To the Class of ’23:

Hey!! My name is Isha Jha and I’m one of the class secretaries for our year! I hope everyone’s first months as a recent grad have been going well, whether that has involved traveling, spending time with friends and family, working, or all the above. I’ve been working in New York postgrad and have been having a ton of fun! 

Going forward, we’ll be emailing you all a couple times a year to check in and get some updates about what everyone is up to. Can’t wait to stay in touch and see what incredible things everyone accomplishes!

—Isha

Hi All,

My name is Go Uemura and I will be serving as a co-secretary for the Class of 2023 along with Isha. We will be keeping everyone in the loop by reporting updates and submitting news to be included in the Wesleyan Alumni Magazine.

At Wes, I studied economics with minors in data analysis and the College of East Asian Studies and played on the men’s hockey team. Since graduating, I have been working at an investment bank in NYC and live in the East Village with two of my former teammates. I had such an amazing experience at Wes and it would be awesome if we can keep this class as connected as possible, so please keep an eye out for future emails from us to help keep the chatter going. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of you at the Homecoming game in Middletown.

In the Bonds,

—Go

We received this news about Connor Gregoire, who is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps: Connor Gregoire graduated from the Basic School at the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, on May 19, 2023. Connor will continue his training in his first choice of military occupational specialty as an infantry officer. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in August 2022 upon completion of Officer Candidate School as part of the USMC platoon leaders class program. Connor will continue onto the USMC Infantry Officer Course, also located in Quantico, with an anticipated graduation of October 2023. Upon completion of his professional training, he will be assigned to the fleet as a platoon commander.

Greetings from your new Class Secretary! My name is Jane Zhang, a BA ’21, MA ’22 graduate from Wesleyan and a 2L at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. I double majored in philosophy and physics at Wesleyan. As a law student, I continue to explore the intersection of law, business, and technology. This summer I completed an internship with the Legal & Compliance Department at Lindsay Goldberg LLC in New York. In my free time, I love taking ballet classes (a hobby that I started by taking classes with Professor Patricia Beaman), visiting museums, and traveling to different countries. I deeply cherish the people that I got to know during my Wesleyan years. By taking up this volunteer position with Class Notes, I hope to foster new connections within the Wesleyan community. Please feel free to email me with notes and updates that you wish to share.

Here are some updates from the Class of 2021:

Xinyue Zhang has lived in New Haven, Connecticut, for the past two years where she completed a master’s degree in East Asian studies at Yale University. One of the perks of living in Connecticut is staying close to the Wesleyan campus and being able to reconnect with Wes friends whenever they come back to visit! This summer she spent two months in Japan attending a language program in Yokohama and also traveling around the country. She greatly enjoyed eating Japanese hot pots, petting capybaras, and relaxing at local onsen (Japanese hot spring). In the fall she will be starting her PhD in history at Yale, focusing on modern Chinese history as well as the history of science and environmental history. She first discovered her passion for historical research while writing a senior thesis at Wesleyan.

Congratulations to Bryan Chong for starting a new position! Bryan officially joined the labor movement in Connecticut as staff of AFSCME Council 4—the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees is the largest public sector union in the country and represents 30,000 public service workers in Connecticut.

Fengbeiling Wang shared with us her new home, recent career shift, and passions in life: “A lot of changes are happening this bright summer! I just relocated to a hot and easy-living place where crepe myrtle are blooming under the sun—Dallas, it is! While not fully understanding my early career shift from consulting to finance, I am really enjoying the fast pace and data intensity of my job at Goldman Sachs. It is a company with full momentum, efficiency, and diversity. New things happen every day. Meanwhile, I don’t forget about my English literature major at Wesleyan and try to read more and write every week. I also keep learning Japanese with a new teacher twice a week. I cook three meals a day . . .  but I am still not a fan [of] or pro at baking and need more tips on how to make cookies not crumble easily.”

Sarah Lucente wrote: “I am psyched to say that I completed my first year at the Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont this summer! Lots of Wes alumni to find there. :)” Congrats to Sarah!

I appreciate everyone who submitted a note. Please feel free to send me updates throughout the year and look out for new submission requests.

See you next time.

From Clara Babbot-Ward: “I weaseled my way in to creating and running a music curriculum for a school that has never had music before! It turns out sometimes asking for what you want and advocating for what you know could enhance community can work out. I start in the fall— wish me luck!”

From Kush Patel: “I am a few months away from graduating from the Tufts PA program with plans to start a job in dermatology! I hope to travel a bit after I take my boards in January.”

From Lau Maquedano: “It’s been a year since I moved from LA to Madrid and started life from scratch. It was difficult to get my foot in the film industry here at first, and be far from my Wes friends, but I have recently started working at a post house and am loving it. In the meantime, I’m working on an indie short. I’m grateful it was selected in two labs and have attached a production company to help fund it. Looking forward to hopefully shoot it next year!”

From Gabby Bennett: “I’m doing the Chicago Wes Alumni spotlight feature for the Wes Alumni Instagram page.”

From Livia Wallick: “I’ve just accepted a new position at Wesleyan as a major gifts officer! If anyone in our class is ever on campus, please let me know!”

Nikhil Ghosh is switching coasts to pursue graduate studies in NYC at Columbia after working in the software industry in the San Francisco Bay Area.

From Sonja English: “Hey all! Just adopted my first rescue puppy, Moo Moo, who’s already my work-from-home companion. Also, I’ve just started a new role as chief of staff at Ameelio, where we’re providing communications and education technology for incarcerated people and their loved ones—all for free.”

Aysha Khan, Jonathan D. Harber ’86, and Rick Segal ’75 have embarked on a mission to revolutionize education in New York City through a visionary initiative, Runway Green at Floyd Bennett Field. Nestled within the heart of Brooklyn, Floyd Bennett Field is a national park, holding unique historical significance as New York City’s inaugural airport. Today, Runway Green is poised to transform it into an immersive, experiential learning campus. Harber is also the founding chairman of Launch, an expeditionary learning middle school in Brooklyn, and Aysha recently joined to help manage special projects, including the opening of a Launch high school on the Floyd Bennett Field campus.

As for me, I spent most of the summer enjoying all the sunshine and lake water the Midwest has to offer! I was so lucky to spend some time with my senior house roommates at the beach in Massachusetts and with so many other Wes friends during a quick stop in NYC this summer as well! I hope everyone had a great summer and keep an eye out for more emails from me later in fall and winter.