1996

Change—it continues to be a common theme running through the lives of many members of our classmates of late. Joining the evermcreasmg number of '96s soon to tie the knot, Jeneen DiBenedetto celebrated her recent engagement at a lively party in Boston in April, where Dartmouth guests included Kate Andrews (currently an admissions officer at Northfield Mount Hermon boarding school in Massachusetts), Anna Kontos, Karen Smith, Nik Zanetti, and Allen King. "It was an amazing party," Kate wrote afterwards, and "Jeneen certainly has the pre-wedding glow! Congratulations, Jeneen!"

Sharon Wolfe, Katie Shutzer,Meredith Scott, Briarly Kessler, and Sarah Brooke also reunited this spring in anticipation of upcoming '96 nuptials; they met up in New York City for Jane Burger's wedding shower. They had some exciting career changes to celebrate as well. Congratulations go out to Sharon, who will be attending Mt. Sinai Medical School for genetic counseling next year, and Katie, who will be starting at Boston University to pursue her master's to teach English.

Since his early graduation in 1995 Ahsan Rahim has experienced a variety of changes in his life, not the least of which are geographical. After spending two years as a corporate relations manager with Citibank in Islamabad, Pakistan (where he says he "basically just worked [his] backside off, working as much as the Wall Street investment bankers while making 1/10 their salaries"), he decided in 1997 to fly back around the world to enroll in Duke's M.B.A. program. The decision was a welcome one; he had an "awesome" first year, and not only landed an internship with Booz-Allen & Hamilton in Dallas for the summer but also found time to bring his golf game to a "still-improving" score of 89. As regards other international classmates, Ahsan also reported that he attended Amena Saeed's wedding last December in Pakistan and that Amena is now living in Bahrain. While there, he also ran into Aassia Haroon, who is currently working for a magazine in Karachi.

Also on the career front, word on the street is that Jon Clark, after a few years in the retail industry, is likely to attend Michigan Law School next year. In Buffalo, N.Y., Matt Nisbet has been working as the public relations director for Skeptical Inquirer, a science magazine founded by Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, B.F. Skinner, and others that examines claims of the paranormal and pseudoscience from a scientific perspective. "I've coordinated appearances on CNN and interviews with The New York Times and radio shows as far away as South Africa and Malaysia," he writes, and "a recent opinion-editorial appeared in the Philadelphia- Inquirer and Miami Herald." Check out SkepticalInquirer's web page at

Changes in age and careers all seemed to happen at once this spring for LeighElmore, Kim Fannoney, MeganGaphardt, Liz Rawson, and SunniChauhan, who met up at Yale recently to celebrate birthdays and mutual good news. Leigh, after conquering her med school board exams, is moving on to much-anticipated clinical years at Yale Medical School. Kim just found out that she has been accepted to Columbia Teachers College, although she is considering a year's deferral in order to road-trip to California. Megan graduated with a master's in education from Harvard and got the job of her dreams as a teaching specialist in Chelmsford, Mass. Liz, after kicking butt and getting into both Tufts and Penn veterinary schools, will soon be starting at Tufts. And finally, Sunni will soon be joining me and the ever growing number of other '96s here "across the pond" as she embarks on a summer move to London to hang out with her beau and take up her position as an executive at Schroders.

What's new in your life? Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, drop me a line

St. Edmund Hall, Queens Lane, Oxford OX1 4AR, England;

Matt Nisbet works for Skeptical Inquirer, a science magazine founded by Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov MONICA OBERKOFLER '96