Greetings, classmates! Another Homecoming is upon us, and that big beautiful bonfire has got me thinking. We are in a period of our lives where the world wants us to figure out who and what we are as soon as possible, but there really isn’t any rush. Our mid-20s is an exciting time—we are old enough to be solidifying our lives and our careers, but young enough to be able to change all of that at the drop of a hat. We can travel the world, change jobs or get a degree in the exact opposite of what we studied as an undergrad. In a way, our post-college life resembles the Homecoming bonfire. We have somehow found ourselves running around in circles, entrenched in our jobs and our daily routines, but all the while there is a gigantic pyre at the center of our endless loop, beckoning us closer to its flames. So go ahead—touch the fire. In fact, dive in headfirst. Be like the phoenix and reinvent yourself, rising from the ashes better off than you were before. If you hate your job, quit it and find a new one. If you’re feeling a little stuck in a routine, do something to totally change it up. If you’re on the cusp of a new phase of your life, embrace it. These are our years of death and rebirth, and we must not fear the flames. Now let’s see how our fellow classmates are embracing change in their own lives:


Thomas McDermott graduated from University of Virginia School of Law in the spring, took the bar exam in July and then decided to veer from the beaten path: “Instead of slaving away at a law firm I took a job at a tech company in Berkeley, California, where I am working with several other Dartmouth alums.”


Molly Roy just took a new job with the U.S. Department of Energy supporting the deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency. She’s also ramping up for the Ultimate Frisbee National Tournament—her team, Scandal, is ranked third in the country!


Rob Pritchard is moving to Boston to get his M.B.A. at Boston University. 


Josh Jacobson is relocating to Berlin, Germany: “My company, ItsPlatonic, has been accepted into Startupbootcamp, the European startup accelerator.”


Brian Scullin is starting a master’s program at the London School of Economics.


Emily Watson is now in her first year of dental school at the University of Pennsylvania.


Jordan Sedlacek started veterinary school at Colorado State University.


Avnish Gungadurdoss, Johannes Lohman and Mike Belinksy ’08 founded an ambitious nonprofit, Instiglio, that provides innovative results-based project financing mechanisms, such as social impact bonds, that empower governments to discover and scale effective solutions to social issues.


Denton King got a new job with JP Morgan’s ultra-high-net worth group in Denver.


Kaan Senaydin recently moved to San Francisco to work with other Dartmouth alums at a mobile banking software company.


Following his first year at Boston College Law School, Bill Lundin will be returning to China to complete and internship with the business immigration law firm Fragomen in Shanghai. 


Sonia Schnee is now working as the video editor and operations manager at the New Jersey-based production company NJ Arts News (www.njartsnews.org).


Johanna Hauer is starting dental school at Tufts this fall and will be rooming with Matt Cleveland ’02.


After living in Cairo and researching community-based political organizing, Ibrahim Elshamy is moving to the Bay Area to begin Stanford Law School this fall.


Finally, Lizzie Teague and Eric Klem ’08 were married in Beverly, Massachusetts, at the end of August. Congratulations!


That’s all for now. Happy Homecoming everyone!


—Peter Rothbard, 2490 Purdue Ave., #7, Los Angeles, CA 90064; (407) 421-4676; peter.s.rothbard.09@alum.dartmouth.org