Latest News

Hannah Levine has become an official Jeerleader for the Gotham Roller Derby league! She’ll be cheering on the most regal borough as a member of the Queens Royal Pains. Catch her at this summer’s games as Scare Horowitz. As if!

Cayla Vila went to Spain for vacation in April and got to visit Cordoba as part of her travels. She studied abroad there while at Wellesley in the PRESHCO program and had an amazing time returning, now 10 years later! She had dinner with her host family and visited the old stomping grounds.

Kathleen Zhu started a role with AstraZeneca where she was delighted to find out she works with Lindsay Carol Barnes (’12). Lindsay and Kathleen have a weekly check in where they debrief about the whirlwind work week and cheer each other on. Kathleen is working from home in Boston due to an injury but is excited to rejoin Lindsay on the Maryland campus soon. Stay tuned for a picture together!

Dafina Bobo has started her business, Strange Crown, as spiritual consultant! For 5+ years she has been developing her knowledge of Tarot and various concepts of spirituality. She leans on her career as a teacher, recruiter, and coach to guide and empower those at the beginning of their spiritual journey. You can check out her website at www.strangecrown.com for different types of personal readings and sessions.

Rebecca Hosey got married to her partner of 9 years this May. In attendance were family and friends including Lucie Lozinski (’14), Adrienne Bresnahan (Ogle), her little sister, Alondra Navarro (’18), and her mom, Linda Famiglio (‘78).

Tori Brown (Rezendes) had a baby! Denis (Babson '15) and Tori welcomed Colleen Rosemarie on April 2nd, which also happens to be Tori’s birthday! Congratulations, Tori and Denis!

Dana Marks and her husband Doug Halpert (Northeastern 2013) welcomed their first son, Rhys Emmett Halpert, on Friday, April 26 to become a family of three! Everyone is home and getting better acquainted.

Congratulations, Tori, Dana, and Rebecca on your growing families!

Cayla Vila, 2015 Alumnae Class Secretary

 

This quarter we asked you what they would write in a "love letter" to their younger college selves. Here's what you said:

Brittany Lamon-Paredes reflected on the almost ten years since graduation (Reunion is coming)! She would tell her college self that it can be more fulfilling to take the road less traveled. She started a new role as a Deputy Branch Chief in the U.S. federal government and celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary to her husband, Ryan.

Elifmina Mizrahi would tell her college self to cherish living walking distance to your friends because it is the best.

Carmyn Polk would tell her college self that her time at Wellesley will build the foundation for the next decade of life. She will gain strength, knowledge, self awareness, love, and life-long friendships. It'll be tough but so worth it. She'll succeed in whatever she wants to do next.

We're happy to share some life updates from our classmates as well! -

Congratulations to Hadley Chase, who gave birth to her son Glenn in July 2023! 

Melissa Jo Zambrana is thriving in 2024! She broke up with her partner of 6 years, moved back to Boston, and started performing stand-up comedy. You can follow her on Instagram @melissa.jokes. She also recently visited Emily Schultz in Pristina, Kosovo, where Emily is posted on a temporary work assignment. The two of them spent a week exploring Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Bosnia!

Wellesley writers, actors, and other creators gathered at a Writers Guild of America/Screen Actors Guild picketed at the Radford Studio Center in Los Angeles in July. Class of 2015 members present were Katie Barsotti and J Taylor D'Andrea. Check out the winter magazine online for a photo! 

Cayla Vila, 2015 Alumnae Class Secretary

Greetings from the Jersey Shore! I’m enjoying writing this near the beach in Seaside Park with my family, it’s been a very busy summer so I’m happy to get some R&R.

I had a great time seeing several classmates at the Boston mini-reunion in June! Meredith Nakayama, Anne West, Liza David, Kathy Long, Rebecca Fishbein, Lillian Li, Nari Savanorke-Joyce, and I met up for dinner and drinks in Fenway. It was a great time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

This summer, Sara Musetti did lots of traveling to see family and friends. Sophia Garcia did a lot of rafting on the Kern River. Morgan Moore reconnected with Wellesley friends in June in Atlanta while in town to go see Sarah Fechter get married! Carmyn Polk moved to Chicago with her husband and daughter to be closer to family. She is looking forward to joining the Chicago Alumnae Club and engaging with alums in the area. Claire Milldrum is continuing to cause gentle chaos for chosen family in Minneapolis, riding her bike and writing curriculum, and hosting webinars on credit building for the Credit Builders Alliance. Ayana Aaron says she finally left the retail game! In September, she starts as a Permanency Social Worker at Plummer Youth Promise's Intensive Permanency Services program in Woburn, MA.

Cece Countryman finished her Master of Arts in social sciences with a psychology concentration from University of Chicago. Camila Diaz graduated with her MBA from Harvard Business School and moved back to New York City. Congratulations, Cece and Camila!

This year, many 2015-ers celebrated a milestone birthday – 30! We asked our classmates how they rang in this big year.

Dana Williams celebrated her 30^th birthday by leading her first Trad climb, which she’s been working up to for two years! Sara Musetti and Sophia Garcia both celebrated by taking trips to Puerto Vallarta. Popular place to ring in 30, it seems! Sophia also went to Tequila Jalisco with Alice Sun, Erin Ferriere (2014), and Leve Freeman. It was their first international friend trip and Sophia would not have wanted to celebrated her third decade any other way. Melissa Jo Zambrana celebrated her 30th birthday by going to her favorite trivia with friends. The quizmaster even created a category all about the number 30 in honor of her birthday!

Dana Marks celebrated her 30^th this summer with a vase-painting tea party at the Elkridge Furnace Inn in Maryland. Her mom, Lori Newburger Marks (1987), came and acted as the impromptu photographer for the event. Wellesley Field Hockey teammate Becky Hamilton flew in for the festivities and a weekend visit. It combined three of Dana's favorite things into a big-girl birthday party for the ages: arts & crafts, tea, and historic houses.

Kathy Long is planning on celebrating her 30^th this year on a 4-day trip to Puerto Rico with eight of her friends – send us photos, Kathy!

Cayla Vila, 2015 Alumnae Class Secretary

             

Fiona Logan ran her second marathon in October 2022! Adelene Shuen Lyn Lai got her PhD in Environmental Chemistry/Cheminformatics last December and joined an environmental analytics startup as a software engineer, based in Luxembourg. After 4+ years there, she started taking classes to learn Luxembourgish. She is looking forward to organizing an alum event there this summer.

Rachel Lam graduated from business school at UCLA, moved to San Mateo, CA and has become addicted to going to Orangetheory. While continuing their day job, Yadira Morales officially started their own business as an executive function coach for Autistic and ADHD adults. Yadira’s website is ExpandYu.com. They’ve even started offering advice for parents of neurodivergent kids looking to learn from the perspective of a neurodivergent adult.

While at Wellesley, Melissa Jo Zambrana often spoke about taking over the College someday. Well, she is now on her way as the new Assistant Director of Alumnae Engagement there! Her role focuses on working with young alums (like us!) and current students (like running Stepsinging!), and she oversees the Alumnae Association social media (@wellesleyalums).

Hannah Levine and her mother are turning “100” this year (Hannah is turning 30 and her mom just celebrated her 70^th)! They are celebrating their centennial by traveling somewhere they’ve never been before. Wish them luck on their adventure in Budapest, Hungary!

Sophia Garcia started a new job at Esri in late 2022. She is the Lead for Equity and Civic non-profits which means she is a master networker and equity and civic non-profits data/maps influencer. She’s excited to work for a wonderful company and use her Wellesley networking and inter-industry skills. In her free time, she and her dog, Koda, are enjoying all the rain from the CA winter. You can find them swimming in the river (with their safety gear of course)!

On May 4, Abra White had an installation in her first exhibit since making a career change to be a creative technologist! It concludes her residency as an artist with Digital Arts Studies in Belfast, and was her first exhibition since Wellesley. Leve (Freeman) Osemene is enjoying spring as she and her husband learn the art of gardening and landscaping in their new house. If anyone has any tips or tricks she is all ears!

Cayla Vila, 2015 Alumnae Class Secretary

After 7 years in California, Claire Tam finally moved back to the Boston area this summer to teach. She is looking forward to her first year as a history teacher at Boston University Academy, to reconnecting with Boston-area alums, and to finally being able to wear scarves and boots again!

2015ers Ayana Aaron, Angela Bilkic, Lia Gallitano, Melodie Ha, Lynn Hsu, Erika Liu, and Melissa Jo Zambrana traveled to Philadelphia for a multi-day trip to celebrate their continued friendship. They ate delicious food, wore matching shirts designed by Angela, saw historic sites like Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, and commented on how hot each member of the group was while taking photos in front of the Rodin Museum.

Vicky Zeamer got married in January 2022 to Marc Exposito Gomez, who she met at MIT in 2016. They eloped at San Francisco city hall with their immediate family present. Jillian Seymour married Lexie Rukhadze ‘17 who she met at Wellesley in 2014. They had many alums in attendance and their wonderful officiant was Sarah Robbins-Cole, Wellesley College Chaplain.

Sophia Garcia worked as a raft guide this summer to get away from the heat. Mariam Saifullah graduated from school in France and is moving to London. Morgan Moore is still in grad school! She is now entering the fifth year of her PhD in Medieval Studies (fall 2022 semester), still in Toronto, Canada; with at least another year in this program and with the border easier to navigate these days, she would love to catch up with anyone headed that way.

Celeste Zumwalt was recently appointed by the Biden-Harris administration as the Briefing Book Coordinator in the Office of the Secretary of the Interior Department. Congratulations!

Cayla Vila, 2015 Alumnae Class Secretary