Megan Buhr - Let’s start with my own note: Personally, I’m living outside of Boston with my husband and our three children (Lavinia, 13; Christian, 12; and Eloise, 10), and I’m teaching 2nd grade (15 students in person, and 5 learning at home). I wouldn’t call it a lucrative career choice, but it’s such a fun grade to teach, even in this ridiculous year, and we do all sorts of nerdy things that would make any Kenyon professor proud. My students are now obsessed with Beowulf, can analyze a poem, and are mostly used to my etymology lectures.
Emily Guy Birken has a new book coming out co-written with her friend Joe Saul-Sehy, podcaster extraordinaire. Stacked: Your Super Serious Guide to Modern Money Management is a humorous guide to everything financial and is due out in December 2021. Expect good money advice plus plenty of off-color financial humor.
Erika Plank Hagan is finishing up her masters in interreligious studies from Hartford Seminary. She started a telecommuting job 6 weeks before the pandemic shutdown, which was very lucky! She is working as a communications manager for the Presbytery of Southern New England, and she’s really sad not to be seeing everyone in person for this reunion.
*Ed: I’m really sad, too! But I’m trying to look on the bright side, and I hope that this reunion can be more accessible to more people!
A’Biel Hammonds writes: “Greetings All! This is the 20th reunion for Class of ‘01 and I feel like I've finally gotten myself 'aligned' with my ideal career path. I'm re-training as a Data Engineer (just finished up Data Scientist training) which is a computer science/IT profession and capitalizes on all those physics, chemistry, and calculus courses I took back at Kenyon. I plan to continue working in Corporate but apply my skills where they positively impact the lives of others (which builds on my psychology BA, education MA, and former career in non-profit). I work with Human Resources systems now, for the parent company of Famous Footwear shoes (remember 'Buster Brown' shoes? It's that company! Global headquarters is in my hometown of St. Louis, MO). Next, I want to build data pipelines - pathways for data to flow from one place (like internet websites) to databases where technical experts can analyze and use it. At some point, I want to grow my data visualization skills also - so I can build dashboards that non-technical people can use directly. Meanwhile, I've weathered the pandemic fairly well. I was fortunate to be able to work from home full-time...I'm STILL trying to learn to cook better...and I've actually connected more closely with my extended family via weekly FaceTime calls and movie-party events. I took advantage of the 'extra' time to join the Kenyon College alumni book club and to study data science and data engineering as well. Let's connect at the virtual reunion! I haven't been back to Gambier in many years but stay connected through class letters, social media, and more recently through the virtual events the college has been offering. I look forward to 'seeing' some of you again.”
Beth Harrod has spent the last year working as a Critical Care Registered Nurse in the Covid ICU at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. Inevitably, she did contract Covid, but was also lucky enough to receive the first vaccination within days of the initial FDA approval. It's been a very exhausting year, but she is doing what she loves. She wishes we were able to celebrate our 20th in person!
Jesse Horowitz writes: “2020 was a hard year for so many. My mom, sister, and I survived having COVID, but it took my dad. Our kids are about to turn 6 (Naomi) and 9 (Henry) and are enjoying school. Our dog Gabby has been a lifeline throughout. Wishing everyone health and happiness.”
Neala Kendall still lives in Seattle and works as a salmon biologist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. She has a 2nd grader in school in her basement, a 4-year-old at daycare, and her husband Sam working as a primary care doctor. This winter her family got out for weekly cross-country skiing and Neala learned to skate ski. The kids thought cross-country was not as cool as downhill, but Neala was thrilled to find an exercise that made her kinda similarly tired as a good college swimming workout in Ernst Pool.
Wendy Littlepage writes: “I finished construction and re-opened the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys during the pandemic. It was great to share some history with Megan Buhr's 2nd grade class during a virtual field trip, welcoming Sarah Schwenk and her family to the Museum (they even helped in collections) and seeing Amanda Lueck Grell ’02 in the grocery store parking lot.”
Adam Marks and Alexis Braun continue to live and work in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Alexis just celebrated her 10th year as the University Archivist at Eastern Michigan University, and was awarded a sabbatical year, just in time for the pandemic and virtual school for their three children (ages 6, 8 and 10). Adam was promoted to Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan, and in January of 2021 assumed leadership of the UM's Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Training Program. They are grateful to have grandparents nearby to help with their high-spirited children and for backyard gatherings with other Kenyon alumni who have found their way to Southeast Michigan.
Molly McNamara Meksavan is living in Clayton, California with her husband Frank, son London (age 2), and a baby girl due in May. She is working at Golden Gate University in San Francisco in student advising.
Ericka Reagor Miller writes: “After 14 years in international development, 5 years ago I moved back to my birth state of Texas to be close to my parents. I became an ICU nurse. I live with my beloved husband, Zach, and three-year-old daughter, Ellie, who keeps us highly entertained and reminds us that life is fun and usually funny. Like many of us, I feel like I have lived at least three different lives since Kenyon. I remember Kenyon fondly as a precious time and I would love to reconnect with old classmates to hear about your lives. My email is reagore@gmail.com.”
Anne Morrissy will take over the role of editor of At the Lake Magazine in Lake Geneva, Wis., beginning June 1, fulfilling a life goal she formed during her time as a section editor of the Kenyon Collegian. She continues to split her time between Wisconsin and Chicago.
About 3 years ago, Julie Novic made the choice to relocate to Cleveland, OH from Phoenix, AZ and switch careers from PhD archaeologist to data scientist and consultant... and she hasn’t looked back. She went to Case Western Reserve University’s Data Analytics Boot camp to learn the right programming languages, and began working with a company called Pandata LLC soon thereafter. She is really enjoying life in Cleveland and is happy with the change!
Anne Douglass Peers writes: “We have been lucky to stay healthy through the pandemic (so far so good), and spend the winter in Coronado, CA, instead of rainy & cold Gig Harbor, WA, where we reside. We will return to Washington in April. My husband and I have 2 energetic 5yo & 3yo boys and I have worked as a mental health therapist in private practice for 11 years. Hope everyone is well.”
After more than 16 years as a licensed attorney, Erin Shanahan writes that she finally started practicing law! She recently joined Sutton Law in Chicago, where she’s practicing residential real estate. Also, last year she created a quilt based on Carole King's song Chicken Soup with Rice for a challenge offered by her local quilt guild. Carole King found out about this challenge, and her people reached out and asked to use some of the quilts in a new music video for the 50th anniversary of Tapestry. Erin’s quilt can be found around the beginning of minute two!
Stephanie Sorge writes: “After a divorce and surprise bonus of my ex joining the Air Force, I've spent much of the past year solo parenting my two amazing boys, now 5 and 7. We added an adorable rescue dog - a chocolate lab mix - just before the pandemic, and found out he came with a surprise bonus, too - heartworm. The pandemic hit, an old friend moved to town and joined our family bubble, and we got pretty used to having him around. We decided to make it official, and we got married in early February 2021. Will is switching careers, so if anyone needs freelance web design done, hit me up. We thought things were going way too smoothly, so we decided to purchase a house, too. I'm currently surrounded by boxes and procrastinating by writing this class note right now. I'm still serving as the pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, VA, which is a pretty amazing church in a really great place to live. I think they like me ok, too. The odd thing is, this is exactly where I thought I'd be 20 years after graduation - a divorced and remarried pastor turned Facebook evangelist thanks to a global pandemic. Everything except for all of those things. I'm fully vaccinated, we've been healthy, and we're pretty lucky compared to a lot of people, so we can't complain too much. Also we have a new administration that doesn't pose an existential threat to people and planet on the daily, so that's good.”
Alys Spensley writes: “Spring weather is finally on the way in DC! Zoom calls are not the same as a reunion, but they did offer a chance to see Kenyon friends Allison Jones, Mike Weber, Ansley Scott '02 and Charlie Pugh. We are headed back overseas to Baku, Azerbaijan this summer, and hope that Kenyon folks can visit once COVID is in the rearview mirror.”
After a few pandemic months of working from her monastery, in July 2020 Jeana Visel moved into the seminary where she works, and has been in residence there since. Despite the challenges to be expected as the one woman living among all the men, overall the time has been a blessing, with additional time and support to work on her icon painting, as well as a bit more leisure to read for fun and to get outside. She recently received a Teacher-Scholar grant from the Calvin Institute of Worship to bring her icon teacher to campus as artist-in-residence over the next year as well, so she is looking forward to the opportunity to continue to hone her skills. At this point the sisters of her own monastery are all vaccinated, so it is good to have a bit more freedom to come and go.
Katie Suttle Weinert recently argued before the 11th Circuit via telephone, which was weird but par for 2020. Due to Covid, she & her husband are homeschooling Cecilia (10) & Nick (5), which, in the interest of transparency, wouldn’t be possible without their super nanny, awesomely involved grandparents & a curriculum consult from Megan Buhr. Her dog Ben passed away at age 16ish. They welcomed a rescue puppy into the family. Her proudest accomplishment of 2020 is cleaning out 14 years of flotsam in their basement in Birmingham & deciding to keep the Class of 2001 Facebook.
Mike White writes: “My wife, my daughter, and I will be leaving Miami this summer for D.C., for some training. The Navy decided that I should learn French and be sent back overseas - most likely to West Africa. I've spent most of my career in the Pacific and in Latin America, and we're pretty excited for a new opportunity.”
