class notes
From Emily: Greetings. The class of 2008 has been missing its column. It saddens me greatly that the 1st piece of news I have to share is the death of our dear former classmate Dennis Cho in 11/11. We knew him as an energetic, encouraging, and passionate student, teammate, and classmate. He brought an emphatically positive attitude with him wherever he went. We honor and cherish the memory of this great friend and mourn that he had to leave so soon. May his spirit fly free and rest in peace. In happier news, I heard from Christine Cunningham, who is finishing up her history degree at Stetson this spring, and Sarah Heist, who plans to get her master’s in teaching at UConn in ’13. In the meantime, Sarah has been teaching 2nd grade. Sarah met up with Karissa Scano at NMH homecoming. Ben Weyers is also at UConn, studying international business management. He’s captain of his Ultimate Frisbee team—no surprise there. Annamae Manning lives in London and is getting her master’s in international relations theory at the London School of Economics. She is interning in Parliament with Martin Horwood MP, chair of the international affairs team. Nikki Rossetti reported from the annual Bostonarea Thanksgiving gathering, where she saw SarahAnne Tanner, Spencer Hattendorf, Rachel Koh, Maggie Higby, Jim Montague, Kellen Mobilia, Liana Satenstein, Rebecca Young, and Juliana Beecher. Nikki will graduate from Wellesley this May with a bachelor’s in neuroscience and a minor in education studies. Sarah-Anne and Harry Poster ’07 visited Naomi Shafer ’07 and me at Middlebury in Dec for a reading of Naomi’s thesis play Pity Party. It was grand to see them both. Sarah-Anne has joined the women’s rugby team and is a badass. Lilly Richardson is finishing up at Skidmore after her year in Berlin with a double major in English and German. Rebecca Young is still a student at Scripps but is living on the campus of Harvey Mudd and majoring in math with a minor in theater. I visited Sarah-Anne, Harlin Glovacki, San Maday Travis ’07, and Carla Cevasco ’07 at NMH summer session this summer. I keep in touch with Carla pretty regularly. I had tea with Harlin over Christmas break, and I also saw Lysander Jaffe ’09 at First Night Northampton. As for me, I’m still on track to graduate in Feb ’13 with a bachelor’s in theater and a minor in environmental studies. Last summer, I worked in wardrobe at the Dorset Theater Festival in Dorset VT, and this spring I am designing The Imaginary Invalid by Molière for my senior work. I look forward to hearing more from everyone; our 1st reunion is getting shockingly close. From the Alumni Office: Elyse Rossignol and Harriet Booth ’09 spent time last summer volunteering for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) on the surf clam and ocean quahog survey. Elyse writes: “We worked with a scientific team and
individually to carry out tasks during our 12-hour work shift from midnight to noon. The data we collected are used to monitor the health and status of marine resources and their habitat. The analysis will guide commercial fishing boats on the amount they’re allowed to remove from the Northeast for the next 3 years. “This was one of the best experiences I have shared with another NMH student. It was amazing to be able to come together and complete the messy tasks with someone who shared the same work ethic and passion for working with marine organisms.”
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ANNA STEVENS 1329 Lapham Bay Rd Shoreham VT 05770-9612 annagstevens@yahoo.com GALEN ANDERSON 58 Piper Lane, PO Box 39 Harrisville NH 03450-0039 gjande01@syr.edu ESHALLA MERRIAM PO Box 2545 Brattleboro VT 05303-2545 eshallamerriam@gmail.com FAYETTE PHILLIPS 43 North St Upton MA 01568-1581 fayettephillips@gmail.com
From Fayette: After a wonderful summer together on Cape Cod, Melanie Bete, Faye Phillips, and Noah Goldberg-Jaffe followed their traveling spirits to Paris (for Mel and Faye) and to Valparaiso, Chile (for Noah). Mel and Faye had a fantastic 4 months full of adventure in Paris (Faye will remain for the 2nd semester), remembering all the French they had learned with the gang from Lydia de Faveri Spiegel’s AP French class in the spring of ’09. Noah had an awesome and adventure-filled semester, thoroughly enjoying his SIT program in Chile. He was also able to extend his stay to explore Patagonia with new friends before coming home in time for the new year.
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ELI SPECTOR PO Box 75 Old Westbury NY 11568-0075 eli.spector@rice.edu
Hobart College. Both are well and enjoying college. Paul Chang is escaping Ithaca this winter for Malawi, where he will work with Project Peanut Butter to lower malnutrition in the African nation. Alex Rome has been producing music professionally, recently garnering more than 50,000 hits on his songs. He hopes to continue making strides in music this year. Ryan Fluence is majoring in political science with a minor in global studies at UCSB. He hopes to be either a defense attorney or a member of the US Senate. Will Schurman is majoring in computer science at Cornell. This summer, like last, he will live in San Francisco and work at Facebook. Faith Weis has finished her 1st semester at George Washington and is doing well. Nora Donovan transferred to Penn this year and is majoring in philosophy. She often sees Jahyun Song, who is studying at the Wharton School and is a member of its women’s investment club. Brady Ward spent last summer studying in Spain. He saw Natalie Norton and Sloane Thomson in Aug and Olivia ThompsonBessett and Scott Pelton-Stroud at Yale in the fall. He welcomes anybody passing through New Haven to stop and say hello. Scott is double majoring in math and computer science at Williams. He also sings a cappella and rows crew there. Su Min Lee is adjusting to life at Brown after transferring from Georgetown last year. Alexia Kim had an intellectually stimulating and fulfilling semester at Harvard, feeling like she finally found a sense of direction and purpose. Svetlana Kobtseva interned at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in NYC last summer and is majoring in Spanish and Latin American cultures at Barnard. She will work at America Reads/ America Counts next semester. As for me, I’m heading across TX, MS, and LA this winter to complete a photography grant on small Jewish communities in the South. I continue to enjoy studying philosophy at Rice. Our class is strong and doing well. It was great to see a large turnout of our classmates at Vespers in NYC in Dec. Have a great summer everyone.
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OLIVIA VAN COTT 294 Birnam Rd Northfield MA 01360-1151 ovancott@stetson.edu
Becca Daen is on the Franklin and Marshall
swim team, plans to major in English, and hopes to intern in the publishing industry this summer. Jeff Arthur is neighbors with Alex Jundanian at
spring 2012 I class notes I 99