2002

If the weekend of June 15 found you anywhere other than Hanover, I am truly sorry. Our fifth-year reunion brought more than 500 of our classmates back together for two days of dorm living, BEMA gatherings (this time with open bar) and basking in the sun on Collis porch.

Thank you, thank you to all those who poured their energies into planning the event, particularly Yelena Shklovskaya, the reunion chair. I reveled in classic run-ins with folks I hadn't seen since graduation, like meeting up with my freshman year hall-mate Kate (Laswell) Maco in our towels in the North Mass bathroom and hearing tales of TV pilots in the works from Alex Berger in the line for the Baker lawn BBQ, Not shockingly, it turns out that '02 folks are up to great things.

This fall you should not expect to wander the streets of Berkeley, California, without running into an '02 pursuing a doctorate. Ben Gebre-Medhin recently finished up two years in the Peace Corps in Jordan and is now starting his studies in sociology. Engaged Kate Knowles and Matt Frankel have relocated from Providence, Rhode Island, for Kate to study education witha f a focus on literacy, while Matt continues to practice law at Nixon Peabody. They all join Andrew Kelly, who is working toward a Ph.D. in political science, after working for a D.C. think tank post-graduation.

Katie Simon checked in from Rwanda, where she was working for Partners in Health for the summer and chilling with the mountain gorillas. She will finish up med school in Boston this year.

Also very close to becoming a doctor is Emily Wood, who reports that despite the fact that this final year is supposed to be the easiest, she has managed to create an hour-long commute for herself from 82nd on the East Side to 168th on the West Side. Not one to let the commute cramp her style, she also fits in events like the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island, where she, Kate Murphy, Allyson Terpsma and I ran into Chuki Lord and Lauren Lafaro in the crowd.

Kate Siber has potentially the coolest job of us all. As a freelance journalist based in Durango, Colorado, she writes primarily about sustainable travel and outdoor gear, and work has recently taken her kiteboarding in Florida, on a safari in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and heliskiing in British Columbia.

Scott Given is the principal of Excel Academy Charter School in Boston. Humble as ever, all he reported about this position was that he was incredibly happy to lead such an amazing staff. A quick Google search, however, turned up news that Scott's school was recently named a National Charter School of the Year. Congratulations!

Sarah Myers will spend the year in London, studying fashion design at Central Saint Martins, which she hopes will meet all her expectations of Study Abroad: Part 2. She writes that Alison Piper was married to Jeff Fox in Vermont in June in a really sweet ceremony in her parents' backyard.They celebrated this event with abluegrass band and the company of plenty of '02s.

I am happy to report that I too have found true love. While Brooklyn and I are not engaged in the traditional sense and I have an inkling our relationship is not destined to be monogamous, we have been in what is certainly my most longterm relationship ever since a chance meeting three years ago. Please keep us posted on your news.

82 South 4th St., Apt. 2A, Brooklyn, NY11211; jt.leaitrd@gimil.com