Tag: 2011

Hi, Class of 2011. Lots of updates to report!

Allie Diamond writes “I’m engaged and in my third year of my PhD in clinical psychology at Berkeley, studying future thinking in anxiety and depressive disorders using person-specific methodologies. And I’m loving living in the Bay Area!”

From Ilaria (Wolfe) O’Keefe: “We have three kids—6, 4, and 6 months—and I am in the middle of the first year of homeschooling with the oldest. I work as a doula and do singing projects on the side. This year will be a big one for us, as my husband finishes grad school and we figure out where to go next!”

After traveling in Greenland, Jared Gimbel presented at the 2017 Polyglot Conference in Reykjavik on using video games to learn languages. He has a YouTube channel with educational and comedic content. Kaverini: Nuuk Adventures, his first video game, is still in development, in addition to a smaller side project about Nauru.

Qianqian Lin writes, “Eli Fox-Epstein and I got married in 2016. Paul Linton officiated, and a few other Wes alumni from 2011 attended. We also closed on our first condo this past August and have been doing renovations galore! To help pay the mortgage, Robert Boutelle lives with us! In career news, I graduated from the MBA program at UCLA, where I was classmates again with Anjana Rimal.”

Sally Edmonds writes, “This year was a busy one for me. I married Sam Maritim ’10 and gave birth to our daughter Athena Cheboss Maritim in October. We are now living in New Haven, Conn.”

And from Todd Keats, “Adam Kaiser ’13 and I played for the New York St. Nicks Hockey Club against Tom Hartnett ’14 of the Jackson Hole Moose in Jackson, Wy. The St. Nick’s beat the Moose 4-3 and 6-3 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in front of sellout crowds of 1,500. Brad Improta ’14 was in attendance, but was recovering from an injury. We enjoyed skiing at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and the nightlife at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.”

Thanks for your contributions. It’s always nice to see what everyone is up to.

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

Class of 2011: I hope this update is finding you well! Lots of big wedding news to report! First big news is the wedding of Joe Giaimo to Emily Gatti. While Joe was at Wes, Emily enjoyed her fair share of trips to football/baseball games, Usdan brunches, DKE, and plenty of Main Street restaurants. Their wedding took place in August in New Jersey with many Wes folks in attendance including Alex Sakhno ’15, Eric Eckhardt, Donnie Cimino ’15, Mike Whalen ’83, director of athletics, Dan Dicenzo, head football coach, and Justin Freres, groomsmen and co-captain with Joe. Plus, Matt Coyne ’12, Michael Ruderman, RJ Dabbar ’12, and Nick Seara, groomsmen and co-captain with Joe as well.

Peter Belmonte writes, “I’m very much enjoying coaching, rowing, and teaching geometry in my sixth year at Xavier High School. I’m also enjoying helping Coach Carney with the Wesleyan Men’s Crew team. I’m looking forward to racing my single in the Head of the Charles this October! Go Wes!”

Zuleikha Hester contributes, “I moved to San Diego and am a brand new teacher! I just started teaching a 3-4 grade combo class.”

In more wedding news, Katie Colasacco informs us, “This September, Allie Rowan and I got married in Maryland surrounded by family and friends. We had fellow Wesleyan ’11 classmates Emma Lewis, Devon Hopkins, and Alyssa Arens by our sides on the big day, along with Allie’s sister and brother-in-law Emily ’08 and Dan Austin ’08 (who tied the knot in June). The Rooks were kind enough to play for our reception, and they kept the crowd on the dance floor all night. Allie and I are both thankful for a summer that’s been filled with so much Wes love!” Congratulations Katie and Allie!

Even more wedding news, Garrett Blank writes, “Brian Civale and Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Jameson were married in Boston on October 7 after meeting junior year. Wedding attendees included (among others): Katherine Mechling, Nic Yulinsky, Sam Broadaway, Elisa Shapiro, Dakota Gardner, and me. Brian is a public defender in New Hampshire and Lizzie works at Boston College in their fundraising department.”

And my own update! I finished my doctorate in physical therapy at the University of Southern California in May and took a job at Re+Active Physical Therapy and Wellness, an outpatient physical therapy practice that specializes in neurologic conditions. In January, I will be starting the Schmidt Movement Disorders Fellowship, a neurologic physical therapy fellowship that collaborates with UCLA to help develop physical therapy movement disorders specialists who subspecialize in evaluation and treatment of movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, Huntington’s disease, and functional movement disorders.

Thank you to everyone who contributed this cycle! Keep the updates coming!

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

Devon Hopkins made the move to Brooklyn this spring and started a new job as the director of content marketing at CARTO. He’s enjoying the availability of bodega breakfast sandwiches, a walking commute, and reconnecting with other Wes kids.

Storyteller Mike Rosen also has gigs as a teaching poet and copywriter (heymikerosen.com).

Barbara Fenig and Patrick Cline were married on May 27 in New Haven, Conn. The couple met at the Wesleyan Writers Conference.

David Puelz wrote in with news about his twin, Charles Puelz. Charles received his PhD from Rice University in computational math. Over the next three years, he will be completing post-docs at the University of North Carolina and New York University’s Courant Institute.

Corrina Wainwright started the MPH program in health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is working at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene this summer for her practicum project, researching structural violence as a public health issue with the Center for Health Equity.

Mary Weir is at the University of Southern Denmark on a Fulbright scholarship, studying and working with women in prison. This is an area in which she became interested while at Wesleyan, where she was involved with the prison project.

Cheryl Tan is in Singapore, starring in her first TV show, and is leading a musical at the Esplanade, playing a young Dowager Empress CiXi, and doing another musical at the end of the year. Another highlight was playing Juliet for Shakespeare in the Park during which she nearly died. Figuratively. Search for “faculty” on Toggle.sg if you want. She’s changing focus to the commercial side of things to make more money so follow her at @thecheryltan. She’s also teaching singing, less scarily than before. #hireme

Lastly, Joe Giamo, class agent, has an update on the class gift: “Thank you to all of this year’s 2016-17 donors to the class gift and who helped to make the difference for our current undergraduates! We look forward to updating on our success when results come in after June 30.”

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

Exciting updates from the Class of 2011!

Tim Dodds reports, “It’s been a crazy and fun year of notables in D.C. After finishing my master’s in June from UPenn, I rewarded myself with a heli-ski trip to New Zealand, only to come back broke, but with a rescue puppy. I’m looking forward to repping the Wes jugg squad as the head lacrosse coach at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School in Virginia, and building on their #10 national finish from last year.”

Jared Gimbel is in Brooklyn, developing his first video game, Kaverini: Nuuk Adventures, as a co-production with Appetizer Mobile. The game, set in contemporary Greenland, is scheduled for release in 2017 or 2018.

Jon Sheehan, along with other Wes alumni (Sean Corlett ’07, Kim Wittmer ’01, Jacalyn Lee ’79, Molly Steinfeld ’15, and Noel De La Rosa ’01), participated in College Awareness Day at the NYC Department of Education in January.

Steve Hauser and fellow football teammate Nick Seara both married their longtime girlfriends last year with several Wes alumni attending these special events. Congrats!

Jennifer Cheng writes, “I’m still in Salt Lake City, working on my PhD. in neuroscience at the University of Utah. Every now and then I have time for less important things, like climbing and sleeping.”

And, last but not least! Devon Hopkins is moving to Brooklyn after living in D.C. since graduation. He is the new director of content marketing for CARTO, a software platform for creating data-driven maps.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2017!

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

Class of 2011, I hope you all are well. Lots of exciting news from our classmates including weddings, graduations, and graduate school!

Both Leah Coe and Rebecca Friendly got married! Leah writes, “I got married on Aug. 20 to Tom St. Marie in Milwaukee, Wis. Rhee Soo Lee (she officiated the wedding), Jill Reynolds ’12, and Jaime Bonner ’12 were there to celebrate with us.”

Rebecca Friendly graduated from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business with a master’s in social entrepreneurship. She then joined Age of Learning as the communications and public affairs specialist, and is focused on driving the social impact aspect of their mission to help children build a strong foundation for academic success. In July, she married her longtime boyfriend of 10 years.

Joella Jones reports, “I started a new job in May as the communications and Web manager at the Heyman Center for the Humanities and the Society of Fellows in the Humanities at Columbia University.”

Congratulations to Marshall Johnson who defended his PhD in astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin in July. “My research focuses on planets around stars more massive than our own sun. I have now moved to Columbus, Ohio, where I am a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University.”

Jamie Thabault graduated from the University of New England in Portland, Maine, with a bachelor’s in nursing this spring. She is now working on a cardiac progressive care unit at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington and enjoying the beginning of an exciting and challenging new career!

Alicia González-Gross is excited to have begun her MSW studies at the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Alicia hopes to work as a bilingual social worker for Chicago Public Schools upon completing her degree.

Corrina Wainwright writes, “I moved to Boston to start at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the Health Policy and Management program.”

From Reunion Chair Joe Giaimo, “On behalf of the Reunion Committee, thank you to everyone who donated to our class gift in 2015-2016 and to everyone who made the trip back to Middletown for Reunion and made it a huge success. It was great to reconnect, be on campus, and see some familiar faces. We successfully raised $7,163 from 208 donors (30.45 percent of our class), which was 41 donors and $1,500 more than 2014-2015. We hope we can keep up this trend into next year! Lastly, a big thank you to all of our volunteers who help with getting classmates to contribute to the class gift every year, help with career mentorship of undergrads and young alumni, who interview prospective students, and who are involved in many different ways across campus!”

Thanks for the updates!

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

So great to see so many of you at our 5th Reunion. It was a huge success, with more than 300 members of our class making an appearance! Thanks for those who contributed this cycle; the class is really up to some great things!

Margaret Aldredge writes, “I just graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU with a master’s degree in art history. I will also be getting married this summer and look forward to seeing several Wes alum at the wedding.”

Allie Lynch and Ross Shenker both finished their first years of graduate school this past May. Allie is getting her MBA at University of Virginia Darden School of Business and will be working for Microsoft in Seattle and exploring the West Coast this summer. Ross reports, “I just completed my first year at the University of Louisville for my master of fine arts in acting. I was fortunate enough to work with the casting director at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville this past semester. This summer I will be the education director at Timberlake Playhouse in Northern Illinois.”

Maddy Harrington writes, “I was sorry to miss Reunion; it looked like a ton of fun. I stayed in D.C. that weekend for my law school graduation. This summer I’m prepping for the bar and if all goes well I will be working in NYC in the fall”

Christopher Ceccolini is thrilled to announce that he and his partner, Jordan Gratch ’13, are moving to Boston this fall to pursue their graduate careers. Chris just completed his master’s degree in psychology at Columbia University, and is starting his PhD in counseling psychology at Boston College. There, he will be working with Dr. Paul Poteat, researching the effects of gay-straight alliances on LGBT youth mental health and resilience, in Massachusetts schools. Jordan will be starting his law degree at Boston University, and the couple will be living in Brookline, right off of Beacon Street!

AJ Chan married Hilary Burke ’10 at Wesleyan in the Memorial Chapel with a beautiful reception on Andrus Field on June 11, 2016. Lots of Wes alums were in attendance to help them celebrate the special occasion.

Lauren Mandell was selected by the Millenial Trains Project to join their 2016 journey in August from LA to Detroit. She will be implementing her project, Deal Her In, in the five cities where the train stops: igg.me/at/deal-her-in-2. You can also follow her journey @deal_her_in.

After spending the last three years at Facebook working across product, analytics, and partnerships, Alison Cies recently co-founded Decovo, an online destination for art and design, with her husband, Henry Mori. Alison writes, “If you’re an artist, designer, or maker and are interested in having your work featured on Decovo, please reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks again to everyone for making our first Reunion such a success and keep the contributions to class notes coming! Go Wes!

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

Hi, Class of 2011! Looking forward to seeing everyone at the five-year Reunion, May 20–22, 2016! Hard to believe it’s already here!!

Natalie Unger reports: “I’m loving becoming an SLP (speech-language pathologist) in Northwestern University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Getting my M.S. in August and moving to the mountains. Hoping to make it to Reunion!”

Jeremy Bazinet finished a scientifically fruitful research assistantship in the lab of Michael Greenberg ’76 at Harvard Medical School in 2015. Since then he has moved to Seattle, where he has begun his PhD in pharmacology at the University of Washington.

Laura Geronimo writes, “I arrived in Puerto Rico three years ago and got involved in grassroots groups fighting to improve conditions for cyclists in the car-dominated city of San Juan. From there I was recruited into a bike-share startup, and then a reputable planning agency, where I now work on transportation planning and climate change adaptation strategies, among other projects. Meanwhile, the bike share start-up is gaining momentum. Though nothing is on paper yet, we recently learned that the project has been approved by the Municipality of San Juan. We are tying up the financing of the project and in negotiations with potential investors, and if all goes well, we hope to launch this summer or early fall. It is a very exciting project, and I feel lucky to be working in a team of young Puerto Ricans passionate about alternative transportation options that could have far-reaching social, economic, and environmental benefits for the island.”

From Ian Coss: “I am in my second year of grad school and just finished an audio oral history project on Boston radio; it’s up now at radiocontact.org. Also, Kelsey Tyssowski and I finally got married!”

Camila Rodriguez, a 2L at Columbia Law School, will be a summer associate at Paul Hastings in New York City. Donovan Arthen is touring Eastern and Western Europe, singing with the world music ensemble, Northern Harmony.

Kim Prosise’s alter ego, Ember Flynne, is a full-time circus artist with Boston Circus Guild, performing aerial acrobatics and fantastic feats of flaming daredevilry (Thanks, Prometheus!) for events and original productions. Kim also works as a freelance travel and lifestyle writer and recently adopted a fluffy tabby cat named Merlin.

Elizabeth Gauvey-Kern writes, “I was recently on NY Star of the Day of Fox 5 NY, youtube.com/watch?v=Ergd12Jv3e4. I’m also releasing six singles with accompanying music videos. You can find them on Spotify and iTunes. Looking forward to Reunion and seeing what everyone else is up to.”

Emily Brackman informs us, “I am in my third year of my PhD in clinical psychology at Fordham University in New York and just completed my master’s thesis and received my MA. I’m researching the associations between interpersonal experiences (for example, bullying) and non-suicidal self-injury and suicide. As a psychology extern, I’m conducting psychotherapy at Harlem Hospital Center and am moving into the dissertation stage of my doctoral program.”

From Susie Howe: “I bounced around after graduation from the corporate world to a spice shop to working at a horse farm, but I think I finally found my calling. After completing my master’s degree in secondary education during the summer of 2015, I am finishing out my first year as a high school Latin teacher at Loyola Academy near Chicago. I also ran a local horseback riding summer camp the last three years and I look forward to another summer at the barn!”

Jess Rebekah Friedman writes, “I got married in October to Nick Church. We’re living in Atlanta, Ga., and I’m continuing to teach middle school English at a expeditionary learning STEM school called Amana Academy.

Yael Chanoff reports, “I just went to Sundance with a film I worked on as a researcher. It’s called Audrey and Daisy. Otherwise, I am still a freelance writer in the San Francisco Bay Area.”

Joella Jones is the program coordinator at the Columbia University Maison Française—maisonfrancaise.org/events—in charge of special events.

And finally from Joe Giamo and Brittany Richard in University Relations: “We look forward to Reunion. If you haven’t done so please get your gift in to contribute to our Fifth Reunion Class Gift. The fiscal year ends June 30, 2016! Thank you for your generous support to continue to make the difference for students receiving a Wesleyan education!”

See everyone May 20–22, 2016. Happy Fifth Reunion, Class of 2011!

Allie Southam | asoutham@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

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!

Updates from the Class of 2011!

Todd Keats writes, “This Feburary I visited Sun Valley, with Anthony DePietto ’11 and Adam Kaiser ’13 to play with the St. Nicks Hockey Club of NYC in a senior men’s hockey series against the Sun Valley Suns. A 119-year-old franchise and perennially one of the country’s best elite squads, the St. Nicks brought our usual fleet of ex-NCAA Division I and III college and minor league hockey veterans. We swept the weekend series 9-0 and 6-2. Anthony finished the weekend with two goals and one assist, Adam dished out two assists. In addition to the hockey, we also had a great time on the slopes and, of course, at the local watering holes (especially Grumpy’s).

Moon Herrick reports, “I’m in NYC, working to navigate the health insurance system for clients of the AIDS Services Center during the week, and teaching yoga and Brooklyn Boulders on the weekend. On the side, I’m communication manager for CapraCare, a nonprofit based in Haiti.”

Jared Gimbel returned from Germany and is living in NYC, studying at the Jewish Theological Seminary’s grad school. In addition to designing his upcoming game “Kaverini,” he also teaches Scandinavian languages as a personal mentor.

Katherine McDonald is living in Oakland. Having just completed her master’s in music composition at Mills College, she is now recording her first album while continuing to collaborate with Bay Area dancers, filmmakers, and musicians: katherine-e-mcdonald.squarespace.com.

Arielle Hixson reports, “I just started a job as a reporter for Channel One News: channelone.com/reporters/.” Lindsay Ballard writes, “I’m in my first year of medical school at Florida International University in Miami and had a Wes reunion with Eleni Healey and Margaret Aldredge in NYC.”

An update courtesy of Joe Giaimo: “Our Wesleyan football team finished 7-1 this fall for the second time in a row. First time that has happened in 66 years! Congratulations, Cardinals!”

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu