly working from the apartment), missing all the weather back east, and trying to go on outdoor hikes on weekends.”

Diana Glanternik is riding the pandemic out in Brooklyn with husband and two little ones, Ila (4) and Amara (1). Mari was born in December 2019, so Diana was just coming off maternity leave when this hit. “I am in the ranks of moms whose work hours have been drastically reduced by additional childcare responsibilities. We are lucky that at this age, our kiddos are perfectly content to have more time with their parents and it’s still a time for lots of play-based learning. The pre-pandemic aspect of life that my husband and I miss most is dinner gatherings, many of which involved Wes friends who live nearby. As soon as everyone is vaccinated we hope to host those weekly! Feeling grateful for security and health.”

     Gloria Milagros Plaks is sharing pandemic time with three kids (14-year-old nephew and 13- and 9-year-old children) who are learning remotely while she is teaching high school math from home and taking care of her 18-month-old baby. “Thank goodness my mother is near and takes the baby most of the work week! Life is interesting and I am thankful that my family has been spared (hopefully will continue to be) and my heart aches for those families who have had difficult experiences during this time.” She sends many hugs and blessings to her Wes fam.

     Ellen Sluder (Cohen) is now head of marketing for software startup smrtStudio Global. Their client base is 100 percent North American, but Ellen is the first U.S. employee. “I’ll be working shifted hours to bridge between Romania and New York, which leaves me open in the afternoons for my kids (10 and 7). We’ve been lucky this school year that they have mostly been in school full time. Although it can be hard to find the silver linings, the extra time to keep up with text messages and group chats with other Wes alums has been a bright spot!”

     Nina Kontos reports she is “ever grateful for my badass network of Wesleyan friends who have been a support system through the pandemic (and the past 20+ years)­—whether through text trains, phone, Zoom or socially distant outdoor gatherings. I still live in forever resilient New York City, I have a kindergartener, and recently started a new job at Pinterest leading internal and executive communications for the company.”

     Abbie Goldberg has been on a daily running streak for 11 months (hoping to make it a year), and has run over 3,000 miles since mid-March. “We also got a #pandemicpuppy this winter. She is bringing much needed joy into our lives. I am a visiting professor at UMass during my sabbatical, working on projects involving the intersection of education, adoption, and foster care.” Her latest book, the SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies, is coming out this March.

     Jennie Rabinowitz is coping with pandemic limitations by volunteering with the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project (DCVLP), where she helps survivors of domestic violence obtain civil protection orders, divorces, and custody of their children. “Demand for DCVLP’s services is up 300%. Being able to help my wise and resilient clients has kept me sane. The extent to which they’ve educated me has been a huge gift. I was honored to be one of DCVLP’s Volunteers of the Year for 2020, and while I hope the need for my services dissipates, I’ll be here as long as my clients need me.”

     Chad Bartell lives in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, where he practices corporate law by day and plays in a steeldrum band by night (check out “Panchromatic Steel” on Facebook or YouTube). Ed Holzwarth and wife, Aline, just welcomed a baby son, Nico Holzwarth to their family! The digital health company where Ed is co-founder and CTO, Pattern Health, just closed $1.5m in funding. Exciting times!

     The second hardest part of writing the Class Notes is getting people to take the time to send in submissions . . . thank you to everyone who sent the stories for us to share this time around! The hardest part of writing the Notes is when we have to share sad news, such as the passing of our classmate Catie Lazarus last December. She was a bright light with boundless energy and wit, gone too soon. The New York Times carried a nice piece on her.

     Kevin continues to find purpose in his work at Quartet Health, which is striving to help everyone with a mental health condition get the care they need. This need has been growing for decades, and has exploded over the past year. One pandemic pastime that Kevin and his wife, Keara, have enjoyed is watching the entire How I Met Your Mother series from the beginning. The numerous Wes references have been a welcome shot of nostalgia!

Hi classmates: It’s hard to know what to say these days. I don’t know if the time since our last notes has gone by quickly or not moved at all. Or as a good friend always says, “Why can’t it be both, Abby?” As of this writing, the COVID vaccine is slowly making its way into more and more arms and immune systems—but not with the equity so desperately needed—while we all continue to try and figure out what is safe enough or not, each of us balancing our own risk-benefit calculation as best we can. There are joyous moments and heart-breaking ones, and a whole lot of the in-between. I hope you are all as well as can be, and finding lights at the ends of all the little and big tunnels.

     Here is the news from our fellow ’98ers.

     Jesse Vincent is living in Oakland with his wife Kaia and four-year- old son Ira. For most of the past month, he’s been neglecting his day job running keyboard.io to serve as one of the volunteer coordinators of cinateca.com.

     Adam Borden’s family decided to decamp for a month with remote learning and work to Stowe, Vermont. They were able to ski every day during winter break and then for a couple of weeks each day after Emma and Ian finished remote school. It was such a welcome relief to have a change of scenery and get in some great skiing. Before they left, Adam and Ann Bakun surprised them with a holiday muffeletta shipment from NOLA’s Central Grocery which definitely took care of any muffeletta hankering they might have had for years! The Bordens returned in mid-January in time for Adam to start a new job as the VP of digital advertising for Live Casino and Hotels, a Maryland gaming company with properties near Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and in Philadelphia. He has much to learn about the gaming industry but is learning quickly!

     Laura Kirk enjoyed a New York snowstorm in Central Park with her son Theo and sent an adorable happy snowy masked picture that I wish I could include!

    Brendan Armm, DAOM, LAc, Dipl OM, lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids, practicing as a doctor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine at Lotus Integrative Medicine in Santa Monica (lotussm.com), which he founded in 2007 and serves as director. He hosts the weekly integrative holistic health and wellness talk show The Well with four other doctors and health care practitioners, to tackle all things body, mind and spirit, which is also on YouTube. Back in 2015, Dr. Armm received a U.S. patent for the BackInBand, a lower back pain relief acupressure device (BackInBand.com), after completing a six-month study showing the device’s medical efficacy. Brendan continues to play drums like he did back in the days of Wesleyan when he majored in world music (and pre-med, too), and used to play with campus bands Neptune, 2:10 Train, and others, with his schoolmates Kevin Strait ’97, Dan Gilbert, Eric Werner ’99 and others. He now enjoys watching his daughter (River) learn the guitar, and his son (Leaf) learn the drums, carrying on the spirit and pulse of music. Brendan’s also been playing tennis weekly, again like in his days back at Wesleyan, when he was on the school’s team his freshman year. Some things change, some things remain unchanged, and always each day is a present.

     Finally, as many of you know, on December 13, 2020, we lost Catie Lazarus ’98, MA ’99 to breast cancer. Catie was a comedian, writer, and producer­—well-known as the longtime host of the talk show and podcast Employee of the Month—and a friend and a light of optimism to so many. She switched from a doctorate in psychology into comedy after prompting from Tina Fey, and no doubt used skills she learned at Wes in psychology/sociology in her interviews with celebrities and laypeople alike, including a series in The Atlantic interviewing people who had lost their jobs. She brought both depth of feeling and humor to all her work, and it is clear from even the most random candid photo or interview moment that there is no more infectious smile than hers. You can find much of her work as well as wonderful tributes to her online, including one (at jta.org) written by a friend she made doing that most Wesleyan of post-grad experiences, an immersion experience in Israel. She is survived by her parents Simon and Rosalind, and two brothers Ned ’95 and Ben and their wives Nahanni and Katherine. She will be missed by so many.

Dear ’97ers, A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, we are endlessly moved, touched, broken, buoyed, impressed, humbled and inspired (on some days, all at the same time). We send all of our best wishes to all of our classmates and to your friends and families, and wish you the best of health and kindness.

   Maria Hipps wrote in with wonderful notes about Wes alums staying connected and supporting each other, even if over Zoom. Yay connecting and reconnecting! In December, in celebration of Nicole Rodriguez Leach’s birthday and as a fundraiser for a charity of her choice, a group of Wes alums Abdul Latif, Semeka Smith-Williams, Marysol Castro ’96, Dolores Concepcion, Benny Vasquez, Andrea DeJesus, and Maria Mirabal Hipps all gathered via Zoom to virtually cook paella and make coquito with renowned Chef Leen. Maria writes that “It was such a fun night of laughs; recalling special Wes memories and temporarily forgetting about the global pandemic that has held us hostage for a year. Fun was had by all and we have since kept the party going via periodic ‘check in’ group texts. We are a testament to the fact that the Wes connection only grows stronger post graduation.” We join Maria in wishing Nicole a happy birthday and the best on her PhD journey!

     We would like to congratulate Angela Yee for her induction into the Radio Hall Of Fame! She was celebrated for the nationally syndicated morning show The Breakfast Club with Charlamagne tha God and DJ Envy. For a full list of 2020 inductees, including Cokie Roberts, see radiohalloffame.com. Maria writes that Angela is also hosting Wealth Wednesday seminars to promote financial literacy, opened a new business in Detroit called Private Label and helped launch a new premium specialty coffee called Coffee Uplifts People (CUP) all while owning a successful juice bar—Juices For Life in Brooklyn. Congratulations, Angela!

     Lucria Ortiz is the CEO for the YMCA Yonkers. She amazes us all. Lucria organized food drives, distributed PPE, and ensured the YMCA resources continued to be available for the most vulnerable within the Yonkers community. Carry on, Lucria, wow! We are so proud and impressed.

     Alek Lev is producing the podcast Meeting Tom Cruise for iHeartRadio and Dan Patrick Productions, with hilarious interviews between guests who’ve met him and hosts who’d love to. One day.

     We are very sorry to write that our dear classmate Seth Spector passed away this February. Seth was a kind friend, amazing athlete, and after Wesleyan and Columbia Teacher’s College, a great mentor and coach to many. We share and send deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Hello, ’96ers! While we are not able to gather in person this year, it has been a lot of fun seeing what everyone is up to in the Reunion Class Book! Hope everyone has made it through this year not too much worse for wear, and that your friends and family are well.

      There were some things to celebrate in 2020! Elena (Pavloff) Dwyer met and married her husband.  They bought a house in Connecticut built in 1761 that her husband is restoring and renovating.  They can still be found in New York City during the weekdays.

      Marysol Castro still works for the New York Mets as the PA announcer. She is the first Latina PA announcer for MLB, as well as the first female PA announcer for the Mets. She gets to see Jed Hoyer, the president of baseball operations for the Cubs, when the Cubs are in town. Marysol writes, “Shereem Brown has yet to come to a game, but that might be because he is building an empire with his wife, Keri, while also putting in work on the Peloton. Christianne Phillips (nee Renke) appears to be aging in reverse while making the most delicious food and completing the most ridiculous workouts in Miami. Amin Gonzalez and I serve on an educational board together (Go to College NYC), so I get to see him on Zoom. He likes to put College Way as his background, and I get nostalgic. He’s the head of Admission at Wes. When I’m not at the ballpark, I host a morning show in NYC (PIX 11 Morning News) and a podcast for PBS (Seasoned). I’ve discovered with some water and sunlight and the occasional arroz con pollo, children grow. My two boys are 11 and 14 as of my writing this.  They still don’t think I’m cool, and I’m still trying to impress them.”

     Kelly Butler writes, “Since we were stuck at home due to COVID, my family decided to take that as an opportunity to move further outside of Boston to a more rural community. We’re now surrounded by farms and green space—so very grateful. And before things went sideways, we made a long-overdue visit to my old stomping grounds in San Francisco and reconnected with Kristin McBride and Arwen Anderson. Aside from that, I’m on the verge of hitting my 20-year work anniversary with GMO (an investment management company) and contending with the fact that my son will officially be a teenager by year-end!”

     Kristin Mercer lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Joel, and daughter, Ines (9), where she teaches and does research on plant ecology and evolution at Ohio State University. Kristin says, “The pandemic has been tough, but we have kept our health and have done what we can to get out and about in the woods.  I’m in close touch with Jesse Wegman, Mike Cantor, Dan Helfit-Marshall, and Miriam Colvin.  We were glad to welcome Benjy Flowers and Jenn Clark ’95 to OSU last year.”

     Dacque Tirado sends news that he met up with Chung Ma in Richmond, Virginia in mid-March­—the two had not seen each other in 25 years! Chung and his wife played gracious hosts as they all had a socially distanced cocktail party outside on a gorgeous day in the city.

      Last but not least, Stacey Samuel shares her news: “I’m coming up on 10 years here in Washington, DC—leaving New York City to cover politics in the capital for CNN in 2011. Several network newsrooms later and a few promotions, I am now the executive producer of Al Jazeera’s flagship news and current affairs podcast, The Take. Covering international news and geopolitics is the culmination of 24 years in the field.”

      Thanks for sharing your news!  Keep the updates coming!

Katy writes for this issue: We are all thinking of each other, through the challenges and transitions of this moment, and I hope these notes find you well. It’s been lovely to hear your updates. Read up below on how your classmates are spending their time: working, sports, horses, home renovation—and a bit of a pandemic dog theme!

     Rob Armstrong writes: “To deal with lockdown blues, we got a rescue dog, Billy. He is a super cute Collie/Jack Russell mix and a menace to anything anyone leaves on the floor. The twins, now 11, are thrilled. Being a journalist during lockdown is not much fun, but I’m getting close to 10 years at the Financial Times, where I’ve been happy. I write about finance and, in a periodic weekend column, men’s style.”

     Jennifer Parker Dockray is still living in Oakland, and working for reproductive justice at a nonprofit called All-Options. She and her eighth grader are doing pretty well after a year of working and learning from home—even got on board with a pandemic puppy—but really misses trips back to the East Coast! She sends love to everyone and hopes for a healthier and more just 2021 for us all.

     Beth (Shilepsky) Price writes: “After five years at the Naval Health Clinic Charleston, I recently left to work for my alma mater, the Medical University of South Carolina (still as a family medicine doctor). Loving my four-day work week, which means more time relaxing with my husband Kevin and our kids: David (16), Madeline (14), and Lily (11). We got a second horse a year ago and since then, David and I have been spending lots of quality time on the trails. It’s the perfect COVID activity—plenty of Vitamin D, fresh air, exercise, and social distancing. Hope everyone stays healthy (physically and mentally) during this difficult time!”

     Marc Schleifer writes: “Not much to report. My wife and I are healthy, as are our parents, so thankful for that, and lucky to be able to both work remotely. We’ve been mostly pandemic’ing in New Jersey, avoiding the weirdness of Washington, DC this fall and winter. One major upside is being in the Philly TV viewing area allows me to watch the Sixers and Flyers after work every day, much to my wife’s dismay. Hope everyone is doing well and that we eventually get to meet in person.”

     Stacy (Theberge) Taylor writes: “I’m still in the Portland, Maine area, running an animation studio with my husband. We were super lucky in that Little Zoo Studio was always remote, so feeling extremely grateful that our work continued uninterrupted. In addition to keeping the virus at bay, I spend time taking care of a five-year-old son, dog, cat, and rambling farmhouse that we will apparently never finish renovating.”

Anne Noel Occhialino writes: “Like many others, I have been hunkered down at home for the last year with my daughters (hybrid school), husband (working at home), and one-eyed Golden Retriever (loving every minute of having everyone home!). The highlight of my year was the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and transgender status, as I worked on these cases for the EEOC at the court of appeals level. A silver lining of the pandemic has been monthly Zoom calls with my cross-country friends, including Joe Mahoney ’94, Sean Mazer ’94, Matt Schneider ’93, Jon Chesto ’93, Arthur Magni ’93, Deb Levin ’96, and Amy Dain ’96. Love Wes! For my 49th birthday last week, my father even sent me a Wesleyan T-shirt! Hope my classmates are staying healthy and that the next few months brings a reprieve from the pandemic.

Jonathan Kirsch is running a new mobile health initiative at the U of Minnesota med school, bringing high quality preventative and advanced medical care to marginalized communities, like farmworkers, meatpackers and other jobs where refugees, immigrants and migrants work.

Erika Phillips (formerly Amy Phillips) writes: “The program that I created, manage and facilitate for The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego where I am an Arts Engagement Programs Manager, Reflecting Shakespeare, is a transformative arts program for the incarcerated and justice-involved.  During the pandemic, with generous grants from the California Arts Council and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the program has expanded to reach the Reentry and Youth populations.  For the adult populations on lockdown, our program has transformed to correspondence and video formats.  The videos have been released on The Old Globe’s website and youtube pages and can be viewed by the public at large.  We are currently in Series 3 exploring Much Ado About Nothing through a healing and social justice lens with a panel of hosts that include artists who were formerly incarcerated.  Interested parties can watch and send in their responses.  We will feature community writing in a final episode.

I was also recently featured on Episode 17 of the podcast A Life in the Theatre, where I got to talk all about this work.” 

Eliza Comer reached out to a bunch of friends and provided us with the following updates: “I don’t know if I’ve ever written in, but I used the Class Notes deadline as an excuse to check in with some friends via WhatsApp and text to try get some deets on everyone’s current realities, as well as their TV and movie suggestions. And to continue my tradition of ultimate procrastination (which I honed at Wes and has served me well in my career), I only reached out to people today, the day before the notes were due. And now, in alphabetical order by last name…”

Neeti Bambrah, from DC: “I am still a practicing PM&R physician (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation), doing mostly electrodiagnostic testing and spine in an orthopedic practice. I have been living in downtown DC since medical residency … so have officially been through some interesting times! Especially lately… I still manage to try and get a daily run in by the monuments.”

Julie Beattie, from Colorado: “I’m in product marketing and research in the technology talent acquisition space (working for DHI Group Inc if that’s easier to say). Adam ‘93 and I live in Denver with our daughter who started high school this year at the same high school I attended (although between Covid and how the school has evolved it’s a pretty different experience!). We’ve been thankful to live in CO and enjoy extra ski days this season as a family pandemic activity.” 

Nicole Cho, from Massachusetts: “I’ve been working in philanthropy as an Information Services Manager for over a year in Boston and spent the past year working from home with my husband. Ted Lasso is a must watch for a good laugh and a bit of light heartedness!”

Karine Chung, from California: “I’m a fertility doctor in Los Angeles with two smelly teenage boys, my husband who is a critical care doctor, and our dog Auggie, who we are obsessed with. My favorite pandemic tv series is Ted Lasso because it makes me feel so happy. But also just started watching an oldie but goodie – Freaks and Geeks.”

Nimali Fernando, from Virginia: “The Dr. Yum project, a nonprofit I founded, is holding its annual fundraising event as a Virtual Celebration on Friday, April 16th, at 7pm. Go to https://www.doctoryum.org/ for more information.” 

Adji Gadson, from California: “I live in Los Angeles, a mile from my twin sister, and am working at CAA. With a 30-foot commute instead of 30-minutes, as a long time New Yorker, I have a new appreciation for California!” 

Rula Geha, from California: “I moved to California from NYC in the fall after being in NYC since 2001. Now I am closer to my family. I have one daughter who is 8 years old. I work as a physician consultant for a financial company doing biotechnology due diligence and medical and scientific philanthropy as well as running the corporate health program. Fortunately school is open here, because I was losing it as an elementary school teacher!”

Pammie Nguyen from NY: “We’re in the suburbs north of the city, and I’m still a neuroradiologist, still at Columbia. Mike is still a head and neck surgeon. Our loud rambunctious boys are now 9 and 12 and were happy to play board games with us at the beginning of the pandemic, but that didn’t last long. So we got a pandemic puppy, a Golden doodle named Baloo. And that’s about it! Oh, and Ted Lasso is my latest obsession! And Wanda Vision!”

Kristy Scanlan, from California: “We are moving within the same building, to a 2 bedroom on the other (sunnier) side. Now that I will be WFH permanently, as well as my bf, we needed a bit more space and a home office.  I do not miss the commute and actually really like working from home, but sitting all day at the dining room table sucks.  I look forward to having an actual room with a desk and proper desk chair.  But moving is no fun.  I am up to my ears in boxes. I just started season 2 of Schitt’s Creek (I know, I’m behind).  Love it!!” 

Laurie Sorabella, from Virginia: “In the last several years, I have been restoring oyster reefs in Virginia’s waterways, teaching science, running races (with Claire), and living in Virginia Beach with my husband and three children. My oldest has started looking at colleges, so we’ll be visiting Wes this summer.”

Caitlin Dunne Wilson, from New Jersey: “I am working on Verizon’s next generation network, from home. I have been enjoying the extra time I have been getting to spend with my twin 10 year olds, and the rewards I am getting from homeschooling them. In my spare time, I’ve been busy with my company caitlinwilson.com. If you need serious design help, or just a pretty pillow, let me know.”

Claire Wingfield, from DC: “My nephew will be attending Wes this fall as class of 2025–following in his mother, father, auntie and cousin’s footprints—the 5th family member to graduate since 1991! I have rewatched Schitt’s Creek seasons 1-6 at least 3 times, and Derry Girls twice through, but I’m still stuck in season 2 of Breaking Bad because it stresses me out!”

Sondra Youdelman, from NYC: “I live in Brooklyn, NY and am the Campaign Director for People’s Action, a national network of state-based power-building organizations. I’m thrilled to no longer have to orient everything against Trump (though Trumpism is still alive and well!), and finally be able to work on some proactive campaigns, including being a piece of the puzzle to land the $1.9 trillion federal relief bill that was just secured. Next up – addressing recovery in a way that creates jobs, addresses climate change, and focuses on equity and structural reform! “Seeing people” has been limited of late, but I live a long walking distance from Melissa Woods and have managed a few social distance get togethers with Nicole Davis and Eliza Comer as well.”

And finally, Eliza Comer provided her own update from NYC: “I’m lucky to have had continuous work with Zero Point Zero (mostly WFH), mainly on the CNN series “United Shades of America” with W. Kamau Bell. We managed to shoot 7 episodes across the U.S. from September to February, with serious Covid protocols in place, and nobody got sick. (S6 premieres 5/2.) I’m grateful to be in post production now and am sleeping much better! In my down time, I’ve been tooling around the neighborhood on my new blue Razor scooter, and have been bidding in Housing Works Thrift Shop auctions on various items I don’t need, like a tin chair with a ram’s head on the side, and then praying that someone will outbid me and I won’t have to spend $175 on a chair I don’t really want. I recently re-watched a few 80’s favorites: Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, and Trading Places. I’ve also joined the 21st century and enjoyed Schitt’s Creek, Tiger King, and Bridgerton, and am just getting into Watchmen.” Thanks for all the updates, Eliza!

As for me (Caissa), I’m happy to report all is well from New Jersey. I completed and received my master’s in adult education in December 2020. I am looking forward to the virtual graduation ceremony to be held this month. I pray that all is well with all of you!