Tag: 2014

Jalen Alexander is living in Brooklyn, New York, and celebrated five years at MDRC, a leading policy- research think tank, in May. Jalen also serves as the president of Social Policy Workers United (SPWU), the staff union at MDRC. The nearly 200-person unit represents researchers, IT staff, and administrative staff across the organization. On August 15, SPWU voted to ratify their first contract after over two years of bargaining. Jalen’s excited to have a bit of extra time to reconnect now that the contract fight is over. “Please reach out if you’re in NYC!”

InMayof this year, Julia “Jay” Benedith earned her Doctor of Education in Educational Sustainability from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. In August, she got engaged to her longtime partner, Representative Benjamin Williams (D.C. State Board of Education). What a wonderful summer!

Julius Bjornson writes, “I recently released some live videos with my group, Earl & Thor. One is an adaptation of the classic Jean Ritchie song, Jubilee, and the other is a contemporary Appalachian tune. They can both be seen on our website: www.earlandthor.com.”

Ella Dawson celebrated the publication of her first novel in June. But How Are You, Really is a coming-of-age story about an anxious millennial who attends her five-year college reunion. All similarities to Wesleyan are purely coincidental! Her favorite moment from the book tour was doing a sold-out event at Kansas City’s romance bookstore with Gabe Rosenberg ’16, who lovingly roasted her as only a college best friend can. She’s grateful to all of the Wes alums who have supported the book and helped spread the word!

Adam Freed gives a quick update: “I got married on June 1 in Santa Cruz, California! My wife is not a Wes alum (we met in graduate school at the University of Michigan), so I don’t know if this is still newsworthy, but figured I’d pass this along.”

Jana Heaton will be officiating Frank Fineis ’13 and Alyssa Bonneau’swedding in October. Jana askes that you “let her know in advance if you have any objections. Thank you.” She also adds that “the wife and I recently had a baby. She’s very cute but incredibly short. I guess a normal size for a baby. But babies are super short and nobody’s talking about it.”

Two new chapbooks by Joshua Krugman,Unexpected Breakfast and If Something Good Happens, I’ll Be There Soon, are now out from Paradise Copies, and an essay about Bread & Puppet Theater’s play, The Hope Principle: Citizens’ Shame and Hope in the Time of Genocide (2024), is forthcoming in the fall 2024 issue of The Drama Review. 

Haley Weaver has left NYC, where she spent eight years working as a book editor for “Big Five” publishers Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group, and has started her own editorial business, Woven Word Editorial, in beautifully rainy Seattle. When not busy helping prospective authors land literary agents or finessing manuscripts to be self-published, she has been enjoying getting more into Seattle’s coffee culture and exploring the city with fellow Wes alum and seasoned Seattleite, Anya Morgan.

Hi 2014 classmates!

We hope that you are all finding time to take care of yourselves despite how hectic life often becomes. We hope that those who were able to make it to our 10-year reunion had a great time.

Anthony Calderon writes, “I should’ve never taken that flight to Madrid (thank you Dylan Turmeque ’13, MA ’14)! I’m celebrating 10 years of living in Europe. These days you’ll find me splitting my time between Madrid and Ibiza. Work-life balance.”

Leslie Lai writes, “I met up with several Wes friends recently! Xian Hui Ang ’15 and I visited Michael Leung ’15 in Philadelphia in late October. A rugby game, several happy hours, and a weekend long of nonstop chats later, my mind and body were replenished. I enjoyed grabbing ‘work’ lunches with Reese Sy ’13 in Cambridge where our offices are just a few blocks away from each other. Angela and Paul Hanakata and I got our kiddos together for the first time. Nothing beats seeing new friendships form.” 

Chelsie Green writes, “I moved to Los Angeles in the summer after working at Wes for a year, which was quite the experience! It’s been great to reconnect with so many people from Wes over here (sometimes by accident, which is always a sweet surprise). I’m working as a psychotherapist and co-writing a book about college mental health with another Wes alum, Christopher Willard ’01, coming out via Oxford University Press next year. I’m also completing a program to become an Ayurvedic practitioner to fold that into my holistic wellness business. Otherwise, I’m mostly obsessed with American Girl dolls, the Norwegian language, and skin-care products.”

Isabel Stern writes, “My Wesleyan sweetheart, Donnie Cimino ’15, and I got married! We had tons of Wes alums in attendance ranging from Class of ’74 to Class of ’21! The fight song was sung.” 

Reunion note: Chelsie and I are very much looking forward to celebrating our 10-year reunion on campus, May 23–26, 2023. It is amazing how quickly time is beginning to move. Don’t forget to book lodging soon. I am told rooms on campus will be in very short supply and therefore very expensive! If you wait for registration to come out, it will likely be too late to secure something close to campus and/or affordable. In speaking to several of our class members who have already booked on Airbnb, there are certainly great choices available, but they are going quickly, and prices are increasing!

Go Wes!!

First off, Chelsie and I wanted to introduce ourselves as the new co-secretaries for the class of 2014. In reality this is just a fancy way to say we will be the ones who beg you all to send in a short note for the class updates section of the alumni magazine . . . . 😊 For those taking to the quill: We want to know what you’re up to AND what you’re into these days. One of the aspects of the Wesleyan community that we miss most is the exposure to such fascinating and passionate people, so we would love to hear what you’re reading, listening to, or learning about. And of course, in typical fashion, we would like to hear about your achievements, your joys, and where you’re at in the world.

Cynthia Tong wrote: “The inhabitants of 72B Home, who have been scattered around the globe since graduation, reunited in Maine this August.”

Go Wes!

A few life updates from ’14ers:

Following eight years working in book publishing at Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group in NYC, Haley Weaver moved across the country to Seattle where she is now working as a freelance editor.

After several years of working as a chef, Rehan Mehta recently opened a New York–style pizza and sandwich shop in his hometown of Mumbai. It’s called East 7th Pizza & Deli. He says, “Come visit!”

Kallan Benjamin and Elliot Meyerson welcomed their daughter Elowah at the end of December. They live in Madison, Wisconsin.

Julia “Jay” Benedith is a second-year doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. Jay said, “My research focus is wellness coaching in the education space.” After moving to Washington, D.C., last year, “I purchased a condo near the waterfront, and became the associate director of talent development at KIPP DC. I continue to run my business, J. Benedith Coaching Services! It’s been a pleasant whirlwind of a year!”

Henry Cheung wrote, “I find myself reminiscing about the good old days on Foss, 14C Warren ragers, and even late nights studying at Exley or in the lab at Hall-Atwater. One of my greatest joys at Wes was being the founder of WesCompliments . . .  seeing all of the unsolicited compliments come through the [Facebook] page not only for their friends but also complete strangers . . .  just so much love and care. Perhaps send a compliment to someone just for the heck of it? Can’t hurt. Hope everyone is taking care. :)”

Julia “Jay” Benedith writes, “This year, I moved from New York City—my home for 30 years—to Washington, DC! I am a homeowner, a business owner, and a doctoral student. I’m so thankful for my time at Wes. My support system is based in the lifelong friendships I made on campus!”

Gianya Breland gave birth to a baby boy, Cassius Lee, on July 24, 2022, weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces.

Sky McGilligan and Brooke Baker ’13 got married on September 10, 2022, and had a ton of Wesleyan people from both classes in attendance.

Leo Liu shares, “Still living in Washington, D.C., and working in politics! I was enjoying age 30, going on lots of gay dates, and then this summer I got the dreaded long COVID. I basically had to cancel all my plans, and I’ve since been focused 100% on trying to recover my health.”

Will Dubbs currently lives in Washington, D.C., advising on political campaigns and biosecurity. But in his head, he’s back making pizzas at 14b Warren.

Ella Dawson sold her debut novel, The Reunion, to Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. If all goes smoothly, it will reach the shelves of your local bookstore in 2024.

For the past couple of years Amanda Sonnenschein has been developing her directing portfolio in Los Angeles and New York. Since 2021, she has directed a short, animated film titled Pizzato (available on YouTube); the first episode for an anthology horror series, Legends of Sleepy Hollow (on Amazon Prime); a comedy short, Will You Be My Quaran-tine? (on Facebook Watch and YouTube); and is currently in postproduction on the pilot for a D&D comedy fantasy series, The Game, which she both directed and produced. In addition to preparing for future episodes of The Game, Amanda is in preproduction on her first feature film.

Andrew Cohen has enjoyed dominating his Wesleyan fantasy football league—now in its 12th year (starting freshman year!)—which includes Nathan Josephs, Richie Starzec, Jake Barack, Joey Schwartz, Will Dubbs, Christian Schneider, Jordan Gaynes, Alex Cannon, and Brett Keating ’15. They are using their experience to inform a new-wave stage adaptation of the popular FX show The League, set to begin workshops at the Hollywood Fringe Festival this summer.

Those with class notes, please contact classnotes@wesleyan.edu.

Please write to your class secretary.

Juliana McLain and her now husband Zach Silversmith officially tied the knot at a beautiful and dancing filled Jain-Jewish fusion celebration in Pier 60 in New York City that I and many Wesleyan alums including Ferhad Sultani, Reina Barnswell, Jake Smith, Esthefany Castillo, Nicole Softness, Jessica Titlebaum, Nicole Okai, Lauren Seo, Will Durney, and Oren Cook had the privilege of attending. The Wesleyan fight song was definitely featured at the end of the night. Mazel Tov!

Jenna Lamm reports: “I’ve been in NYC since graduation and am now the associate director of Disability Programs at the City University of New York. Would love to connect with fellow alums who are in the field or work at an organization trying to ramp up disability hiring efforts. My students are amazing and many are looking for opportunities!”

Rachel Warner is earning her PhD in 20th-century American literature and gender and sexuality studies from UNC Chapel Hill this spring 2022.

Jay Benedith is leveraging her expertise as an instructional coach and a life coach, and founded J. Benedith Coaching Services (https://www.jbenedith.com/). Through her business, she facilitates workshops for educational entities and coaches Millennial and Gen Z educators to reach their professional goals. Furthermore, she is a contributing writer and podcast speaker for Truth For Teachers (https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/). Last but certainly not least, she is a doctoral candidate in Educational Sustainability at the University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point and lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their mini-aquarium.

Take care of yourselves and keep shining.