5 minute read
APIA Alumn
By Zoe Marquez ‘21 | APIA & Psychology Major
Marie Metzger ‘81, she/her
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About a month after graduation in 1981, I joined BASF Corporation, a German multinational chemical company and have been there for more than 39 years. More recently, this summer, I invited W&M Business Professor Dr. Inga Carboni to be a guest speaker at BASF’s Women in Business (employee resource group) program. In terms of my personal life, I am now a lola (grandmother in Tagalog), with 3 grandchildren, my newest grandchild being born in September 2020. I have recently started trying to learn new languages: I studied German and French in college and high school and just recently started learning Spanish. In my free time I like to practice Tai Chi. If I had any advice to share with the APIA community now, it would be this: Fresh out of college, you tend to join a company because it’s a job. But you tend to stay because it becomes a career; you start to feel at home. I have been working with the same company for more than 39 years and have loved every second of it.
Marie Metzger (she/her) as she continues her work with BASF Corporation.
Veronica Salcedo ‘02, she/her
After graduating in 2002, I started my high school teaching career at Bayside High School in VA Beach where I helped found the Filipino American Cultural Association, which later became the Asian American Association, and the Gay Straight Alliance. In 2004, I proposed to my wife and we crossed the Crim Dell Bridge together. We got married in 2008 during San Francisco Pride. My passion for Filipino American and LGBTQ+ histories motivated me to learn more and do research about the experiences of queer Filipina Americans. In 2015, I left for grad school in Atlanta and earned my MA in sociology at Georgia State University in 2018. Now, I’m currently building on my thesis findings for my dissertation, “Sexually Nonconforming Pinays Negotiate Relationships with Parents, Partners, and Community.
Arya Espahbodi (he/ him) ready to teach at Bard High School Early College. Veronica Salcedo (she/her), receiving an MA degree in Sociology in 2018 with her family.
Arya Espahbodi ‘15, he/him
For the last 4 years, I have been a math teacher at Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) in Baltimore, Maryland. This high school is different from most where we allow students to take a two-year college study program after 9th and 10th grade. So, students here are able to graduate with 2 years of college, as if they went to community college. At BHSEC, I teach honors algebra 1, honors geometry, and I am a special educator for the math team. However, my long term goal is to open up my own school, so I have started applying for programs to receive my Doctorate for Education and superintendent certification. I am also in a mentoring program called Dorms and Dreams where we help high school seniors get college items like refrigerators and TVs for free. For less work related updates, I just got my second dog!
Rechelle Apolonia Ramiro (she/her) and Craig Ramiro (he/him) with their family.
Pallavi Ruraraju ‘17, they/them
Emma Shainwald ‘20, she/they
Since graduating with a dual degree in APIA Studies and World Performing Arts and Cultures in 2017, I went on to work at Asian American LEAD as their Virginia Middle School Program Coordinator for two years, and have been the Youth Well-Being Coordinator at the Human Rights Campaign for the last one and a half years. Since 2020, I’ve organized the 7th annual Time to THRIVE conference in February, the largest professional development on LGBTQ youth for youth-serving professionals. I have also represented Virginia’s 10th Congressional District as a State Delegate for Bernie Sanders, and led a mindful movement session for NQAPIA where I taught Bharatanatyam basics and choreography. But what I’m most excited about is creating and publishing two Human Rights Campaign Foundation resources for parents of transgender and gender-expansive youth; one is a resource for parents of young gender nonconforming children on how to understand and support their child, and the other is a guide for parents of transgender and non-binary children who are determining the best and safest method for disclosing their child’s transgender or non-binary identity to their school.
Craig: After graduation, I worked in Washington D.C. for about 12 years, then received an opportunity to move and work in Virginia Beach. I decided to take the offer because Rechelle’s family is in Williamsburg, and we always wanted to make sure that we were near family. Rechelle: I actually did the ROTC program at William & Mary and went into the army for 8 years as a Lieutenant. This allowed me to travel a lot and see different parts of the world. After the army, I settled in Northern Virginia near Craig and worked there for a bit. When we started having kids, I stopped working and became a stay at home mom, but I began working again about 3 years ago as a teacher at Walsingham Academy. After getting married in (year), we moved to Williamsburg where we began our family. We have 4 kids: Christian (12), Carmen (10), Rey (8), and Ben (4).
Pallavi Ruraraju (they/them) as the Youth Well-Being Coordinator at the Human Rights Campaign.
Emma Shainwald (she/they) shows off her handmade skirt for graduation 2020.
After graduating this past year, I moved to Arlington, Virginia, where I began working with the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) as the communications and coalitions associate. Aside from work, I have been trying to explore the diverse range of food that Arlington has to offer; however, COVID has made this a bit difficult. I have also been trying to reconnect with my creative side and dedicate more time to sewing clothes, trying out new recipes, and reading. If I had any advice to share with the current APIA community, it would be this: Grades are less important than you think they’ll be after graduation, but learning to prioritize mental health is key. Don’t devalue the work you do during extra curriculars; executive board positions and community/campus organizing experience parallel work experience more than you think. When I was job searching, the times when I thought I needed more work experience, I just needed more confidence in myself and my accomplishments.
