Tag: 2017

Sam Shillet was hired by Ditto PR in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in December as an assistant account executive. He still lives in Queens, for now. Sam Beck says that Sam Shillet’s favorite snack is the new, limited edition peppermint Twinkie.

Eric Jasinski is working for an Israeli medical cannabis company called Tikun Olam. In Israel they serve 30 percent of the population and do tons of research.

Lizzie Shackney is living in Birmingham, Ala., serving as an AmeriCorps member with Impact America. She’ll be running a VITA tax site in Troy, Ala. She never imagined that she’d be so excited about free tax preparation, but here she is. Alabama has yet to shake her vegetarianism, but has great food all around, so she’s happy. She says, “Y’all are always welcome to come visit!”

Ali Jamali has barely had a break since graduation. He immediately moved to NYC and started working. Since then, he has worked with various theater companies such as Manhattan Theater Club, Second Stage Theater, Network Theater Company, and Musical Theater Factory, where he is a producing resident. He’s also been directing multiple projects, from site-specific pieces at the 34th Street-Hudson Yards subway station, Governors Island, Lincoln Center Plaza, and Riverside Park, to shows at Midtown International Theatre Festival and The Tank. If you are a fan of theater and want free tickets to shows in New York, he’s one message away!

Alexandra Bacchus, living in Nashville, works for an ethical shoes and accessories brand, which is related to what she wrote her senior thesis on.She’s on the brand partnerships team and found the job with the help of Venture for America, a fellowship that helps college graduates go to work for startups in non-traditional startup cities.

Fun fact: She’s already had eight—and soon to be 11—Wesleyan visitors come through Nashville to say hey so far…so everyone please go visit!

Julia Tyminski moved to Philly, where she is working at a wine bar while working on her music. She is going to Nashville at the end of March to record an EP. She’s not sure when this will be released, but hopefully by the end of the spring!

Avva Saniee is a post-baccalaureate IRTA fellow at the National Institutes of Health within NIAID, the Allergy and Infectious Diseases division. She works in an immunogenetics lab and loves living in D.C.—“there’s so much to do and so much to explore” and thinks it’s nice to have a Wesleyan community to spend time with.

Han How is based in San Francisco working in real estate private equity while biking and hiking on weekends. His Outhouse days sparked his love for the outdoors.

Julia Morrison is an English language and physical education teacher in a small town just outside Madrid. She’s enjoying the tapas and the siestas, and she’s also pleased to finally fulfill her college superlative of “most likely to earn a living from athletics.” She sends love to all her coaches and teammates who helped her make it here, especially those who showed up for Thursday night community building.

Isabel Fine and Penny Snyder ’16 co-habit a small, but bohemian-chic, top story two-bedroom, one-bath duplex in a mid-sized Texas city. They both drive to work, but talk about a day when they will take public transit, or bike! From two ends of one city, from two modern workplaces, they send emails, process documents, schedule happenings, go to meetings, drink coffee, and work for the weekend. They’re on the cusp of becoming involved in a number of hobbies including: women’s carpentry, biking, half-marathon-ing, getting involved in local politics, and reading the New Yorker. Thus far, all they’ve done is watch TV.

Keyonne Session | ksession@wesleyan.edu 

After graduation, Maddy Johl and Anna Lu moved to Brooklyn. Anna is working at Success Academies at Ditmas Park Middle School, as a fifth grade associate science teacher. She wrote, “I’m loving the classroom, but the scholar-athletes on my cross country team are also beasts. Wishing everyone else in the class of 2017 the best and hope senior year has been going well, ’18!”

Nisha Grewal spent this past month at her high school as a physics substitute, which has been a really fun learning experience. The opportunity has allowed her to use her physics degree and teach at the high school level. She always enjoyed teaching (and TA’d many classes at Wes), and this has certainly been her favorite summer job. In October, she started her official job as a technology consultant at IBM, and in the meantime she has enjoyed the exposure to a very different field.

Nicholas “Nicky” Antonellis, a BA/MA student in physics, was one of 14 students in the U.S. selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship from the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS).

Elizabeth Farrell is working at a tech company in NYC called Icreon Tech as the executive assistant to the CEO, and living in Bed-Stuy. She also took a grad trip to Costa Rica.

Annie Cooperstone is working as a financial consultant in Seattle. She enjoys math and the rain.

Susannah Clark is enjoying a year-long artistic fellowship at the Shakespeare theatre company in D.C.

Rachel Waugh began her master’s in food studies at Chatham University. She is incredibly excited about the program.

Ali Felman is completing a year-long teaching apprenticeship at The Park School in Brookline, Mass. Her current placement is in the upper division English department, where she experiences the joy and weirdness of the middle school thought process and emotional-moral development on a daily basis. Adorableness abounds!

Cindy Horng is enjoying life as a management consultant based in New York, and is always excited to connect with other Wes alums, both virtually and in the city.

Rit Chirathivat is working in e-commerce and omnichannel retail in Thailand.

Adam Mirkine had an awesome double-whammy experience at the end of August. It started off with a 10-day WWOOF, a farm stay through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, just north of Middlebury, Vt., at Golden Well Farm and Apiaries. He was lucky with the weather and had an unbelievable experience taking care of their animals, harvesting produce for the farm stand, making fresh jam, farm meals, and kombucha (he wasn’t a fan until he tried theirs, and dang it was good), meeting new people, and exploring the area. “Enjoyed some serious beginners luck WWOOFing and I can’t wait to do it again,” he said.

He then went on to volunteer at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF). It’s a three-day film festival that takes over the town of Middlebury at the end of August and features the amazing work of first- and second-time filmmakers from all walks of life and every corner of the world. MNFF attracts a swarm of Wes alumni, including the founder, Lloyd Komesar ’74, various attendees, and a handful of filmmakers. He got to hang out at a Wesleyan event with Sofia Taylor (whose film was screened at the festival), Maia Nelles-Sager, and Connie Des Marais. He highly recommends making the trip up next year and to submit films if you make them!

As for me, I’m living together in Denver with Sarah Lazarus, Wyatt Rees, Kate Suslovic, and Avery Kimmell. Come visit!

Keyonne Session | ksession@wesleyan.edu 

Congratulations to the Class of 2017 on your recent graduation! We’ll be reaching out soon for your news, which will appear in the December issue of this magazine.