Ah, the exciting, confusing, exhilarating experience of a ’shmen. Twenty-five years ago we were welcomed to Dartmouth: We learned the alma mater, danced the “Salty Dog Rag,” discovered Full Fare (bring on the “Freshman 15”!) and met roommates, undergraduate advisor group members, classmates who would become our best friends for a week or perhaps a lifetime. Who do you remember first meeting when we all walked on campus for the first time that fall?

Brenda Almaraz met Gillian Jacob in front of Robinson: “I thought I was a long way from home (Texas), but she was from Trinidad and Tobago. Minutes later I met Akwele Bortei-Doku from Ghana! For me, these ladies really put distance and feeling homesick in perspective. I need to look them both up!” Though Itir Sayin Clarke doesn’t remember exactly who she met first, she does recall “looking around and wondering what to do with myself, when Laura Broughton offered to take a group of us to the Hop for dinner. I will never forget her kindness.”

Lori (Korpan) Hurley’sfirst encounter was a bit surprising: “Eric…can’t remember his last name. We got put into a quad in the new dorms as roommates, which both of our parents handled surprisingly well! I think we were roommates for about 40 minutes until the housing department figured out their error.” James Budd remembers Gile Hall neighbor Brian Wheelan: “I know he went to Harvard Business School but don’t know much beyond that. It was an odd coincidence because I already knew his older brother, Pete.”

Hillary Agnew Cecil met Laurie Stucker Halligan, still a “dear friend.” Baryona Billington met one of her best friends to this day, Candace Howell. Nat Schindler met Gillian (MacLean) Growdon, who all these years later only lives a few blocks away. And lucky Phyllis (Steinberg) Fagell, well, she first met Steven Fagell “and I married him!”

Interested in reconnecting with any of those fellow ’shmen from days gone by? Try a pop-up mini-reunion! In the spring Steve Tseng was in Hong Kong for a Tuck advisory meeting and tracked down Mike Chen to catch up. Last summer Charlotte (Flower) Streidel had an impromptu mini in Los Angeles with Sharyn Steele and Tia Maggini. If you’ll be traveling and would like to know who’s in the area, or if you would be interested in organizing a gathering in your own backyard, our mini-reunion chair can help. You can reach Tara Gulla at taraleighgulla@gmail.com.

A couple of our classmates are on the move. Eric Waters has been called as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Boerne, Texas, just outside of San Antonio. And Chris Foley has left New York City for Alpharetta, Georgia, where he is continuing his acting career. Chris was married to Courtney Brown in September (congratulations!). Courtney is originally from Kentucky and is a classical pianist and piano teacher. Katherine Kaneko hasn’t moved, but is moving smoothly. Sherecently graduated from the Kripalu Center of Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, as a certified yoga teacher, having completed a 200-hour yoga training.

Sadly, I must close with the news of another classmate’s passing. The bells of Baker Tower toll for Hareesh Khurana, who passed away in August. Hareesh once recalled his favorite memories of Dartmouth for the column and I share them again now: “Embers of the bonfire at 6 a.m., afternoon pong on the back porch, spontaneous trips to wild places with friends that ended up being brothers from other mothers.” Hareesh, you will be missed.

—Kaja (Schuppert) Fickes, 2 Bishops Lane, Hingham, MA 02043; kaja.k.fickes.95@dartmouth.edu; Natalie Herring, 1911 Rex Ave., #41, Joplin, MO 64801; (417) 553-7419; 1995dcn@gmail.com