alumni profile

Ji ho (AnDrew) Jeon ’10 Andrew reports, “I am pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Columbia.”

Justin Kim ’10 Justin reports, “I started pediatric dental residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC this July. I also recently got engaged and am planning to get married next summer.”

Justin Kim ‘10

zee KrstiC ’10 Zee reports, “I live and work in New York City and am fortunate to have a job I love. I try to make the most of every day!”

miKo mCguire ’10 Miko reports, “I live in NYC and work at BNP Paribas in the city.”

tim hAggerty ’10 Tim reports, “We recently became parents to our beautiful baby girl.”

AleeshA rouse ’11 Aleesha reports, “I am living in Willimantic, CT, working as a farm manager. I am hoping to own my own sustainable vegetable farm shortly.”

noAh wooDs ’11 Noah reports, “I am currently working in LA for a collaborative marketing agency. Through this, I run my own agency, Chess Never Checkers, which specializes in merchandising and creating chess programs for young kids in schools. We supply clothing to our chess programs within the NYC schools when hosting chess tournaments. We are now expanding into marketing and creative direction for different companies.”

from seoul to pomfret

how yeo bi choi ’10 came to be rectory’s first girl boarding student

By John Xeller, Alumni Relations Manager/Special Events Coordinator

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but how does a kid from the literal other side of the world end up at Rectory School in Pomfret?” It was a direct but fair question from an alumnus to a current student that elicited a surprising response. “Rectory actually is very famous where I am from,” she said. For much of its history, Rectory has attracted students from near and far, but the paths students have taken to arrive in Pomfret are numerous and wide-reaching. Yeo Bi Choi ’10 was a self-described naive and care-free 13-year-old from Seoul, Korea, when her family decided, based on the recommendation of a relative living in New Jersey, to send her to school in New England. Once the region was determined, Rectory School appeared on their radar. Whether or not it was clear to the Choi family that Yeo Bi—if she enrolled there—would be Rectory’s first girl boarding student was uncertain, but what was clear was that it only took a few minutes on campus before Yeo Bi knew Pomfret was a place she could call home. >

Self-conscious about her lack of English language learning prior to her enrollment, Yeo Bi was heartened by the culture of welcome at Rectory. She recalled her tour with then Admissions team members Mr. Vinny Ricci and Mrs. Kerri Nagle, and she thought she made a lot of “mistakes” when answering their questions. Choi said they made her feel at ease by being “really understanding, and I felt like the whole time I could tell them my story.” Once she moved onto campus, Choi said the nurturing atmosphere was apparent everywhere. She referred to teachers as “kind of like my parents; they looked out for me in multiple ways,” and she loved that all the students did everything together, something she said was new for her. Choi compared boarding school life with “sleeping over every night with my friends.”

One might suspect that living among the small, first group of girl boarders must have been jarring, what with Rectory’s boarding program being single-sex for 85 years prior to then. “Um, not really,” Choi said, “Maybe I was just not really aware of my surroundings, but it almost felt special that everyone said, ‘You’re the first year of girl boarders.’” Going to school with boys was not new for Choi, and actually, co-ed classrooms were a reality at Rectory for the vast majority of its history through the day student program, so the biggest differences related to the enrollment of girl boarding students occurred at meal times and evening and weekend activities. Choi said she never experienced any negativity related to her gender and that looking back, she thought the “gender balance” was a good thing for Rectory.

Choi’s Rectory highlights affirm her recollection that the incorporation of girl boarding students went smoothly because her story sounds similar to those of countless boy boarding students who went before her. She referred to herself as “not an athlete,” but she appreciated that Rectory required sports so students could get exercise everyday. Despite limiting her expectations, Choi sounded grateful for the coaching and support she received in the Rectory athletic arena. She was especially grateful for Mr. Braden Long, her basketball coach, who treated her with kindness–and some playful teasing–when she stole the ball from the other team, dribbled the length of the floor, and made a fast-break layup–in the wrong basket. Choi perceived Rectory as a place that met students where they were, and it was what allowed her to have a meaningful involvement in sports despite athletics not being her strong suit.

Performing arts was where she felt most comfortable. Choi was a talented musician when she arrived at Rectory, and she flourished in the music program under the direction of Dr. Jacqueline Smith. Being on campus all the time, Choi believed, helped teachers like Dr. Smith provide developmental opportunities to students. Choi was invited to attend regional competitions and orchestra auditions. She often traveled to different cities to hear and perform music, and all the time, Dr. Smith was there to provide transportation and instruction. It was one example, of many, that made Yeo Bi feel in regard to dorm parents and faculty that, “We are their children.” After three years on campus, Rectory graduation was an emotional occasion for Choi. “I was crying the whole graduation. Everyone was so much like family–it was hard to leave,” she said. Regarding the community, Choi was supremely grateful for all the times Rectory teachers welcomed her into their homes. They hosted her during holiday breaks when she could not return home to Korea, and each time she went, she said, it felt like a family event. The impact of leaving that environment did not set in immediately for Choi, for as she said, “I think I wasn’t old enough to really understand what it meant to leave a place.” She admitted that high school was challenging for her. Academically, she was pushed even more than she was at Rectory, but the bigger difference, she noted, was that she did not feel anywhere near as care-free. Fortunately for Choi, she attended secondary school in Massachusetts and was able to reconnect with several of her Rectory classmates from time to time. When she has met up with Rectory alumni friends, “it feels like we are right back to middle school ages, back on campus.” Their in-person meet-ups have grown less frequent, but Choi has remained connected to Rectory however possible.

One of the most recent times Choi connected with Rectory was in the spring of 2021, when she was the recipient of the Emerging Leader Award, presented annually to a young alumnus/a who has shown success and potential for leadership early in their professional life. During that ceremony, Choi indicated that music was her goal and passion for much of her life and that she hoped to get back to performing live, but her educational background had focused on cognitive neuroscience. She is enrolled at Dartmouth University and is working toward her PhD As for her future plans, she said she could follow a traditional path into academia, or she might explore other outlets to utilize the knowledge she has acquired. Whatever path she chooses, Choi said that, “I want to use my career to help people like my older brother who has autism.” Her research to this point has centered on persons with autism and their visual processing. Two of the potential outlets for her research, she mentioned, were public policy and clinical settings. Either would work for Choi who hopes to “go into the community, closer to the actual people who are impacted.” Though this specific research interest and career goal was not curated at Rectory, the family and community values that helped her thrive have remained an integral part of Choi’s mindset.

Choi reported that she got married recently and is living in Boston with her partner. She has joined an online community of Korean Rectory alumni, and that has served as one of the ways she has kept up with what is happening on and off campus. Choi’s Rectory story as one of the first girl boarding students is as unique as the path she took from Seoul to Pomfret. She returned again and again, however, to two things we hope all Rectory students experience: opportunities for growth and a caring environment that feels like home.

gregory mCKinnon ’11 Gregory reports, “I am living in Chicago working as an engineer and am getting married in November.”

minseung (Clint) yoo ’11 Clint reports, “After graduating from Yale, I moved back to Korea and co-founded Typed, the fastest growing start-up in Korea.”

mADeleine hutChins ’11 Madeleine reports, “I have been working at the Tantaquidgeon Museum as a tour guide and educator. I am returning to Yale this fall to continue earning my master’s degree.”

philip Bell ’12 Philip reports, “I am currently living in Boston and going to grad school at Babson to get my MBA. This summer, I am joining a summer vision program, an incubator for new business ideas. My business model is to create fractionalized real estate that creates investment opportunities for those who currently don’t have access and create generational wealth earlier in life.”

megAn (BAstow) BerriDge ’12 Megan reports, “I married my husband, Dylan, in October 2019 after graduating from college and moved to Providence, where Dylan was working as a nurse. We moved to Cranston two years later and welcomed our daughter, Piper, into the world in September 2021. I’m currently taking in all motherhood has to offer and loving every minute of it!”

Megan ‘12, Dylan, and Piper Berridge.

liAm BAtson ’12 Liam reports, “I recently completed a term of service with AmeriCorps NCCC out of the Pacific Region. I also just started a new job with Room To Grow which partners with families with children under three in Boston and New York.”

FrAnCesCA CAvAlli ’12 Francesca reports, “I graduated college in 2019 with a creative writing degree, and I am currently living in Asheville working at a doggy daycare/salon! COVID put a pause on my thoughts for continuing/furthering my education, but once things are more under control I’ll probably continue with my interest in video game development.”

Francesca Cavalli ‘12

miChAel FerrAro ’12 Michael reports, “I have recently been accepted to the U.S. Marshals and will be heading down to start my training in August.”

Kip mCguire ’12 Kip reports, “I currently live in Virginia and just started a new job at Amazon.”

steven FerrAro ’15 Steven reports, “I am transferring to Florida Gulf Coast in the fall to continue playing college hockey. I am starting an internship with the Florida Panthers while I continue to earn my degree in sports management.”

Class of 2013: 10th Reunion

megAn CAiCo ’13 Megan reports, “I am currently a senior at Bridgewater State University earning a degree in social work.”

Cheng (viCtor) lou ’14 Victor reports, “I graduated from Hamilton College last December and am pursuing a master’s degree in learning sciences and technologies at the University of Pennsylvania.”

Christopher Boivin ’15 Christopher reports, “I recently graduated from Villanova majoring in cognitive behavior and with three minors—global health, peace and justice, and psychology. I am looking to get into the medical research field now.”

ABBy CooK ’15 Abby reports, “Recently, I graduated magna cum laude from Wheaton College, MA, earning a Bachelor of Arts in political science and minors in legal studies and hispanic studies. I also had the distinct honor of receiving The Darlene Boroviak Prize in Political Science, which acknowledges one student’s outstanding achievement in the field over the course of their education. In the fall of 2022, I will be attending Roger Williams University School of Law on scholarship, where I will be a member of their honors program.”

KAtherine levine ’15 Katherine reports, “This May, I graduated from Endicott with a degree in business management and will be heading to Montana for the summer.”

helen hAle ’16 Helen reports, “I am working as a congressional intern for the U.S. House of Representatives.”