Hello, fellow ’14s! It is the first anniversary of our graduation from Dartmouth! Congratulations to you all for all of your successes and adventures from this past year. I have been reflecting a lot about the past year and realized this year has been very important for me and my personal development. I have been deciding who I am, what my passions are and how I like to spend my free time after work. I have discovered I really enjoy cooking, especially for friends and family. Also, this first year has reminded me how much I like reading for fun; I missed having time to get wrapped up in a book and stay up all night reading.


For this issue of the Class Notes I asked our classmates what they have been up to and what is the most interesting thing they’ve learned during their first year after college. Here are a few people’s answers.


Amanda Spoto will be attending Oxford University’s English literature summer school 2015 program. She says, “I plan on taking two seminars, ‘Modernist Fiction’ and ‘Contemporary Fiction,’ both of which will count as my elective courses for MALS. These two classes coincide with my cultural studies track in MALS as well as my interest in fiction related to memory and nation. The most interesting thing I’ve learned during my first year after college is realizing I will forever be a student of life. The learning experience never really ends.”


Shane O’Neal reported in, “I just started a new job working in a research department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and am living in Boston. Since graduation I’ve learned that Dartmouth grads pop up in all sorts of unexpected places.”


Samuel Rauschenfels, inspired by his time as a program coordinator at the Collis Center for student involvement, will be attending a master’s program in higher education and student affairs in August. He said, “The most interesting thing I’ve learned at my job is how rich and varied student life is at Dartmouth and institutions around the country.” 


Renee Lai has been working as an assistant product marketing manager at MBI in Norwalk, Connecticut. This year she has renewed her love of cooking and working out.


Brendan Nagle is currently interning at Rabobank in New York City in the global client solutions department. He will be starting a job in July at Oracle in Santa Clara, California, in July and will be living with Jennafer “Jenna” Vickers. He commented, “The most interesting thing I’ve learned since graduation is what I want in life. I don’t have an exact idea, but I feel like I have a better idea.”


Steven Muenzen is working at Rabobank in New York City as an analyst. He says, “I have learned to keep my nice cooking appliances in my room and away from my roommates.”


Leslie Ye moved from New York City to Boston and is currently working as a staff writer at HubSpot. Aaron McGee recently traveled to Dubai with coworkers. Erin Abraham recently started as an account associate at EMI Strategic Marketing in Boston after spending the past few months completing book publishing internships in New York City. Earlier this year Matthew Wefer was in Miami trying to qualify for the 2016 Olympic team in sailing.


Thanks to everyone who reported in! I really want to hear from more of you all, so please respond to my random email requests and Facebook posts if and when you see them. Have a lovely summer everyone!


—Jessica Womack, 6034 Hinman, Hanover, NH 03755; jessica.r.womack@dartmouth.edu