Class Note 2018
Issue
March-April 2021
Hey there, ’18s! As we approached the end of 2020, I asked you to share something positive from the year. Here are some of the reflections you shared in the last days of 2020. I hope you enjoy and continue to find light in otherwise dark times!
Nicholas Norwitz had a successful 2020. He wrote, “November 3 is a date I will forever remember. It is the day I completed my Ph.D. in neuroscience and metabolism from the University of Oxford, as well as Election Day and my 25th birthday. I suppose I’m now Dr. Norwitz, which is pretty cool. I’m also proud to be launching a first-of-its-kind science-based cookbook. This book fuses my academic interest in metabolism with my recreational interest in cooking. While I feel I’ve achieved a lot in 2020, professional achievements mean little without health and family. The best part of 2020 was that the pandemic forced me to relocate from the United Kingdom to the United States. This unexpected truncation of my studies abroad provided the opportunity to spend six months with my whole family. It was a blessing.” Nicholas is also looking forward to 2021. He shares, “In our senior year I was admitted to Harvard Medical School but deferred to complete my Ph.D. Along with the fun I had in my gap years, one of the great aspects of deferring was that Dylan Cahill and Arielle Isaacson effectively leapfrogged me and started one and two years before me. When I enter Harvard Medical School this summer I’m looking forward to having two Dartmouth friends ahead of me in the ranks.” Congratulations on a phenomenal year, Dr. Norwitz! You can find Nicholas’s cookbook at ketodietapp.com/books/new-mediterranean-diet and read about his journey to becoming an M.D.-Ph.D. here at www.metabolicmultiplier.org/palliative-care-to-an-md-phd-healthy-ulcera….
Jerrel Catlett also accomplished much in 2020. He wrote, “Working with three of my fellow students at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City this summer I developed an anti-racism discussion series open to faculty, physicians, students, and hospital administrators across the Mount Sinai Health System to engage in small group conversations focusing on how anti-Black biases and prejudices manifest in medical practice and research. The initiative recently finished its first series, with more than 150 diverse participants ranging from professors and hospital executives to students from the medical and graduate schools. I was also elected to serve as the sole M.D. student representative on Mount Sinai’s workgroup on genomic medicine, which serves to create institutional guidance promoting inclusive, anti-racist research agendas and more ethical study of the important intersections between race, ancestry, genomics, and social determinants of health.” Thank you for championing these initiatives, Jerrel, and congratulations on your success in promoting these important discussions!
Bryan Bliek and Olivia Bewley ’19 were engaged in Washington, D.C., at the end of November. Congratulations, Bryan and Olivia—the class of 2018 wishes you all the best!
In October Alexa Escalona and Thomas Lee Hodsden III were married. Alexa writes, “This year I married the love of my life.” Congratulations on your union and thank you for sharing your joy with the rest of the class of 2018!
In other classmate news, Emily Everhard served as the associate producer of the new Netflix docu-series Surviving Death, alongside five other Dartmouth alumni. Based on Leslie Kean’s book of the same name, Surviving Death is a journey of discovery that investigates whether consciousness can survive bodily death. We look forward to watching the series upon its January 6 release!
Thank you to everyone who shared their reflections and life updates. Here’s to more great memories in 2021!
—Emily Choate, 172 Commonwealth Ave., Apt. 3, Boston, MA 02116; (603) 305-5346; eschoate@gmail.com
Nicholas Norwitz had a successful 2020. He wrote, “November 3 is a date I will forever remember. It is the day I completed my Ph.D. in neuroscience and metabolism from the University of Oxford, as well as Election Day and my 25th birthday. I suppose I’m now Dr. Norwitz, which is pretty cool. I’m also proud to be launching a first-of-its-kind science-based cookbook. This book fuses my academic interest in metabolism with my recreational interest in cooking. While I feel I’ve achieved a lot in 2020, professional achievements mean little without health and family. The best part of 2020 was that the pandemic forced me to relocate from the United Kingdom to the United States. This unexpected truncation of my studies abroad provided the opportunity to spend six months with my whole family. It was a blessing.” Nicholas is also looking forward to 2021. He shares, “In our senior year I was admitted to Harvard Medical School but deferred to complete my Ph.D. Along with the fun I had in my gap years, one of the great aspects of deferring was that Dylan Cahill and Arielle Isaacson effectively leapfrogged me and started one and two years before me. When I enter Harvard Medical School this summer I’m looking forward to having two Dartmouth friends ahead of me in the ranks.” Congratulations on a phenomenal year, Dr. Norwitz! You can find Nicholas’s cookbook at ketodietapp.com/books/new-mediterranean-diet and read about his journey to becoming an M.D.-Ph.D. here at www.metabolicmultiplier.org/palliative-care-to-an-md-phd-healthy-ulcera….
Jerrel Catlett also accomplished much in 2020. He wrote, “Working with three of my fellow students at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City this summer I developed an anti-racism discussion series open to faculty, physicians, students, and hospital administrators across the Mount Sinai Health System to engage in small group conversations focusing on how anti-Black biases and prejudices manifest in medical practice and research. The initiative recently finished its first series, with more than 150 diverse participants ranging from professors and hospital executives to students from the medical and graduate schools. I was also elected to serve as the sole M.D. student representative on Mount Sinai’s workgroup on genomic medicine, which serves to create institutional guidance promoting inclusive, anti-racist research agendas and more ethical study of the important intersections between race, ancestry, genomics, and social determinants of health.” Thank you for championing these initiatives, Jerrel, and congratulations on your success in promoting these important discussions!
Bryan Bliek and Olivia Bewley ’19 were engaged in Washington, D.C., at the end of November. Congratulations, Bryan and Olivia—the class of 2018 wishes you all the best!
In October Alexa Escalona and Thomas Lee Hodsden III were married. Alexa writes, “This year I married the love of my life.” Congratulations on your union and thank you for sharing your joy with the rest of the class of 2018!
In other classmate news, Emily Everhard served as the associate producer of the new Netflix docu-series Surviving Death, alongside five other Dartmouth alumni. Based on Leslie Kean’s book of the same name, Surviving Death is a journey of discovery that investigates whether consciousness can survive bodily death. We look forward to watching the series upon its January 6 release!
Thank you to everyone who shared their reflections and life updates. Here’s to more great memories in 2021!
—Emily Choate, 172 Commonwealth Ave., Apt. 3, Boston, MA 02116; (603) 305-5346; eschoate@gmail.com