Spotlight on Robert Asmar '09 Owner of the Modern Lebanese food truck “Roro's” serving traditional Lebanese food with my own modern interpretations. After one and a half years of operating, I was fortunate enough to win Best Food Truck 2019 by Washington City Paper.
Q: In what ways is food part of your identity? A: Ever since I can remember, food has been a big
part of my life. Whether it was my father taking me to the warehouse to watch him finish preparing a batch of hummus to be sent to Whole Foods the next day, standing next to my mother as she was building her own restaurant, or in the kitchen with my grandmother as she was preparing dinner for the family, food is a huge part of who I am. Food has always been a thing of joy and family for me. Being Lebanese many of my memories with my family are hummus and pita bread filled and I wouldn't change it for the world. It's funny, growing up I always had ideas of working in anything but food. Yet food is who I am.
Q: How did you start Roro's and tell us about the business now? A: I had finished my time at the College of William &
Mary and had come home to begin my journey into the professional world. I had picked up a couple of odd jobs while interning at a local physical therapy clinic. In the process of figuring out whether or not to apply for medical school, I had revisited my first love, food. One of those previously mentioned odd jobs I was working fresh out of college was personal training. One day one of my clients had caught a smell of my lunch I had prepared and asked if I would sell my food. I had never given it much thought but one thing turned into another and I decided my profession had to be my passion. My passion had always been food. So with what little money I had saved up from my time exploring the working world and some help from my family I opened my food truck, Roro's: Modern Lebanese. I hit the streets of DC and Virginia with my big bright red food truck
Global Entrepreneurship Network. Kelsey Reeder is living in New York. She received her master's in social work from Columbia University and is working at the Harlem Children's Zone and as a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy. Juliet Blakeslee-Carter is currently completing her surgical residency program in Alabama. She and her husband Mike are living in Alabama with their Corgi, Basil. Katy Chase returned to the United States in August 2019 after spending the past few years teaching first grade
Q: Do you have a favorite dish or one that simply feels like “home” whenever you make or eat it? A: Hands down, hummus. The classic chickpea dip is a
middle eastern staple and Lebanese people do it best!
Q: What did you most enjoy about being part of the SSSAS community? A: I wish I had a whole book to write on this one. The
SSSAS community has been family since I stepped on the Middle School campus. I owe so much to SSSAS. The SSSAS community helped raise me from a kid to a young adult and beyond. Whenever I had struggles or growing pains I would lean on the SSSAS family for guidance and support. The faculty, teachers, and fellow students were such positive role models and influences for me during transformative times of my life. I did then, and still do now feel loved and supported by my SSSAS family and I will forever be thankful for that.
at bilingual schools in Rio de Janeiro and Vitoria, Brazil. She is now a first grade teacher at SSSAS. Sarah Allen is living in Charleston, S.C., where she works for BB&T Bank. She splits her time between Virginia and Charleston helping her family run their restaurant in Washington, Va. Robbie Hyatt is working at Google to help harness artificial intelligence and machine learning to futureproof his client's half a billion dollar digital marketing strategy for 2020 and beyond. Prior to his work at Google, Robbie helped frame The
Washington Post's smartest revenue generating ad tech stack, Zeus, following the acquisition by Jeff Bezos. He is currently living in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Elizabeth Lamb started working at an organic flower farm in March of 2019. In April, she and her husband, Colin, closed on a home in the Upper Fells neighborhood of Baltimore. Liz was promoted in December and is now field manager at Butterbee Farm. She invites all of her classmates to come visit the farm and she will take you to the aquarium! Alexandra Burnley is now an evening news anchor, special assignment reporter, and producer in Duluth, Minn. She aspires to work as an anchor in a top ten market after a few more moves. Rob Long came back from the Peace Corps (where he was an agriculture volunteer in Paraguay) at the end of 2015. He is now getting a Master of Science in Foreign Service at Georgetown and living in D.C. Kendall Smith is currently living in Philadelphia, Pa., and completing the Doctor of Nursing Practice - Nurse Anesthesia (DNP-NA) program at the University of Pennsylvania. He was recently recognized on campus for his mentorship of undergraduate students and is looking forward to continuing to be engaged in the greater Philadelphia community. He will graduate in May 2021. Stephen Upton is living in Denver with his wife and new puppy and Margaret Smyles is working with elephants at the Maryland Zoo.
2011 ST. STEPHEN'S AND ST. AGNES Meredith Bentsen meredithbentsen@gmail.com Mathias Heller mfitzheller@gmail.com David Budway finished nursing school at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He'll be working as a registered nurse in a rural outback hospital in Australia. Nam-Tran Mai has been working in the IT and electronics field in Northern Virginia for the past several years and has found reasonable satisfaction in his occupation. He's found comfort in spending time with friends despite the occasionally hectic work schedule in 2019 and resolves to continue the Spring 2020 | 95