CLASS NOTES
positions at Vogue and Style.com, and freelances as a fashion stylist and writer. Alexandra Koutsomitis ’08
participated in Calhoun’s Holiday Craft Fair this year, showing her beautifully designed silk scarves, which she sells through her own accessories company, Alexa Sofia. All of her products are based on her original artwork. The company, which Alexandra launched in September 2013, specializes in “playful creations, bridging the gap between fine art and fashion,” says Alexandra. “Each design conveys the intricate details and the unique qualities of the materials that were used in my original artwork.” Find her designs at www.alexasofia.com Gaia Rikhye ’08, who has shifted her
career from the arts to the beverage business, is working in wine sales while also going for an MA in wine studies at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and the Institute of Masters of Wine. “I had wine experience from having worked at an auction house out of college,” says Gaia. She was working at Sherry-Lehmann in corporate sales before moving to New Zealand, where she spent time in viticulture with a few vineyards and wineries. “I plan to return for the harvest next year,” she says. In addition to her time back at school, Gaia now acquires, selects and buys wines for Vitis, which has a retail shop and an Internet-based company. Skylar Sasson ’08, who had been
working in admissions at Avenues: The World School, is now working as a professional development assistant coordinator at the law firm Paul, Weiss. She says she’s “weighing my options” as to whether law school is in her future. Terry Horowitz ’09 earned a BS in
biology from Bates College last
spring and spent the summer working as an administrative coordinator for Partners HealthCare in Boston. In November, she headed off to Hawaii, where she volunteers for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) on two different organic farms to continue learning about sustainable living and farming. Marcy Isaacson ’09 completed her BA in American studies at Dickinson College, which included a junior year study-abroad experience in Bologna, Italy. She is now back in New York. where, in August, she began as an administrative and event assistant in the Mayor’s Office of Special Projects and Community Events.
envisions possible expansion to printing study notes on bed sheets and other items such as plates. www.pillowcasestudies.com
2010s Rebecca Lansbury ’12, who is a
sophomore at Bard College, volunteers as a peer health educator on campus. She is also working as a lab
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assistant, and says she is considering a major in biology. Zuri Pavlin ’12 joined classmates Max Lemper-Tabatsky ’12 and Alex Tritto ’12 at Connecticut College this year, where he enrolled following a postgraduate year at Brewster Academy. Zuri is playing on Connecticut College’s varsity basketball team.
Albert Namnum ’09 caught up with classmates at the annual Alumnae/i Pub Night in November. He graduated from the University of Virginia last spring with a BA in economics and government, after having transferred from Wake Forest, and is currently living in Washington, DC, where he works for Capital One. Amanda Nason ’09 is working as a marketing consultant at LocalVox in New York, having earned a degree in psychology at the University of Delaware earlier this year. In her position, she researches prospective clients and offers online marketing solutions for small and medium-size local businesses. Barry Weinstein ’09, who went to
American University’s Kogod School of Business after Calhoun, spent a year abroad at the London School of Economics before launching his own entrepreneurial initiative in 2011, Pillowcase Studies, which designs pillowcases inscribed with text on a range of subjects. The idea, he explains, is to make studying comfortable, fun and a more natural part of the day. He
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ALUMS PROVE THEIR METTLE NO MATTER THE TEAM!
The ninth annual Alumni-Faculty Game was an instant classic! The faculty team defeated the alumni squad 59–55, exacting revenge for last year’s close-fought loss while taking the all-time series lead, 5–4. Some would protest, however, that the Calhoun graduates were the real winners in this contest, as the core of the faculty team was actually made up of alums wearing their “staff” hats: Casey Shane ’06 and Richard Lin ’97, who coach various teams at Calhoun, played key roles in the faculty win, and Upper School English teacher Bobby Rue ’85 calmly sank a pair of free throws late in the contest to clinch the victory for the faculty. If not for these former varsity players switching sides, the faculty team would have had an even worse chance at winning than the Generals do when they play the Harlem Globetrotters! GO, COUGARS! (Above) Playing for the alum team, Tim Gruber ’13 (center) sets a pick for Desi McGrath ’12 (right).
WINTER 2014