Class Notes

Congratulations again on a fantastic five year reunion, and many thanks to everyone who shared their photos on the Facebook Swat ’03 group. It’s great to see everyone up to their old shenanigans (and some new ones!).  

With great sadness, I report the death of Russell Shigeura in San Francisco, where family and friends held a beautiful celebration of his life in May. Sophomore hallmate Melissa Min remembers Russell as a deep thinker who loved Noam Chomsky, had great taste in music, and made the best study break foods... chocolate-covered espresso beans, tasty hummus, and the like. We are thankful for the time we spent with Russell, and send our warm thoughts and wishes to his family.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who sent me photos over the summer to accompany their notes – they were a welcome diversion from the dreaded PhD dissertation. After his first year at the Stanford business school, Feng He sent a visual archive of his 7 day, 700km bike trip south from Seoul to Ttang Kkeut, which is Korean for “lands end”. Feng has fond memories of the beautiful land and meeting its friendly and hospitable people. Pictures of another amazing trek by recent Yale Law graduate Laura Fox showed her 4-month hike of the 2650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, finishing August 27th. Not to be underdone, mild-mannered physics and mathematics teacher by day, Sarah Kate Selling sent photos of her breathtaking 5-day climb up the face of Yosemite’s 3000+ foot “El Capitan”. 

Manu Pradhan and Sachi Uchimaru emailed adorable photos of the newest member of their family, son Nalin, who was born on July 30th. Sachi reports that their "first child," feline Moko, is dealing with the transition much better than expected. Olivia Gruber Florek shared an album of her beautiful Victorian wedding on May 31^st to Charlie Florek, a biomedical engineering Ph.D. student at Rutgers.  The ceremony was at Olivia’s childhood church in Haddonfield and the reception was at a Frank Furness mansion in Philadelphia.  Swatties in attendance included: Nori Heikkinen, Denise and John Lillvis, Sarah Frohardt-Lane, Eden Wales, Susan Christensen, Liane Rice, Joel Price '00, and Lela Patrik '04. In July Charlie and Olivia drove out to Illinois to see Sarah Frohardt-Lane marry Andy Bruno, and in October they headed to Kentucky to see Susan Christensen marry Mike Henz. 

In a further step towards ‘03’s conquest of the world, there’s a Swattie exodus to Alaska!  Morghan and Tom Stenson ‘00 moved to Anchorage, where Tom plans to work as an attorney at the ACLU while Morghan finishes her nurse-midwifery training at the Alaska Native Medical Center.  Morghan is enjoying welcoming new people onto the planet, including their own baby girl, Nuala Eavan, who was born April 27th.  Alexxys is enjoying Waldorf 6th grade, is looking forward to snowboarding, and is preparing to teach her little sister everything she knows.  In other news, Laura Fox hitchhiked her way from Seattle to Anchorage for a 1-year clerkship for Justice Dana Fabe of the Alaska Supreme Court. 

In downtown Boston, Adena Killian is working with Equal Exchange to open and manage one of their first company-owned cafes, before moving on to help open other locations across the country. Equal Exchange works directly with small farmer co-ops to acquire and roast fairly traded, organic coffee...plus they'll be selling pastries from some of the best local bakeries in Boston. Go check them out (and have an extra pastry for me!). After four years teaching middle school, Hang Le just finished a summer internship with the Pew Charitable Trusts and headed back to Harvard to finish up a Masters in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government. She’d love to be in touch with any incoming Swatties. Patty Park left Brooklyn and Random House for the academic bubble that is Boston to begin her MFA in creative writing at Boston University, under the tutelage of Ha Jin. From her place in Kenmore, she could wave to Chris Milla, who was living due west in Allston/Brighton. Go big Papi! Chris is now back in Philly attending UPenn Law and is always looking for a buddy to watch Philly Eagles' games!

Cyndi Leger moved to NYC to start an MPA program at NYU. Ben Galynker and Ester Bloom moved into an apartment in Park Slope with a backyard, planted tomatoes and herbs in
our garden, and, for the first time since moving to New York, actually had enough space
for a housewarming party.  The move also resulted in happy unexpected run-ins with Swatties who live in the area, like Jeff Wu ‘02.

Melissa Min was married to warm-hearted social worker Kenny Wan on August 23, 2008 at Melissa’s father’s church in Hatfield, PA, with a reception at Philadelphia’s Valley Green Inn.  Swatties in attendance were Esther Kim and Mike Camilleri and his wife Marya, as well as professor Sonia Lee.  Kenny and Melissa moved to a cozy home in South Philadelphia, right by the Italian Market, where Melissa began her new job as a 4th/5th grade Language Arts teacher at Media-Providence Friends School, a tiny Quaker private school.  Geoff Klein began graduate school in architecture at UPenn, and he and Ellie Salgado are happy to be staying in their Philly digs. (By the way, they’re looking for a DJ for their wedding – any Swatties who like to spin the tables?).  Todd Gillette is celebrating his first publication, a co-first authored review article in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, and a fun lab rotation. In January, Todd and Geoff Klein went on a Birthright Israel trip together, which they report was amazing.

Madalyn Baker checks in from Chicago, where she is working on her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University. John Fort writes that the highlight of the reunion for him was reuniting with former Oberlin Avenue housemates Kate Hurster and Claire Hoverman. John is currently doing a lot of theater improvisation (teaching, performing, and corporate trainings), continues to be interested in addressing the AIDS crisis in East Africa by increasing economic opportunities for affected individuals, and would love to network with other alums in either area.