Dr. Jordi Alonso: As my last semester of classes for this second MA nears its end, I can't stop thinking about how much of what I’m doing both for work and for fun has its roots at Kenyon. I recently finished a manuscript of poems (part of which you can read
here) and which
Mara Vulgamore is going to illustrate! We'll be back with more details once it turns into a book!
Rachel Bishop got married to her partner of seven years, Tyler Holsonback, on September 17th in Atlanta, GA. In attendance were
Devon Bacso, David Hoyt, Martha Gavinski, and
Shannon Kelley. Not content with one major life event, she also switched jobs in August 2022, joining the U.S. Department of Labor as a Trial Attorney. Feel free to reach out if you’re in Atlanta!
Greg Culley: I moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada at the beginning of 2022 and have already had a blast skiing up at Whistler, surfing out at Tofino (with fellow classmate
Molly McCleary), hiking all over the Lower Mainland, and exploring all the different candy Canada has to offer - if you happen to be visiting the area, give me a shout!
Michael Gallaher: It's been a busy year! For now, I'm still stationed at Robins AFB in Georgia, flying on the E-8C JSTARS, and living with my girlfriend Carson and our pets Mozart, Kaiju, and Poe. November 2021 through April 2022 I was deployed to Germany; I was there when the war in Ukraine started, which made that deployment a lot more interesting than I originally thought it was going to be. In August, I reached four years in service in the USAF and was promoted to the rank of Captain. At the time of writing, I am going through Instructor Upgrade training to become an Instructor Air Weapons Officer on JSTARS. I have also been selected for an assignment as an Instructor Air Battle Manager at the 337th Air Control Squadron at Tyndall AFB, and so will be moving to Panama City, FL in February 2023.
Becca Guttentag: After 4 years in the hot springs of Beppu City, Japan, 2 years in a coastal Monterey Grad School, and 1.5 years of mid-pandemic remote work, Becca is finally enjoying a swanky new Localization Producer position at Riot Games in sunny Santa Monica. After six months with the company, she has yet to "get good" (as the gamers say) at any of the products she's been tasked with leading, but let's call that a work in progress. Oh, and she got a dog, which is somehow the far more exciting update, in her opinion.
Natalie Thielen Helper recently began a new fundraising job at THE CITY, a nonprofit news outlet covering local news in NYC. She still makes time to see as much theatre as possible, often with
Ben Neuhaus and continues to be active in advocating for immigrant rights and reproductive rights. Closest to her heart, she's found a way to participate remotely in the effort to shut down the Red Hill fuel tanks poisoning the drinking water aquifer of her home island of O'ahu, 5,000 miles away from where she currently lives. This winter she plans to finally learn how to crochet.
Caroline Hesse: I just opened my own wholesale cheese distribution company called C. Hesse Cheese, based in Brooklyn, NY. I service cheese shops, restaurants, and grocery stores and I am hoping to launch a mail-order branch within the next year. I am hoping for a lot of things. Find me at
@CHesse_Cheese on instagram or
info@CHesseCheese.com. I would love to be on the cover of the alumni magazine, for what that's worth. Was this ad worth the cost of college tuition? Only time will tell!
Leland Holcomb: Now that Leland has crawled his way out of COVID isolation he finds his life returning to its "new normal". His years of global work travel appear to be over as he recently started a new fully remote job so he could work from the woods in CT. He made sure to get super weird during COVID though as he developed a love for VR and an addiction to his home-brewed nitro cold brew coffee. The highlight of 2022 has been the many weddings of beloved friends that made his heart sing (but wallet moan) including
Dylan Markovic’s beautiful Ohio wedding a couple months ago!
Kelsey Kiser: I am still living and working in Brooklyn and connecting with Kenyon classmates near and far. I got to spend the last week of summer in
Ally Bruschi's lovely Santa Monica apartment enjoying a heatwave and caring for her lovely dog, Louise. My time in LA was made even sweeter by seeing
Natalie Margolin, Gen Malkin, and
Lucia Knell ’13. The Kenyon-care of Louise continued with
Maggie Rosenthal and
Peter Peregrine ’13 taking over after I returned to the east coast. Love to all!
Kristina Miklavic: Since last, I’ve started my job at the Equality Centre and it’s been great. I’ve worked on projects relating to how structures in local politics across Norway dictate who gets to participate, an online tool box for health Personnel regarding sexual health among elderly, a workshop for teachers regarding anti-racism, and a project we’ve newly started on getting body image and self-esteem in the school curriculum. This spring,
Anabel Yahuitl Garcia came to visit for about three weeks and it was absolute bliss. We went on road trips around Western Norway enjoying the beautiful fjord landscape. We even got to meet up with
Catherine Lloyd and Andrew Mooney, and enjoyed some reading and kayaking on the fjord. Other than that, I hike whenever I can.
Anna Peery: After meeting twelve years ago as first years at Kenyon College,
Anna Peery and
Sam Loomis finally married at Sam’s childhood home in Santa Barbara, California! They are so lucky to have had a few of their Kenyon friends there to celebrate with them:
Lana Dubin, Peter Bogdanich, Michael Burten, Dulce Montoya and
Jessica Lieberman.
McKinley Sherrod: I’m approaching a year of working as a design strategist with the Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where I work with clinicians and administrators to improve patient experience and make healthcare fit people. My husband and I (along with our pittie, Mabel, and senior cat, Dobbins) also finally moved into our 100-year old condo in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood after six months of DIY renovations that included refinishing the original hardwood floors (spoiler: hauling a 100-pound drum sander up three flights of stairs is not for the faint of heart). I’m writing this from my tranquil new office/sunroom, which reminds me of my 9th floor room in Caples amongst the treetops.
Kerry Strader: I am celebrating one year since returning to Kenyon as Associate Director of Off-Campus Study. I really enjoy helping our students branch out around the world, especially since the pandemic upended international travel. In my free time, you can find me living that pastoral Knox County life at the Mount Vernon Farmers Market or running on the Gap Trail. I'm also thrilled to be volunteering as an assistant coach for the cross country teams, bringing it all full circle!
