|
It’s been a quiet 6 months
in Myspace, my new hometown, where I have the great pleasure of
constantly bumping into Swattie neighbours! From what I can
glean off their pages, it looks like Norense Iyahen is
inflicting more self-punishment, heading to Columbia University
to begin a Masters in Statistics and Financial Math. Resident
New-Yorker Danny Fink is slugging through his fourth year
at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Though still a New
Yorker at heart, Chris ‘Cookie’ Morello just settled into
his new row home in South Philly, where he’s honing his mad
cooking skills and working as an Estate Planner for Lee, Burke
and Malarkey, LLP, in Berwyn. Rob Melick is engaged to a
lovely ‘06er and recouping after Dickinson School of Law.
Finally,
Axel Neff
reports that he “is doing great and is anxiously awaiting the
glorious day when Al Bloom will finally be removed from his
position as Swarthmore President.”
Now on to the non-blog
reports. I had the great pleasure to attend Becca Bernett
(formerly Lipstein)’s beautiful wedding (or should I say hot &
sizzling jazz fête) on the grounds of a gorgeous estate outside
of Philadelphia, and cut a rug with Geoff Klein,
Eleanor Salgado, David Mister ’04 and Autumn
Quinn-Elmore ‘04. Becca and husband Lee celebrated
the World Cup with the Italians, and drank themselves silly on
excellent Chianti throughout Tuscany and Umbria. Becca
keeps running into former students of hers while beginning a
Master’s in English at Villanova.
In June, Becca Van Fleet (check out
www.potswithpurpose.com) and other teary-eyed Swatties
(including Carolynn Laurenza, Ilana Luft, Julie
Gregorio, Emily Clough
and Colin Peng-Sue) travelled to Walla Walla, WA, to see
a very lovely Sarah Stanton "jump the broom" with new
hubby Patrick Gilman.
And big congratulations
to Emily Berger (formerly Eddy) who married RJ Berger
’02 this past June at our dear old Swarthmore! (Didn’t we
always say it was a beautiful place if you didn’t have any
seminar reading)? The happy couple live in King of Prussia, PA,
and are both systems engineers for Lockheed Martin.
Meanwhile, the second
wave of law school students has hit the deck. Vince Ip
(who is relieved to be beginning a job at law firm Ropes n’ Gray
in Boston) spied Naomi Baumol (second year law student)
at his other alma mater, Boston University. Naomi may
also start running into Carlos Duque, who is spending his
first year of BU law gazing at the fantastic views of the
Charles river, and dreaming of his two years prior spent
bartending in Palm Beach, teaching scuba diving on a sailboat
throughout the Virgin islands, travelling through Thailand, Laos
and Cambodia and proposing to a stunning Palm Beachette.
Liane Rice just began year one at Columbia Law School with a
Dean's Public Interest Fellowship and is exploring the Big Apple
with roomie Betsy Jenkins. All things are in order for
Neil Cavanaugh, who landed a job with firm Pepper Hamilton
in Philly over the summer, a transfer to UPenn Law, and a big
West Philly house with a cute UPenn vet student – all while he
plots how to start a Swattie exodus to Seattle. Finally,
Adrienne Fowler just upsized to a big backyard in Ann
Arbour, and long days at U Michigan law.
I’m sure these guys
would all welcome advice from the other second-years: Ben
Juhn (University of Washington law in Seattle), Laura Fox
(who spent her semester defending poor clients in eviction
cases, and her summer interning for the homicide unit for the
Suffolk County District Attorney), and Thomas Harding
(who spent his summer clerking at law firm Cravath, and
negotiating on behalf of the Liberian government with some
megalopolis investment group that wants their iron ore, as
reports Carlos Duque). Of course, you can hear the relief
in Dave Haendler’s voice as he reports graduating law
school at the University of Chicago, and starting up as a new
associate at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia.
And who says law and
love don’t mix? Cupid’s arrow hit Rob Cox and Heidi C.
Krause as they played in the stage band for Georgetown Law's
Production of Cabaret (cello and viola, respectively). Rob
is pursing a JD/MA in Law & Conflict Resolution at Georgetown.
Inspired by Rob and Barry Schwartz's discussion of
marriage in The Paradox of Choice, Ben Galynker
finally popped the question to long-time girlfriend Ester
Bloom. After finishing up a summer as a coddled apprentice
at the Hughes, Hubbard & Reed law firm on Battery Park,
apparently the ‘Swarthmore’ of law firms, Ben’s back to
NYU law for another year.
The med school
contingent is plodding happily along as well. Heather Warren
found a moment to write that, following a
yearlong fellowship in pathology, she and husband Jesse
(belated congratulations, guys!) have recently moved to
San Jose where they are enjoying the
downtown living for Heather’s last two clinical years.
Chris Keary is in the midst of his second year of
medical school in Pittsburgh, after doing summer research into
the causes of autism and enjoying the unique and irreplaceable
satisfaction that comes from working in a cubical all day.
Michael Morse just started his second year of medical school
at Harvard, after spending the summer living in Bethlehem and
conducting research on cooperation between Israelis and
Palestinians in the health field. Anyone else doing similar work
should be in touch! Denise Finley is having fun
wedding-dress shopping with Laura Fox, while fiancé
John Lillvis slaves through his MD PhD at Wayne State
University in Detroit. When he’s not posting embarrassing photos
of fellow senior officers on the Facebook, Kai Xu is
bravely living with 550 UPenn undergrads as an RA, and looking
for the light at the end of the med school tunnel (6 months and
counting).
It’s great to hear from
Clare Harney, who ecstatically writes that she and
Alex Barney are engaged. While Clare begins her first
year at Emory medical school in Atlanta, Alex has taken a
year off from USC law school to work for large defence
contractor DynCorp International, which is handling the creation
and training of the new Liberian military. Alex will be
working in Liberia as the head instructor for the civics
education portion of the training program, aiming in the
post-civil war environment to tackle the ‘big guns rule’
mentality and create ‘citizen soldiers’ with a healthy respect
for the rule of law and human rights. That’s no short order
Alex – good luck!
Who says that Swatties
are overeducated? Gabe Hankins has joined Michael
Speigel (CS department) at the University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, to pursue his PhD in English Lit, and invites
all Swatties passing through to join him in the Blue Ridge
Mountains paradise. After a few months of changes, Sanya
Carley ‘said yes’ to a special young man while travelling
around Mexico, and began a PhD program in Public Policy at UNC-Chapel
Hill, focusing on energy policy and economic development. I had
a fantastic time bird-watching and baking cookies with Emily
Almberg, who has taken a brief hiatus from the Yellowstone
Wolf Project to study wildlife conservation at the University of
Minnesota, St. Paul.
Alyssa Timin
moved in with roomie Julie Gregorio in Washington Heights
(NYC), where she’s begun an MFA program in Art Criticism and
Writing at the School of Visual Arts (SVA), and is somehow
finding time to work for a new music publicist in town. Nearby,
Elizabeth Zimmerman is avoiding being herded through her
Master's in Educational Theatre at NYU, working towards a dual
certification in Theatre K-12 and English 7-12. Over the summer
Elizabeth taught French and Theatre at the Exploration
Junior Program in Southborough, MA. Upstate, though still
working as a computer programmer with Harris Interactive,
Mike Smith began a part-time program toward an MBA from the
University of Rochester's Simon School of Business.
Chris Milla
is studying international relations at The Fletcher School at
Tufts, still with the lovely Leaya Lee '02, who is an
editor for the New York Magazine's website. Pam Lavalee
is close by in Brighton, MA, finishing up her Masters in
advertising at BU’s College of Communication, after an LA summer
spent studying entertainment promotion and sneaking into crowd
shots for TV and films. Andrew Fefferman’s has finally
learned how to work academia, hopping across the pond to a
conference on Quantum Fluids and Solids in Kyoto in August
Kyra Jucovy
joined the New Haven crowd, beginning her Masters in English at
Yale. Surviving her Yale comprehensive exams and numerous
encounters with ’02 Swatties, Amelia Hoover celebrated
with a hiking trip with Laurel Eckhouse through Zion
National Park, and ‘complemented’ the American Political Science
Association Conference with visits to Philadelphia locals
Jenny Lunstead, Abram Lipman, and (formerly)
Alyssa Timin. Amelia’s looking forward to hanging out
with Nori Heikkinen and the California sunshine next
spring when she does six months of dissertation research in Palo
Alto on "the effects of armed groups' discipline/morale/ideology
on patterns of violence against non-combatants". Phew!
Some exciting news from
those lucky souls at end of their studies. Just finishing up her
coursework for a MFA in creative writing at Columbia, Kara
Levy has moved to San Francisco as a Steinbeck Fellow in the
Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University, which
is funding the completion of her collection of short stories.
We’ll be looking out for those soon, Kara! Meggie Maio
celebrated her completed MFA in Film and Video from the School
of Visual Arts, NYC, with a stunning one-hour documentary film
screened at the Florence Gould Theater in NYC, a summer spent
working as an assistant editor for an Oscar-winning director on
a film about British rock band the Who, and a month travelling
through China to research her next film project.
Three cheers for England! After another summer digging with
her archaeology group in Pompeii (the 6th, if you’re
counting), Claire Weiss headed to London for a one year
Master’s in Archaeology at University College London (sure, it’s
only one year, Claire – that’s what they want you to believe!).
Perhaps she’ll bump noses with Elcin Akcura, who
graduated from Oxford last year with an M.Phil in Economics, and
is working in London at the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development researching energy and socioeconomic policy on the
transition countries, and kicking up her heels with spectacular
dance group Illusion Flamenco. Upcountry, Kate Nelson-Lee
just began a new drama teaching job at Sedbergh School in the
Lake District, while coaching the Scotland U19 lacrosse team for
the World Championship! Kate recently helped Katie
Cloonan furnish her new flat, where Katie will be
teaching at Epsom College, after finishing her master’s program
at Columbia. Kate also writes that Lindsay VanSciver has
a lovely new house in the Philly area. I’m so glad I still have
time to visit Sarah Kate Selling, who signed on for a
fourth year teaching English in Milan, and playing in the
rock-climbing mecca of northern Italy.
Finally, let’s hear it for rest of the working girls (and guys).
Anna Perng
is developing her advocate-skills as a Development Associate at
Swattie-infested Community Legal Services (CLS) of
Philadelphia, the oldest and largest public interest law firm in
PA. Anna somehow finds time to moonlight at Pennsylvania
Institutional Law Project (PA ILP), the Asian American Women's
Coalition (AAWC), the Center for Progressive Leadership (CPL,
starring our very own Joan Javier as Program Support
Manger) as well as hang out with Rachel Dinetz.
Congratulations to Lisandra Lamboy, who is now Program
Manager of the Healthy Community Stores Project (HCSP), working
to increase healthy foods in inner-city corner stores, educate
young people about healthier eating, and foster partnerships
with snack industry leaders as well as local farmers/businesses.
Calling all Salsa dancers: Lisandra will be your Philly
dancing connection! Oh, and Lisandra is planning to begin
an MBA in Social Enterprise next fall, so if any one has any
suggestions or helpful feedback please pass it along!
Eleanor Salgado
and Geoff Klein send their best from Philadelphia, where
Eleanor’s returned from a remarkable summer teaching ESL
in China to a shiny teaching contract with
Wallingford-Swarthmore School District. Geoff, by the
way, is working as a Mac genius for Apple. Having survived her
work at a wilderness therapy program in Utah (think Brat Camp),
Laurel Eckhouse is back in West Philadelphia to baby-sit
new roomie Abram Lipman (just kidding!) and Amelia
Hoover’s two cats while teaching high school algebra via
Teach for America this fall.
Daniel Sproul
writes in from Somerville (outside of bean town), where he’s
enjoying his poncy 3-bedroom house, and job working on extremely
cool sounding games (like Empire Earth II) with Mad Doc
Software, a game company in Andover. Honorary ‘03er Madalyn
Baker is nearby, employed as a case worker for the
Somerville Homeless Coalition. Catherine Vanderwaart
is now down in DC, as is Noah Metheny, who finished
Berkeley law and is working as a public
benefits staff attorney at the Whitman Walker Clinic in DC.
Jeremy Schifeling
traded in the kindergarten hugs and boogers to play with other
people’s money at Echoing Green, a funding body for social
entrepreneurs. Jeremy’s old neighbour Elizabeth Nolte
has new digs in Park Slope, and spent part of the summer walking
part of the Coast to Coast in England. Elizabeth is still
very busy with work and Arabic classes, but has bigger and
better things on the move! Jeremy’s new neighbour
Renee Willemson-Good is still teaching fifth grade in the
Bronx. Hopefully, everyone is listening to Sydney Beveridge
(AKA Deejay Quench), who can be heard every Saturday afternoon
on east village radio. When he’s not busy throwing the best
parties that side of the Atlantic, Mark Angelillo lives
it up in Brooklyn as a software engineer for Reflexions Data,
and moonlights with literary magazine
www.smylesandfish.com.
And most importantly, Josh Loeffler is the new head men’s
basketball coach at the Stevens Institute of Technology (a
division 3 school in Hoboken). Attention all Swatties: FREE
BEER for all NYC alums taking the PATH train over to Hoboken for
a game!!
Fresh back from his
Watson Fellowship in Scotland, including headlining the National
Youth Pipe Band of Scotland on a concert tour of Spain (which
produced the number 2 bestselling DVD in Spain! Take that Las
Ketchup!), playing with the Chieftains three times, earning a
Senior Certificate from the Institute of Piping and winning the
British Championships with his pipe band (Lomond and Clyde),
Hollis Easter is back home in Potsdam, NY, happily
coordinating crisis hotline Reachout, and enjoying the local eye
candy (one in particular!). Emily Brown was on temporary
leave this fall from her organizing job with the Service
Employees International Union to work on her father’s Ohio
campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Anne Tantamjarik is cozying back
into LA life after a crazy European trip full of Spaniards,
finger football and Fanta. Also in LA, Greg Goldman is
editing a quirky independent documentary
which chronicles the rise and fall of a rock musical based on
the life of porn star Linda Lovelace, the porn star. Jeffrey
Regier has recently moved NYC to Silicon Valley to continue
growing his start-up company, MetaGlossary.com, and is working
at Google along with Nori Heikkinen (whose
granite-countertops are apparently to die for, according to
Joanne Gaskell et al!).
Now, for stuff that I just think is cool,
Harvard physicist-in-training Mark Romanowsky is still on
track to becoming an international dragon
boat racing star after a first season that finished off with an
international collegiate tournament in Tianjin, China, despite
falling into the category of ‘promising rookie who suffers a
season-ending injury’, having broken an arm in the least
dramatic way possible: solo bike accident. The 2006
best-photos-sent-to-2003-class-secretary award goes to Ben
Hamilton, who, after an innocent conference in Long
Island this past July, found himself stranded in the New York
flooding, and emailed harrowing pictures of rescue boats and
open-backed army helicopters.
And that’s the news from
Exeter/Myspace, where the all the women are brilliant, the men
are brilliant as well, and the children take after the Quaker
Matchbox.
|
T