Volume 51 | Spring 2017
PAGE 4
Nurturing Wellness PAGE 8
Taking CARE PAGE 12
Cooking for Community
TABLE of CONTENTS
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8
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NURTURING WELLNESS
TAKING CARE
COOKING FOR COMMUNITY
UWC-USA is deepening its long-standing
For 25 years, UWC-USA students have
UWC-USA students have been cooking
commitment to overall health and
been traveling weekly to the New Mexico
food to supplement their dining hall
well-being on campus with a number
Behavioral Health Institute to work
experience for decades. They’re also
of new and expanded programs. New
with the CARE Unit residents. The
sharing their culture and building
workshops on mental health, additional
“CARE Unit boys” are minors who suffer
community at the same time.
counseling opportunities, and more
from a variety of traumatic experiences
physical activities help students
and have also caused another person
manage stress and stay healthy.
“sexual harm.”
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INSPIRATION
“…the wind whispers promises of a crisp, cold night…”
Poem by Anya Quesnel ’18
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BIG HEART
Trevor Hallstein ’91 runs to raise funds to support mental health services
Volume 51, Winter 2017
at UWC-USA.
16
CHANGE AGENT
Vice President for Advancement: Christie Baskett Editor: Carl-Martin Nelson Peer Review Editor: Jose-Pablo Salas Rojas ’06 Copy Editor: Jeannine Santiago Designer: Firestik Studio
Khadidjatou “Khady” Kane ’96 is working to improve palliative care in her native Senegal. 17 LOOKING BACK
Lazaro Benavides Solano ’17 looks back on the importance of Sebastian Canyon as a place of learning and reflection. 18
PEER REVIEW Find out what your classmates are doing in the big world!
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ONE OF US Shelley Pasco-Verdi ’86 found her dream on a small organic farm in Washington state.
28 VIEWPOINT
The magazine of UWC-USA, The Armand Hammer United World College of the American West
Contributing Writers: Gwen Albers, Catalina Enriquez Alvarez ’17, Taylor Doke ’18, Rashna Ginwalla ’95, Dana Micucci, Carl-Martin Nelson, Lazaro Benavides Solano ’17 Contributing Photographers: Josefine Bruun-Meyer ’17, Chris Corrie, Tara Trudell Contact: UWC-USA P.O. Box 248 Montezuma, NM 87731 publications@uwc-usa.org
Rashna Ginwalla ’95 shares her thoughts on issues of global health and how the UWC mission informs the challenges we face as we care for each other.
Cover photo by Chris Corrie
Kaleidoscope is published biannually by the UWC-USA Advancement Office to sustain connection with alumni and the school’s extended community. 1
INSPIRATION
The ridge stands proudly against the afternoon sky Green against magenta and white clouds The smell of pines shrouds the misty air and the wind whispers promises of a crisp, cold night I see my destination, there on that ridge I adjust my pack and push on, acknowledging how far I’ve come There’s beauty in the silence of a winding mountain path, time becomes but cycles of thought Being out, away from the chaos of daily life, creates room for contemplation I start to see metaphors and find comfort in the simplest things I am still walking, ascending always There are rocks and spines and some parts are steeper than others but still I push on
ANYA QUESNEL ’18, TRINIDAD AND TOBEGO
LETTER FROM THE
president GREETINGS FROM MONTEZUMA, It is paradoxical but it is true: one of the great benefits of being a teacher is the opportunity to learn from our students. Often I’ve come to see a complex idea or problem a little differently because of a student’s insight, because of the experience and values she or he brings to bear on our work together. Several weeks ago I had the chance to see more deeply into the current debate around immigration and the refugee crisis across the globe. With poise and passion, our students became my teachers as they shared their powerful stories. The local NBC affiliate in Albuquerque sent a reporter to campus to interview six students who were willing to share their thoughts about President Trump’s executive order limiting entry to the United States of refugees and individuals from specific countries. The students, two from the U.S. and four from countries identified in the “ban,” shared their stories and passionately addressed the executive order in all of its complexity, noting its intersections with religious and cultural differences and the importance of building relationships based on mutual respect and understanding. One American student spoke eloquently of her very good friend from Syria who graduated from UWC-USA last spring and is studying in upstate New York. Another student, who came as a refugee to our campus 18 months ago, implored those who don’t know refugees to come to Montezuma and visit us. There was a dominant motif as they told their stories and explained how they felt about the executive order: all-important relationship building would be crippled by tighter restrictions, creating more barriers, more virtual and real walls. Kurt Hahn founded the very first UWC in response to the kinds of walls and divisions that marked the Cold War. His belief that division makes us less safe, not more, is central to the current mission of the UWC movement, which is committed to making education a force to unite us against fear and the divisiveness it breeds. Over 45 powerful minutes in the sunny round room downstairs in the Castle, the students reminded me of the importance of speaking passionately about the truths we see, of affirming a vision for the future by taking a stand against actions that threaten peace. I’m so pleased and proud to be part of this excellent community, to be in the position to learn from our students at a moment in history when the UWC mission is more important than ever. Warm regards,
VICTORIA
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BY DANA MICUCCI
Wellness NURTURING
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How UWC-USA is Keeping Students Healthy in Mind and Body
Adolescence is typically a time of wonder and curiosity, experimentation and individualism, passion and emotional intensity. For many teens, it is also a challenging time of deep-seated anxiety and stress that disrupt school performance, undermine relationships, and compromise overall well-being. Recent studies on adolescent mental health by organizations
build positive relationships,” all of which is crucial to students’
such as the National Institute of Mental Health and the Centers
success during their first year of college. The survey says students,
for Disease Control and Prevention, along with groundbreaking
parents, and educators can address this issue with “better
research about the adolescent brain revealed in The New York
communication, programming, and meaningful intervention.”
Times best-selling book Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain (TarcherPerigee, 2015) by child psychiatrist and
WELLNESS AT UWC-USA
educator Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., are raising awareness about this often hidden, stigmatized issue that in its extreme can lead to
It has long been recognized that mental, emotional, and physical
suicide (the second-leading cause of death among adolescents).
health are intimately connected and that the greatest well-being ensues when each of these areas is optimally nurtured. In line with
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, one in five
the United World College mission to nurture “whole” individuals
adolescents ages 13 to 18 live with a mental health condition,
who will go on to become the self-actualized leaders of tomorrow,
including mood, behavioral, and/or anxiety disorders. While
UWC-USA is deepening its long-standing commitment to overall
a 2015 national online survey—commissioned by the Jed
health and well-being on campus with a number of new and
Foundation, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, and the Jordan
expanded programs.
Porco Foundation—found that the majority of U.S. first-year college students feel emotionally underprepared for college.
“We have always had a wellness program at UWC-USA aimed at empowering students to make choices that promote wellness
Emotional preparedness is defined by these adolescent mental
through educational activities and programming, with subjects
health organizations as “the ability to take care of oneself, adapt
ranging from self-care and time management to HIV-AIDS and
to new environments, control negative emotions or behavior, and
suicide prevention,” says Linda Curtis, dean of students. “But we
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To that end, UWC-USA has added new wellness activities such as workshops on mental health for faculty, residential staff, resident advisors, and the student body that are led by counselors or outside professionals. Students also have the opportunity to meet with counselors throughout the year to get to know each other better, which helps reduce the stigma attached to mental health issues and counseling in many parts of the world. Students, residential staff, and faculty will be offered additional training this spring on how to become a community that fosters mental health, which includes identifying students who are struggling with mental health issues and supporting them in getting assistance. This new training will be provided by Selena E. Sermeño, Ph.D., psychologist and former director of UWC-USA’s have been giving it more attention and resources over the past
Bartos Institute for Constructive Engagement of Conflict, who has
two years as students’ needs and interests have grown, particularly
worked to expand and refine the mental health program at UWC-
in the areas of mental health awareness and sexual behaviors.”
Costa Rica, which, along with UWC-USA, is aiming to develop and share across the UWC movement practices that support
The campuswide Wellness Program involves students, administrators,
community and student mental health.
faculty advisors, counselors, and residential and health clinic staff. Rooted in core values of caring, respect, trust, responsibility, and
A cornerstone of what Selena calls this “mental health blueprint”
family, the program specifically seeks to create a safe, responsive
is training resident advisors and other interested students as initial
environment and deeper sense of community by fostering more
points of support to peers experiencing emotional distress. The
open relationships between students and adults who are available
training will focus specifically on understanding the teenage brain,
to respond to difficult situations.
nonviolent communication, active listening, and how to develop thriving relationships.
Wellness Program activities include upbeat Orientation Week gatherings for the entire UWC-USA community; ongoing biweekly
“The academic pressures of a rigorous IB program, as well as the
presentations and workshops given by faculty members, students,
challenges of being far away from home and coming into contact
and outside experts on topics such as time management, sexual
for the first time with significant cultural and class differences,
consent, and suicide prevention; bimonthly dorm meetings on safety
can generate stress and anxiety in UWC students,” Selena says.
and wellness; and monthly meetings with adult resident tutors,
“Compound that with the uncertainties of the world at large
assistant resident tutors, and student resident advisors to discuss
and the fact that the adolescent brain also goes through a lot of
dorm issues. There are also professional development opportunities
restructuring that can affect mental health, and you have a perfect
for resident tutors, nurses, and counselors, who, for example, attend
storm of a time to be focusing on mental health issues at UWC.”
the Head to Toe Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, each year to learn more about issues affecting today’s youth, including
Selena defines mental health as encompassing social and emotional
self-directed violence, hazing, cyberbullying, and sexual assault.
well-being, expressed by the ability to manage one’s feelings, cultivate balance, lead a meaningful life, and build strong, healthy
SPOTLIGHT ON MENTAL HEALTH
relationships. “We can no longer consider mental health as separate from the rest of our health,” she says. “Sending youth to a therapist
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“Every class is unique and brings different concerns,” Linda says.
or psychiatrist has long been the primary path of mental health
“Ten years ago, we were talking about anorexia, bulimia, and body
treatment, but we also heal through community and relationship,
image. Now mental health issues are predominant, whether related
and that is what we’re focusing on at UWC-USA. We see all areas of
to academic pressures, homesickness, isolation due to cultural and
the UWC experience—academics, community service, experiential
language differences, lack of sleep, not getting the proper nutrition,
education, and residential life—working together to ensure optimal
or other stress- and anxiety-producing experiences.”
mental, emotional, and physical wellness.”
Eric Trotman ’17, Barbados, is looking forward to Selena’s training
include Wilderness Program trips and a host of extracurricular
and being of service to fellow students in the Mental Health Peer
physical activities such as soccer, basketball, rock climbing,
Support Group that he helped organize. “I developed skills to
volleyball, tennis, squash, yoga, and dance.
stay mentally healthy when I was young, and being at UWC is expanding these skills, because you need to manage the stress of
Dance became a new IB offering in 2013, which includes both
being in such an intense, intimate environment,” says Eric, who
written and choreographic components. “Dance skills are
also participates in the student-run Sexual Wellness, Education
transferrable to any area of life,” says IB dance teacher Judi
and Empowerment Team (SWEET), an advocacy and teaching
Ruprecht, who also serves as an assistant resident tutor and Field
group dealing with issues of sexual orientation and misconduct.
House supervisor and coordinator of physical activities at UWC-
UWC-USA has always aimed to empower students to make choices that promote wellness through educational activities and programming. “I got involved in the peer support group as students began to
USA. “Dance helps you to tap into your creativity, promotes clearer
confide in me about their mental health issues like panic attacks
thinking, refines self-discipline, and improves physical health. Physical
and depression. It’s great to be part of such an open community,
activities, in general, are not only fun, they create community and
where students help each other and don’t feel judged. Quite a few
are a good balance to the mental focus and rigor of this school.”
teachers are also open to discussing students’ personal problems.” Nourishing the body, of course, also nourishes the mind. Students Overall, the environment at UWC-USA is “pretty sunny,” says
enjoy fresh, nutritious meals with locally grown organic produce
Dan Cressman, one of the school’s two professional counselors.
from the campus farm and have access to two nurses who meet
“I have not worked at a school where the morale and attitude has
with them to discuss their medical history and health topics such
been as good among students, faculty, and staff,” Dan says. “We’re
as birth control and eating disorders.
well below what many public high schools are experiencing with student mental health problems. The well-rounded curriculum
“The students who never come to the clinic report that they
here succeeds in cultivating the healthy development of a gifted
have good time-management skills, get enough rest, and are
adolescent who is prepared for university and life in the world.”
able to find a balance between studying, socializing, and their other activities,” nurse Fenicia Ordoñez says. “We emphasize
Dan also attributes the high morale at UWC-USA to the dedicated
that students need to be proactive in their self-care. The stress
team effort of resident tutors, counselors, nurses, and the dean
level is very high here. It’s an incredibly demanding program
of students, who meet every week and work together to ensure
with high standards to succeed. And stress can lead to mental
the well-being of each student. “There is a lot of adult oversight,
and emotional imbalances that impact physical health.”
structure, and guidance that helps students to feel nurtured and cared about,” he says.
Nadia Sheppard ’17, USA-NC, is one of those students willing to accept responsibility for her own health and well-being. “UWC-
THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION
USA does a good job of promoting wellness on campus, especially through a lot of organized physical activities, the Wilderness
Also contributing to student well-being at UWC-USA are
Program, and mental health services,” says Nadia, who is
community service visits to local youth detention and treatment
participating in the new Mental Health Peer Support Group. “For
centers, nursing homes, elementary schools, and animal shelters,
me, it’s also about getting away and taking time for myself to focus
which offer opportunities to serve others and develop empathy in
inward. I like to hike the trails around campus. A big part of being
a refreshing change of environment. Other stress-releasing outlets
here is listening to what you need and learning about yourself.”
Dana Micucci is a widely published journalist and author. Her books include Sojourns of the Soul: One Woman’s Journey around the World and Into Her Truth —a gold winner in the 2013 Nautilus Book Awards—and The Third Muse.
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Taking
CARE
8
Xue “Shirley” Tan ’17
BY CARL-MARTIN NELSON, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
“Second chances matter—if you believe enough,” claims Xue “Shirley” Tan ’17, a second-year student at UWC-USA from North Carolina. Shirley and a dozen other students at UWC-USA think about
in relationships on the CARE Unit. “When we do most any kind
second chances in a new way after spending the past six months
of activity, we can feel the tension and see that the CARE Unit
working weekly with boys under eighteen years of age in the CARE
residents can’t manage it very well,” Zohar says. “One time, we
Unit at the New Mexico Behavioral Health institute (NMBHI) in
were playing four square and “John,” who was not particularly
Las Vegas, New Mexico. The CARE Unit is a residential program
good at the game, was getting frustrated. I could see that he
for juveniles who struggle with a number of issues including PTSD,
was not going to be able to handle it by himself. Our job is to
depression, and trauma and have at one point been designated
create a space a couple of times a week where there is more
as “youth who have caused sexual harm.” UWC-USA students
chilling and less pressure, so I
have been working with CARE (Center for Adolescent Relationship
intervened gently and changed
Exploration) Unit residents for 25 years. The students come
the subject with a little humor
to New Mexico prepared for opportunities to learn about new
and the game went on.”
cultures by interacting with their classmates who hail from more
The most dramatic cultural lessons some UWC-USA students experience are from encounters with CARE Unit boys who come from homes and backgrounds that are very different from their own.
than 75 different countries. The most dramatic cultural lessons
Ernesto Santistevan, Ph.D., the
some of them experience, instead, are from encounters with the
current director of the CARE
CARE Unit boys who come from homes and backgrounds in New
Unit, believes that these small
Mexico that are very different from their own.
interactions are among the
Students, like Avital Balwit ’17 from Oregon, spend 90 minutes
Unit boys. “This program and
each week with the residents playing basketball, four square, or
the interaction with the UWC-USA students helps these boys
doing crafts. “Once we wrote a play for the CARE Unit boys to
become the best part of themselves,” he says. The CARE Unit
most beneficial for the CARE
perform and they wrote one for us to perform,” Avital explains. It
boys are all trauma victims themselves, and the care they receive
was a chance to do something creative and interesting together.
is “trauma-informed care,” meaning that resolving the trauma is
Much of their time, in fact, is working on small tasks that require
central to their treatment. They mostly come from backgrounds
negotiation, respect, and courtesy. These skills are important for the
that feature three elements: physical and emotional abuse, a
CARE Unit boys to develop because they mostly grew up without
family situation with easy access to drugs, and unsupervised
them modeled, according to Dan Cressman, the former CARE Unit
access to pornography or poor modeling on the part of family
director who now works as a counselor for UWC-USA students.
members in terms of sexual relationships. In some cases, their
“Part of the point of the CARE Unit is simply to build relationships,”
mothers are sex workers.
Dan explains. “The relationships need not be deep or life-changing or affirming. In fact, managing positive, short-term relationships is a weakness of many of the CARE Unit residents.”
The UWC-USA students, and their simple, positive interactions with the CARE Unit boys, are an important part of addressing the trauma. “UWC students help resolve trauma by providing a sense
Zohar Fiszman ’17, a second-year UWC-USA student from
of normalcy and modeling for the CARE Unit boys how they play,
Belgium, describes how tension and energy play an outsized role
interact, or handle frustration,” Ernesto says.
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Zohar Fiszman ’17
Their full program includes group, individual, and family counseling,
is right and wrong and judgments are fairly easy to make. The
but their favorite part of the week is their opportunity to play and
CARE Unit represents a fundamental, realistic challenge to that
work with the UWC-USA students. Gil Paiz, a CARE Unit nurse, has
view of the world because they are confronted with minors who
seen over the years how much the CARE Unit boys anticipate and
have done some pretty horrible things but who are broken and
enjoy the UWC-USA students’ visits. “Our residents feel great joy
challenged themselves.”
and excitement when the UWC-USA students come to visit,” he says. “They are very interested in the students, and there is great
The UWC model of education, as envisioned by its founder
respect and interest on both sides.”
German educator Kurt Hahn, is a model in which students come together from a wide variety of cultures and engage in authentic
The CARE Unit program, from the UWC-USA perspective, is a true
and challenging activities—some of which are designed to take
win-win that provides benefits to both the CARE Unit boys and the
students outside their normal comfort zones. The most obvious
UWC-USA students. UWC-USA alumni speak to the importance of
example of this at UWC-USA is the Wilderness Program, which
the program and what they learned and gained. Charlie Thompson
demands that students work together in challenging outdoor
Students come to UWC-USA with a strong idealistic view of the world—a view where there is right and wrong and judgments are fairly easy to make. The CARE Unit represents a fundamental, realistic challenge to that view of the world.
’16 believes that the program helped
situations where they feel less secure. In some ways, the CARE
him see the world differently. “I
Unit program is an interesting parallel to the Wilderness Program
would say that the thing UWC-USA
because it asks students from Belgium, Columbia, or China, for
students get out of the Care Unit
example, to work with and develop relationships with minors who
experience is perspective,” Charlie
have done things that would be difficult to even talk about in their
explains. “It helped me realize that
home countries.
having nonjudgmental relationships is important for everyone and that
Naomi Swinton ’89, director of Experiential Education and the
you cannot say for sure how you
Bartos Institute at UWC-USA, ties the CARE Unit experience
would have done in another person’s
directly to Hahn’s vision for the UWC movement. “Hahn felt
circumstances. It has helped me
that perceived risk, carefully monitored by trained adults,
realize that humans are not static
enhances learning,” she explains. “Whether on a ropes course,
beings—we can change ourselves
at a campsite on a mountain, or with CARE Unit boys at a
through concerted power of mind.”
mental hospital, students can develop powerful insights by working in a challenging situation.”
Having many opportunities to observe UWC-USA students
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interacting with CARE Unit boys over the past 25 years, Dan
While the UWC-USA students are not seemingly doing anything
agrees but puts it a different way: “Students come to UWC-USA
particularly difficult, the skills necessary for success are significant.
with a strong idealistic view of the world—a view where there
History teacher Alexis Mamaux, who was the faculty advisor for
the CARE Unit program from 2009 to 2015, has a keen appreciation
from Brazil, they have a small but important opportunity to
for the blend of character and skills necessary for participation
teach and lead. This is immensely gratifying and powerful.” The
in the CARE Unit program. “The CARE Unit demands all the skills
UWC-USA students, on the other hand, believe that the cultural
learned at UWC-USA, including Wilderness, Bartos Institute for
differences between the CARE Unit boys and themselves have
Constructive Engagement of Conflict, and academic classes,” Alexis
little to do with coming from other countries. “It isn’t so much
contends. “Working with the CARE Unit residents for 90 minutes
about coming from different
demands that our students weave all these skills together and
countries,” Avital suggests. “Even
requires an emotional maturity well beyond their years.”
as an American, I come from a whole different world than these
Because the students participate in training and HIPAA
boys. Our differences come
confidentiality workshops, there are many UWC-USA students who
from different economic levels,
know little about what their peers do at the institute each week.
opportunities, and childhood
Alumni, students, and faculty alike, however, are proud of the good
backgrounds. We can learn from
the program does for both the CARE Unit boys and the UWC-USA
these differences, but we also
students. “I’ve been in education a long time,” says Dr. Victoria
sometimes simply move past
Mora, UWC-USA’s president, “but I must say that I have never seen
them to have conversations on
Working with the CARE Unit residents demands that our students weave together all the skills they’ve learned at UWC-USA and requires an emotional maturity well beyond their years.
students take on a more intellectually and emotionally challenging
common experiences or on topics that any teenager would enjoy.”
set of tasks. Their work with the CARE Unit is a stark reminder of
Maria Vicent ’13, an alumna of UWC-USA from Venezuela, echoed
how powerful the UWC mission can be. Our students are living
that sentiment in a little story she recalls vividly from her time as a
this mission every week, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
student. One afternoon, they were all sitting and drawing pictures of the basketball court and one of the boys came up to her with a
Culture is an important part of the program and creates learning
drawing he had just completed and gave it to her. “Thank you,” he
for the CARE Unit boys and the UWC-USA students. On one
said to Maria, “for allowing us to pretend we’re not here for a while.”
hand, the CARE Unit boys have an opportunity to share American language and culture with the UWC-USA students. Ernesto
As for Shirley, she ranks the CARE Unit as one of the most
suggests that this helps them because they have opportunities
powerful experiences at UWC-USA. “I’ve always thought about
to practice leadership. “The cultural differences are an advantage
this issue from the perspective of victims of sexual abuse and
because our boys rarely have the chance to teach or share what
violence,” she says. “My parents are proud of me for learning the
they know,” he explains. “When they can explain American
patience necessary for this experience. In the end, it’s scary and
football to someone from Egypt or what prom is to a student
exciting to go someplace where you have to earn trust.”
Avital Balwit ’17
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BY TAYLOR DOKE ’18, USA-KY
for Community “UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations, and
most multicultural dishes as a “bread bowl curry.” Inspired by
cultures. . .” All UWC-USA students know the beginning of this
Californian clam chowder, it’s a mix of Thai, Indian, and Japanese
statement by heart. Our mission articulates the underlying
curry served in European bread. Milan has also used his passion
principle of every experience we have during our two years.
for cooking to support others, both directly and indirectly, by
Classes, extracurricular activities, time spent with friends, all of
making pots of soup when a stomach flu ravaged the student
it is educational and serves to unite our community. However,
body and selling sushi as a fundraiser to help in the aftermath of
one aspect of the UWC-USA experience, completely unique in its
an earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan, last year.
nature and significance, is cooking in dormitories. Since the school’s founding, food cooked by students and faculty in the dormitories has been important to UWC-USA students because it represents different cultures and anchors holidays and birthdays. Food cooked in the dormitory and Student Center kitchens represents the comfort shared with friends at the end of a bad (or a good) day, and it continues to serve as a type of glue that holds the community together. The sights and smells of cooking are an integral part of any day around campus. Due in part to the generosity of UWC-USA alumnus Sebastien de Halleux ’96 on Giving Tuesday 2015, the dorms are now equipped with stoves rather than just ovens. This helps establish the day rooms as a popular place to cook and eat, along with other locations like the upper-campus Student Center. One second-year, Japanese student Milan Park ’17, is such a frequent user of the Student Center’s kitchen that he’s recently become the leader of the space. Milan exemplifies the importance of cooking at UWC-USA. He, Milan is one of the most established cooks on campus. He
like many others on campus, cooks not only because he enjoys
prepares almost every meal for himself and often cooks dinner
it but also to experience different cultures, to bring joy to those
for his friends as well. Before coming to UWC, he cooked
around him, and to give to the community. All these reasons
mostly Japanese food, but during his time here, he’s begun to
together foster the importance of cooking at UWC-USA and
create cross-cultural dishes, an outcome of cooking with friends
ensure that it will remain a fundamental part of students’ two
from different parts of the world. Milan describes one of his
years for many classes to come.
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Born in a small town on the coast of Massachusetts, Trevor Hallstein ’91 came to Montezuma, New Mexico, when he was 16. Like many of his classmates, his favorite memories include Wilderness and long talks in the day rooms. In college, he started out studying math and music and then became an engineering and finance major in his sophomore year. Now he lives in Oakland, California, and works in the field of product management, plays music, and enjoys skiing and rock climbing in his spare time. He sounds like an average UWC-USA alumnus living the mission personally and in his work life, but Trevor has much more to contribute to the community than the eye can see. He has a unique way of raising money for UWC-USA and for student wellness and mental health services: He runs.
e ople p e r o m s g in “Trevor brommunity. He’s in t o t h e c im p ac t a n d making ant he loves.” d oin g w h a
“Mental health for me at UWC-USA had positives and negatives,” Trevor says. “I think the nature of the program fostered a good mental wellness environment and at the same time it didn’t.” The social element and daily interactions along with lots of exercise and Wilderness programming were all very positive. “However, during my time at UWC-USA, there was no clear outreach or
In a way, Trevor’s fundraisers also help build a supportive community. He was not surprised that his classmates pledged to support his runs. What surprised him was how eagerly those outside the UWC-USA community got on board through work or college or his local network. “In the end,” Trevor says, “the fundraiser helped widen the community of people who know about UWC and helped spread the mission. There are many causes worthy of support, but it’s hard to go wrong with international education.” Graham Rasmussen, director of Annual Giving at UWC-USA, sees the ripple effect of Trevor’s
S N U R HE
Trevor raises money for UWC-USA by organizing hard-core distance runs, some more than 200 miles long. He asks his friends and classmates to sponsor a specific kilometer and contribute a song for his running playlist.
Like many alumni, Trevor points to the mission and his emotional connection to the school when explaining why he raises money for UWC-USA. “As an alumnus, I want to support the values of the mission,” Trevor says. “I have an emotional attachment to UWC-USA and want to make sure the program continues to grow and thrive and be available to 14
future generations of students.” While there are competing philanthropic interests, he makes UWC-USA a priority because he believes his support is valued and appreciated. He also believes his particular interests—mental and physical health services—are critically important to students’ success.
support group for mental health,” he says. “So if you were struggling or unhappy, life at UWC USA was tough. Some of us had a hard time.” Trevor recounts how he kept his unhappiness to himself during his time at UWC-USA and afterward. It wasn’t until he attended a mini-reunion that he opened up to his classmates about his depression while at UWC-USA. “After sharing with my friends, I found out a lot of my classmates struggled with depression during their time in Montezuma or afterward,” he explains. “That shocked me since we never talked about it and I never thought it was a major problem. Of course, now I know how important it is to talk about it and I know I’m not alone.”
fundraising runs. “Trevor brings more people into the community, not just as donors but as multipliers for admissions and general awareness,” Graham says. “Trevor is making an impact and doing what he loves—it’s a model I’d love to help others replicate.”
Trevor’s last fundraising experience was a 170-kilometer run around the base of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe. While running, he listened to songs that others contributed to his playlist and thought about his friends who were supporting UWC-USA. “I just wanted to bring people together and to help them participate,” Trevor says. “I also got to discover lots of new songs.”
BIG HEART BY CATALINA ENRIQUEZ ALVAREZ ’17, CHILE
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CHANGE AGENT
FROM SENEGAL TO HARVARD AND BACK TO SENEGAL
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BY GWEN ALBERS, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
The death of her grandfather two days after he was diagnosed with stomach cancer left a lasting impact on Khadidjatou “Khady” Kane ’96. So much that Khady, at age 38, chose to continue her medical training at Harvard in hopes of learning more about providing relief from the cancer symptoms. She plans to use her new knowledge to help cancer patients in the United States and her native country of Senegal. “They said there was nothing to do,” Khady remembered about her 78-year-old grandfather’s diagnosis. “He was weak and in pain. The best thing was to let him go home and be with family.” After graduating from UWC-USA, Khady in 2000 earned a bachelor’s in biology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. She spent the next year at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., doing pharmacological genetic research, the study of how one’s genes affect a body’s response to medications. From 2001 to 2005, Khady attended Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, where she also did her residency. Khady stayed on as a faculty member, initially as an instructor and then assistant professor. At the same time, she did clinical care and supervised residents. Khady left Chicago in June 2016 after getting into the Harvard Interprofessional Palliative Care Fellowship Program. Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. She chose the postdoctoral training program in Boston because she had treated many cancer patients over the years. “The burden with cancer patients is very high— higher than most chronic illnesses,” Khady said. “It leaves people with a lot of pain, symptoms related to the disease and treatment of the disease, depression, and anxiety. It also burdens caregivers.” “When you get hit with such a serious illness, doctors want to take care of you but are not always trained or have the time to take care of
the whole person,” she continued. “That’s why I wanted to get this training.” Her other inspiration was the loss of family and friends from cancer in Senegal, a country of 14 million on Africa’s west coast. “I’ve had personal experience with family members who had cancer, and I know the burden of cancer in Senegal and the total lack of access to symptom management,” Khady said. She recently spent time in Dakar, the
When you get hit with a serious illness, doctors want to take care of you but are not always trained or have the time to take care of the whole person. That’s why I wanted to get this training. capital of Senegal, where she discovered a total lack of access for cancer symptom management. She worked on a needs assessment to help map the future of palliative care in Senegal. “There’s a lot that can be done,” Khady said. “I hope we can connect the institution here with the institution in Senegal in terms of clinical research training for improving care for patients in Senegal as well as in the U.S.” She found that the cancer center at Dakar’s large public hospital had limited resources. “They had great physicians with great training, but the infrastructure and resources were very limited,” Khady explained. “The radiation machine was broken, so [patients] were getting chemo instead of radiation.” She also found families of cancer victims very involved but not equipped to care for family. “They don’t know what to do,” Khady said. “They take the patient to the hospital and they don’t have a bed. The patients are really, really struggling. It’s not that there’s a lack of caring physicians and nurses. They are very overwhelmed. I saw a lot of suffering.” After completing her training at Harvard, Khady hopes to educate other medical professionals about palliative care. She plans to remain in the United States for five to 10 years while collaborating with health professionals in Senegal. “Cancer is what it is no matter where you are,” she continued. “When you have limited resources, the mortality rate is simply higher.”
LOOKING BACK
SEBASTIAN CANYON BY LAZARO BENAVIDES BYSOLANO LAZARO’17, BENAVIDES MEXICO SOLANO ’17, MEXICO
Everyone who has had the opportunity to live in Montezuma, New Mexico, has been blessed with the wilderness that surrounds it. For decades, UWC-USA students have explored the forests and mountains that make up this beautiful 200-acre piece of land just adjacent to the school. Other activities have included hikes, expeditions, mountain biking, and organized (or sometimes unsanctioned) camping. One of the most iconic areas is Sebastian Canyon and the dirt road that follows it for miles. Sebastian Canyon, from its vistas to the water hole, is a beautiful piece of wilderness that has not just served as a great educational tool but also as the place where many students have made unforgettable memories. Tom Lamberth served as UWC-USA Wilderness Program director for 21 years. For him, Sebastian Canyon is an important place for outdoor education for UWC-USA students. When Tom ran the Wilderness Program, students would learn orienteering and would use Sebastian Canyon to practice for the search-and-rescue program. All students would take part in a map-and-compass exercise to refine their wilderness skills. The exercise consisted of finding empty milk bottles and eventually, more sophisticated orange and white controls that were hidden in the woods. The only way to find them was by reading a map. “Students who usually came from cities were alone in the wilderness for hours. When they came out of the woods, they all said the same thing: ‘I was very scared but now I feel more confident in the wilderness,’” Tom recalls. For Tom, this personal confidence gained through outdoor education mirrors the growth experienced by students at UWC-USA. In my search for anecdotes and stories related to Sebastian Canyon, I made posts on several alumni Facebook pages. I received some short replies and fragments of stories of people getting lost or sneaking overnight to camp. But the majority of the alumni refused to share their personal stories with me—probably because they involved some rule breaking or just because the memories made in Sebastian are not to be shared in public. For Gita Wilson ’05, Sebastian Canyon is a place to get away from the school noise and connect to the wilderness. “Go out and savor the incredible experience that Seb Canyon provides,” Gita suggests to current and future students. “There is no other place like it. Climb the ridgeline and look out at Storrie Lake. Create memories.” Sebastian Canyon has been, and will continue to be, a place for students to develop their confidence, their sense of adventure, and their love and respect for the wilderness. Apart from being a huge educational resource, the canyon will continue to be the setting for hikes, bike rides, camping trips, and late-night fires. It will be the place where we create memories.
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CLASS OF 1984
CLASS OF 1985
Hélène Manaud-Conter attended the 2016 UWC Congress in Trieste, Italy. At the end of the Congress, UWC-USA alumni gathered to celebrate. The group included faculty, staff and current students Luis D’Introno ’17 and Fiona Melzer ’17. Alumni included Anna Qi ’06, Aram Rabadi ’97, Aubrey Bodden ’04, Bertha Camacho ’93, Caroline Schmutte ’00, Elgita Wilson ’05, Hanna Bobyk ’07, Ines David ’02, Jose Pablo Salas Rojas ’06, Karen O’Leary ’87, Kevin Jackson ’06, Leonardo Costa ’04, Leonoor Cornelissen ’10, Magel Alcantar ’04, Manolo Espinosa ’87, Marietta Ng ’90, Marlies Prinzl ’98, Samir Mastaki ’01, Sarah Kenningham ’90, Octávio de Araújo ’08, and Vareeya Thangnirundr ’04.
Sanjay Manandhar lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his wife and two daughters. Sanjay traveled the Southwest last summer and came to campus to show his family around. Sanjay is the founder and CEO of Aerva Inc., which offers a suite of software applications and platforms. Last January Sanjay hosted the UWC Boston Alumni group at his home in Cambridge; Jose Pablo Salas Rojas ’06, Megan Minoka Hill ’93, Nithiyananthan Muthusamy ’07, Phia Sennet ’12, and Will Mendoza ’95 attended this event.
Jody Taggart and Dorota Ratusinska Rygiel met up recently near Dor’s home in California. “I recognized her walking across the street,” Jody reports. “I hadn’t seen her since 1984. We talked for hours.” 1 Kenneth (Ken) Yeung went to Australia for Christmas vacation and met up with Paul Grimes and Helen Durham in Sydney. Ken had a Japanese lunch with Paul in Darling Harbour and a very enjoyable and Southern Hemisphere– style Christmas Eve picnic party at the beach followed by tea and coffee at Helen’s house with some scrabble games. Ken also saw Sophie Moochala and Swati Patankar on a trip to watch cricket in Mumbai, India. “I hadn’t seen Swati since 1986, so it was wonderful to catch up with them both.”
CLASS OF 1986 3 Anthony (Tony) SpearmanLeach performed in the celebrity guest role of Mother Ginger in the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre and Academy’s Nutcracker Ballet last winter. Tony was also honored as a winner in the Grant Professionals Association and GrantStation’s Winning Grant Proposal national competition for his grant supporting health education and awareness. The Association of Fundraising Professionals of Washington, D.C. Metro Area Chapter (AFP DC) and the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW) recently selected Tony to present two educational sessions at the 12th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference in Washington, D.C., in August. He invites any UWCers interested in the profession of philanthropy to join him. During Tony’s recent vacation in Grand Cayman, he met up with his co-year Dana Welds Brandon. The two celebrated Dana’s recent executive-level
promotion within the Cayman Islands National Insurance Co. (CINICO). Dana is currently a member of the CINICO Board of Directors.
CLASS OF 1987 “Heartbroken by the sudden passing of classmate Ivan Alves, the class of 1987 is now more united and closer than it has ever been in the last 30 years. Ivan’s memory has made this possible, and now we find ourselves waking up to messages from 60-plus class members living all over the world sharing what we have been doing in the past few years, where we are going on vacation, and even what we had for our holiday dinner. Fantastic feeling.” Arild Drivdal is living in Mozambique with his wife Svetlana, son Eric, and daughter Maya. Arild works in international development with public health, democracy, and governance. Arild manages a USAID project to strengthen the media sector. Carla Castellanos de Bass is living in Southlake, Texas, with her husband Ron and twin daughters Isabella and Sofia (12). Carla runs a translation and interpreting company based out of Lima, so she travels to Peru very often. 2 David James teaches English (including many bad words) at an extremely intensive high school in Kyoto, Japan. “Average class size is 45! Hiroko Kamikozuru Kubo ’90 is my wife, and we met at the 1991 Boston reunion. We have two teenage boys, Gareth and Lewis. They are in a state boarding school in the U.K. and will tackle the IB there.”
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6 6 Emeka Okoro got married two years ago and last year welcomed baby Nicholas. They live in San Antonio. Emeka works in Corporate Strategy at USAA (financial services for the U.S military) as a lead competitive intelligence analyst. 8 For the last 15 years, Hugo Contreras has worked in the water sector—initially with the Mexican government, then with a French-Mexican utility, and for the last three years with the Nature Conservancy. “My everyday work as Water Security director for Latin America is to bring together corporations, governments, multilateral agencies, and other NGOs to help the most important cities in the region to protect their sources to secure clean and sufficient water and to mitigate and adapt to climate change. I live with my wife Marina; my daughter Mariana, who is currently studying international relations at the Universidad de Mexico; and my son Pablo, who is in high school in Germany. I have been a member of the Board of Mexico’s National Committee for nearly a decade. [I am] convinced that one of the best investments we can make is to help bright kids go to a UWC.” Hugo and Raphael Valdivia met in Washington, D.C., in December and solved the U.S. political troubles over a few beers; they hadn’t seen each other in 30 years! 4 5 Jay Perlas is the director of planning for tailored clothing at Men’s Wearhouse. “Scott is my husband, and it will be 19 years in March. Great memory! We have an 11-year-old yellow lab named Biscuit, and we welcome UWC visitors in SF.” Jay and Alberto Tapia caught up in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They hadn’t seen each other in
almost 30 years. Jay also met Gian Paolo Ruggiero over the Christmas holidays in Rome. 9 Kuo-Chuan (KC) Kung and his wife hosted an alumni event in Hong Kong for President Victoria Mora. KC continues to serve on the UWC-USA Board. 8 7 Mariano Martinez is back living in Venezuela. He has two sons and has written a book titled Educación a la Velocidad de la Supervivencia. “Las guapas de Singapur”: Vera Siregar and Mieneke Van Dixhoorn live in Singapore, and their kids attend UWCSEA. After UWC, Mieneke returned to Holland, studied chemistry in Leiden, majoring in biochemistry, followed by a Ph.D. in immunology at the department of nephrology at Leiden University Medical Center. Ever since, she has worked in various research- focused areas ranging from generating transgenic cows and pigs in the Netherlands to tuberculosis in South Africa. She also founded the Luxembourg National Committee to recruit, select, and fund successful candidates. Mieneke is married to Timo Smit and has three children. She continues being a volunteer as a PACE board member. PACE is a parent-led organization at UWCSEA. “We raise funds locally to construct one primary school in Cambodia per annum, and last year, we built our first school near Mandalay in Myanmar.”
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1 Carla Castellanos Bass and Priscilla Maloney de Castro met up in Buenaventura, Panama ... what a great way to start 2017! Priscilla is busy raising Jose Emiliano (4 years old) and directing the Canadian Bilateral Chamber in Panama & Canada Fund. Raphael Valdivia is going on his 14th year of teaching at Duke University School of Medicine. He is married to Suzanne Allen ’86. They have a son, Alex, who is turning 14 this year. 2 Taru Virtanen Lehtinen lives in Finland and is taking some time off work to complete her Ph.D.
6 Wayne Meneses lives in Singapore with his wife Sharon. “We moved to Singapore in 2002 for a short stint, but we never left. We have two sons: Brad is 19 and is serving his two years of compulsory national service with university applications for 2018 in progress. Marc is 15 and will be starting grade 10 soon.” Wayne works in oil and gas shipping. “Life is good in Singapore—we are healthy and happy!”
CLASS OF 1988
“My first foray into connecting deeply without using language was during my time as a student at UWC-USA. High level of emotions were frequently met with a limited vocabulary, so movement, art, music, making food, and all other forms of creative expression became assistants in creating connections and sharing feelings. I didn’t know it then, but my faith in nonverbal expression was a tiny seed planted all those years back.”
CLASS OF 1992
Consu Tolosa became an art therapist in 2000 and has since been working with people for whom verbal expression is either limited or limiting.
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3 Adam Barak Kleinberger works as the associate ombuds at Boston University. Since leaving UWC-USA, his research and training has focused on improving conflict resolution skills through the use of improvisation and clowning. Last November, Adam joined President Mora and UWC-USA alumni and friends in Boston.
CLASS OF 1993
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5 Bertha Camacho and Nicole Gerber ’94 organized a UWC-USA reunion for the ’92, ’93, and ’94 classes at the Robert Bosch UWC in Germany last July. “We had an amazing time during the reunion. The company, the different activities, and the campus played an amazing role for us to have a great time.” A total of 50 people (20 alumni) stayed on campus. Some of the activities included a hike to St. Ottilien, a campus tour, a talk about the history of the Robert Bosch UWC by Christian Hodeige, and a barbecue party.
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7 Matthew Morse ’93 and his sons, Tyler and Alexander (“Ned”), met up with Tony Spearman-Leach ’86 during their January 2017 visit to Washington, D.C. Matt is a global operations executive at Morgan Stanley.
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CLASS OF 1996 8 Carolyn Hunt and her husband Ben live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and will be celebrating their son Friedrich’s second birthday in February. Carolyn, an attorney, works in the legal department of the state’s unemployment agency. She and Catherine Cronin are looking forward to traveling to Washington, D.C., for the Women’s March where Hannah Tyson will continue her role supporting UWCers by hosting them the night before the march. They plan to meet up with other UWCers afterward, including Estelle Davis ’95. Last April, Laura Taylor-Kale began working for the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, as the deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing. Laura leads a team of 60-plus international trade professionals to promote exports of U.S.manufactured goods and to increase U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing. Laura also hosted the first fireside chat of the year on campus. 4 Luke Pustejovsky has been working with UWC-USA students as they develop new entrepreneurial ideas for the Young Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) on campus. Project Week 2017 will be the third year that the YEP group travels to San Francisco, and this year, it will also be going to Boston. Last September Luke joined Adelina Grozdanova ’03, Aditya Harnal ’07, Amit Mohindra ’84, Anna Pauxberg ’15, Antoine Picard ’93, Carolina Tello ’97, Dorota Ratusinska ’84, Ed Doe, Fernando Sandoval Jimenez ’10, Jeffrey Gao ’89, Ken Neal ’85, Manolo Espinosa ’87, Mike Aaron ’87, Nade Marques ’90,
Paul Moore ’85, Sebastien de Halleux, Trevor Hallstein ’91, and Vishal Bharam ’10 at an event in San Francisco to meet President Victoria Mora.
planning some road trips this year as it is getting outfitted for camping. They are definitely planning something special for their 10-year anniversary!
CLASS OF 1997
Ariel Hearne Maddocks still lives happily in Boston with one child in 2nd grade and one in kindergarten. She says it is hard to believe how time flies! Her children motivate her and her husband Chris even more to work for the betterment of the world. They want their children to grow up in a UWC world. They are grateful for what UWC does and believe the world needs more UWCers!
Eleanor Beaton lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. Eleanor is a writer and women’s leadership coach. “I create educational and coaching programs designed to help ambitious, wholehearted women lean into their feminine leadership and become CEO of their own lives, careers, and businesses. I’m here to help women build their confidence, their influence, and their impact.” Greg Foster recently married Luis Eduardo Foster. They live in Jacksonville, Florida. Tyler Davis is the CFO of PotaVida, a social venture that designs and creates products that capture usage data in the disaster response and international development sector. Current projects include water disinfection programs in Somaliland and Haiti. Tyler and PotaVida have won numerous awards and grants from MIT, the University of Washington, Social Venture Partners, and Washington Global Health Alliance.
CLASS OF 1998 Angela Lytton Ganata lives in Los Angeles with her husband Victor. She works as a researcher for a television game show. They are planning a trip to the U.K. in May (24-31) if anyone is around then. Alison Shepherd and her husband Doug are still living in Denver. She is a clinical social worker at a health clinic for the medically underserved. She and her husband purchased a Sprinter van last fall and are
9 Ben Melkman and Alexa Muñoz-Smith Melkman ’99 have moved to New York. Ben is opening his own company. He will be launching a macro hedge fund March 1 called Light Sky Macro. Their children are growing up: Their daughter is 6, and the two boys are 4 and 2. Edgar Blanco-Rosete lives in Barcelona, Spain. His daughter Vera was born in early January. He is still working as an art director and coaching for the National American Football team. Lisa Strassner Hutchcraft welcomed a baby in 2016. She and her family are still living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Lisa is a family nurse practitioner, and she works part time providing care to high-risk adolescents in a state-run detention facility.
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Margaret Lau is still living in Vancouver, Canada. Her 3-year-old son Kian is expecting a baby brother at the end of February. She is looking forward to almost a year of maternity leave to spend some time with the baby. Oksana Mashchak is working as a travel expert specializing in wedding destinations. She says it is a good way to escape the Canadian cold weather! She loves the change of business and lifestyle. Pierre Monteux is living on the French Riviera and still enjoying plenty of cycling and wilderness adventures. Shannon Duncan Bodwell is pregnant and will be having a daughter this spring. She and her husband Aaron are excited and terrified at the same time.
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Steve Watkins is leaving the military and applying to law school. Tea Maasalo recently transferred from working as a corporate lawyer to working in corporate responsibility (still in the same company). She says it is new and exciting for her. Maybe UWC has something to do with that choice! Her two girls are 5 and 7, and they love skating and the outdoors when there’s time! The girls are attending a bilingual EnglishFinnish school/play school.
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5 Until recently, Joseph Adamje (AJ) Feeney-Ruiz was involved in politics, government, and law. Last year, Joseph decided to switch gears and moved to France to study at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. His journey continues now with a twist of tasteful food.
CLASS OF 2000 Kris Cortez celebrated a very successful year as Rice University’s new assistant director for outdoor programming. Taylor Howard Hamilton continues her world trekking as Alibaba’s lead content strategist. 1 Yoomie Huynh recently announced her engagement to her fellow Peace Corps alumnus, Phil Christy.
CLASS OF 2002 Celene Ibrahim holds a joint faculty appointment as the Islamic studies scholar-inresidence at Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School where she co-directs the Center for Inter-Religious & Communal Leadership Education (CIRCLE). She has served as the Muslim chaplain for Tufts University since 2014 and is also an instructor at the newly established Boston Islamic Seminary. 2 Emma Tilquin and Alessandro Carini Gutierrez ’03, who live in Montreal, welcomed a baby last November named Antonia Tilquin Carini. They celebrated Christmas with Mathieu Desruisseaux ’03 in Quebec. Tomas Zajaczkowski lives in London, and last August, he married Judit Bognar LPC’06.
CLASS OF 2003 3 Erin (Ax) Gillam recently married Bryan Gillam. 4 Gilberto Cuadra and Zoila Medrano ’05 were recently married and now live in Nicaragua. Zoila obtained her medicine degree from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua in Managua.
James Byrne and wife Maggie welcomed Michael Joseph Byrne last September.
CLASS OF 2004 During his visit to the Cayman Islands, Tony SpearmanLeach ’86 visited Aubrey Bodden ’04 and Dan Stuber ’05. Serendipitously, Aubrey celebrated the legislative passage of work that she had long championed within the Grand Cayman parliament. Aubrey is a policy analyst of the Cabinet Office Policy Coordination Unit (PCU) in the Caymanian government, which named Aubrey its Employee of the Month for September 2016. Brooks Cato is the new rector of St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church in Hamilton, New York. Last September, Nao Munemura had a baby boy, Hal Harukata Matsudaira. They currently live in Japan. Monique Dorsainvil ’04 wrapped up her adventures and many successes as President Obama’s deputy chief of staff and senior advisor for the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. Monique’s brother JeanClaude Dorsainvil ’15 is thriving at the University of California, Berkeley.
CLASS OF 2005 Last August, Andi Cheney married Owen Brafford. Anna Harvey works on funding and building transportation for San Francisco. In 2012, she married her best friend Sean, and last fall, they welcomed a baby girl, Brigit Elise. Jerome Axle Brown completed his open master’s degree in design strategy at Noora Health in Bangalore, India. Axle is now the design
6 7 lead for Human Inc in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 7 John Wulsin and Aynara Chavez-Wulsin welcomed a baby boy named Santiago Chavez-Wilson on November 12, 2016. 6 Kamilla Bredlund Caspersen lives in Odense, Denmark. Kamilla currently attends the University of Southern Denmark Medical School. Last August, she married Søren and welcomed a baby boy Esben. Last September, Natalie Jo Ross, global director at the Council on Foundations in Washington, D.C., married Piyush Ramachandran, originally from India and a senior IT consultant at Sogeti USA, in Washington, D.C. They live in D.C. and are planning to celebrate their marriage with family and friends in Iowa and India in the near future. Peter Frank is a chemistry instructor at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts. Peter recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of New Hampshire. Richmond Adusei Owusu is a urology physician resident at the University of California, San Diego. Last August, he married Venissa Adusei Owusu. His former Get-Away family David and Tracy Jensen joined them at their wedding. Sam Rugunda lives in London and is a vice president in project and infrastructure finance at Citibank. Sam and his wife Mati Mutanguha welcomed a baby boy named Manzi Rugunda. 8 Yuliya Daniels and Ricardo Garciaherreros Quiñones ’07 met in Colombia a few times last year. Yuliya is a senior business consultant at Liberty
Mutual Insurance, and she managed the restructuring of the office in Bogota.
CLASS OF 2006 Atang Gilika lives in Boston and works at Analysis Group as an associate. Last May, Atang married Sarah Fieber. Hillary Borcherding lives in Boston and last summer earned her J.D. from Suffolk University. Hillary is working as a first-year associate at Mintz Levin. 9 Jorge Alvarez GarciaTuñon obtained his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in May after spending five years studying agricultural productivity and inequality– only possible after studying with Ravi and Eyad! After a summer of traveling in Asia and Guatemala, Jorge will now join the Development Macroeconomics division of the IMF’s Research Department in Washington, D.C. He encourages every UWCer to crash on his new couch! After completing her BA in communications-journalism and geography, Liraz Palachi is the spokesperson of “Green Course Israel,” a grass-roots activist organization that works to influence elected decisionmakers in Israel.
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Sayed Sarchashmah is a consultant for The Triage Group LLC in Washington, D.C. Last October, Sayed traveled to Tokyo and met with Koji Hayakawa. Last May, Stephanie Brown received her MBA and MPP degrees from Duke University. Stephanie has since moved to Philadelphia where she is the pathways operations manager at Amazon.
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Zahid Sunderani married Brit Beingessner and currently lives in Calgary, Canada.
CLASS OF 2007 Aida Domínguez Ortíz got engaged to Felipe Romero Morales last December. Aida currently lives in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
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5 6 Anne Marie WildtAndersen’s summer of 2016 was wonderful. She spent a lot of time with her growing family—Aksel is 3 years old and Johan was born February 4, 2016. “I also had the chance to spend some of the summer days with Rasmus Bjorn ’08, his wife Birna, their daughter Vigdis, and another little one on the way. On August 6, 2016, I married the love of my life and father of my children, Jacob, and we celebrated with a great and fun party at the small island where I grew up. Kristin Djerv Alveng and Ingerid Vada Hatlegjerde were there, as was Bar Houli, all day, like every day, in my heart and memory.” 7 Anniki Witter completed her medical degree from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Ashton Brown attends the University of Cambridge and recently became a candidate for a Ph.D. in education. Ashton is the current president of the Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club.
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Kamil Adamczewski moved to Seoul, South Korea, to work with Samsung Electronics as an engineer. Len Necefer works with Allegheny Science & Technology as an energy manager and works directly with the Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy in Golden, Colorado.
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Mai El Menshawy welcomed a baby girl named Salma and now lives in Amsterdam. Nelson Farayi Chiwara moved to New York City and now works for The Blackstone Group. Priscilla Cortez is a clinician for the Children’s Center of Wayne County in Detroit. Teresa Lobato lives in Lisbon, Portugal, and last August married Tomas Noronha Andrade.
CLASS OF 2008 Edjola Ruci lives in New York City and works as an ads solution consultant for Google. Edjola recently became engaged to Braem Abe Velo. Janica Neu lives in Colorado and works as a behavior interventionist at JumpStart Autism Center. She recently completed her MS in applied behavior analysis and psychology at Kaplan University. 2 Andrew Bagley, Antinea Ascione, Antonio Skarica, Aymeric Grant ’07, Helen Please, Jenna Gilkes, Katie Zorc, Madeline Noteware, Marta Kupfer ’09, Mia Tamarin, Sal Lavallo, Sela Cowger, and Zach Meager attended Kathryn Steinweiss and Jason Boschetti-Zanotti’s wedding in Australia. Katie said that Kathryn’s family welcomed them all wholeheartedly. “The UWC delegation was mentioned in three of the wedding speeches! And we scared everyone there with our UWC dancing.” 3 4 Sela Cowger was one of the featured alumni speakers at the most recent Annual Conference on campus. Sela has been involved in planning alumni events in the Washington, D.C., area, including UWC Day at the
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (photo 3), and the recent visit of our president Victoria Mora (photo 4). 1 Spencer Smith and Krystnell Storr live in Brooklyn, New York. They were married last November in the Bahamas. The bridesmaids included Grace Humphries, Jenny Thapa, and Katie Zorc. The wedding master of ceremonies was Jasper Lauderdale, and Gareth Smit ’09 was the photographer!
CLASS OF 2010 Leonoor Cornelissen is a humanitarian affairs officer for Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) and the Democratic Republic of Congo National Committee founder. This year, the committee received 62 applications, an incredibly high number, especially considering the barriers youth face in submitting these applications.
Tara Kane Prendergast has a BA from Brown University and is a master’s student at the University of New Mexico where she is studying planning and community development. Before enrolling in graduate school, Tara worked in program development and community organizing in the nonprofit sector.
9 Michael (Mike) Aleman is in Bali, Indonesia, to do the first Fulbright on medical waste management. Michael completed a three-month program of language training in Yogyakarta, which will be followed by nine months of research working with a Bali medical clinic/hospital. While in the area, Michael took a short trip to Chennai, India, to attend Shruti Korada’s wedding.
CLASS OF 2009
CLASS OF 2011
Sorina Codrea is a first-year MBA candidate at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania studying finance and management. Before attending Wharton, Sorina worked in Deloitte’s strategy consulting practice focusing primarily on technology, media, and telecommunications clients. Last June, Sorina married Dmitri Tasmali, and they live in Philadelphia.
Mounia Abousaid was a senior studying Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University in New York City. In 2013, she was awarded the Columbia University King’s Crown Leadership Award for ethics and morality. Mounia was a cherished colleague of the Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center even after UWC-USA. Mounia was such a gift to our community.
Tyler Brelje moved to Atlanta and is teaching Arabic at North Atlanta High School. 8 Yael Gilo is a travel coordinator for a luxury boutique travel company (RASK Travel in Tel Aviv, Israel). She was made project manager of its online booking system, overseeing the database management and quality assurance of more than 500 hotels.
Ashlee Reynolds recently completed her MA in Learning, Design and Technology (LDT) at Stanford Graduate School of Education. Ashlee was one of 23 students chosen for the 2016 LDT program, which trains professionals to design and evaluate learning environments, products, and programs.
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Zeinab Bailoun is studying law at Fordham University School of Law in New York. Zeinab completed her MA in Human Rights, and her work included a summer internship for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in Beirut.
CLASS OF 2012 Jane Huber is in Jaipur, India, as an International Innovation Corps fellow with the Ministry of Education of the state of Rajasthan. 4
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Leslie Osssete and peers from Earlham College recently won a $1 million Hult Prize. She is one of four co-founders of Magic Bus Ticketing, an off-line SMSbased ticketing system. Magic Bus Ticketing aims to improve lives by simplifying how people interact with transportation.
CLASS OF 2015 1 Abdullah Hussein Al-Shawk, Alejandro Soler, Nathalie Desmet ’16, Olga Joseph, and Vanina Morrison were some of the alumni present at this year’s Peace Conference at Brown University. 3 Last July, Alva “Christo” Wijaya held his first solo photo exhibition in his hometown of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The exhibition, titled Simulacra, was a social critique of modern society. Alva also launched his personal photography website www.alvachristo.com.
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4 Ana Pereda ’16, Brian Bodoh, Camille Minns ’16, Cecilia Wallace, Connor Fox, Daniel Firebanks ’16, Emelia Gold, Era Saraci, Fama Ndiaye ’16, Fiona Lau, Francesca Brecha ’16, Hannah Sanchez ’16, Ikmal Azman, Ivana Mowry-Mora ’16, Jia Chern Teoh, Jodi Robertson,
Maite Vignau ’16, Morgan Ingenthron, Tomas Sandoval, Olga Josheph, and Vanina Morrison celebrated Thanksgiving in Boston.
CLASS OF 2016 5 Angus Larsen decided not to take a year off but a year on! Through the Global Citizen Year program and generous Davis Scholarship funding, he currently lives with a local host family in the southern Brazilian island of Florianópolis. Here, he is learning Portuguese, working with two local nongovernmental organizations, one on human and LGBTQ+ rights and the other on social entrepreneurship, and engaging with the Brazilian culture. 6 After graduation, Charlie Thompson, George Young, Ivik Johansen, Maite Vignau, Otto Bridgham, and Victor Delgado toured Mexico. George, Otto, and Maite continued to Peru and Chile. 7 Nicolas Lopez, Priyanka Deodhar, and Raudya Amalia spent New Year’s Eve in Dubai. 8 Tenzin Dolma Gyalpo received an audience with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. “I was awed by his humble, caring, and loving nature. Although he is the most highly ranked religious leader in the Tibetan Buddhist community, he is very humble. His frankness and smile somehow brought peace to my mind. When I was standing before him, my body voluntarily bowed out of respect and I could not look into his eyes for more than a few seconds. I was both nervous and calm at the same time.” 2 Yftah Sheffer and his dad climbed Mount Denali last July. Before his trip, Yftah trained on campus with the help of teacher and friend Doug Arnwine.
farming & food Shelley Pasco-Verdi ’86 is living her childhood dream. Shelley, 49, along with her husband, Mike Verdi, own Whistling Train Farm in Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. Located in an
ONE OF US WHISTLING TRAIN FARM
BY GWEN ALBERS, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
She began operating a Community Supported Agriculture Program, or CSA. Subscribers pay ahead of time for a share of the anticipated harvest.
industrial area – with train tracks on both sides – their 20 acres
“We grow super high quality organic vegetables and pick every day
is some of the last farmland in King County. Together with their
for freshness,” she said. Shelley started with 20 customers, providing
children, Della, 14, and Cosmo, 13, the couple grows and sells
vegetables from her one-acre plot. The next year, she expanded
primarily organic vegetables. “Since I was a kid, I wanted to be a farmer,” Shelley said. Growing
her garden to two acres and “after a while it was five acres,” she said. “It took almost 10 years to grow the farm to 20 acres.”
up, her friends and relatives discouraged her. The typical farm in
In 2000, she married a farmer. “Mike grew up farming,” she said.
the 1980s required hundreds of acres and expensive machinery.
“He was used to farming big fields, and he was a chemical farmer.
Shelley didn’t listen. She followed her heart. “I have no regrets,” she said. “I’m really happy. I just feel like all the things I did have been at the right time.” Raised in Washington, Shelley graduated with the third UWC-USA class. She earned an associate’s in commercial art and graphic design from The Art Institute of Seattle, and worked at various graphic design jobs for eight years. While working and living in Seattle, Shelley rented a half-acre lot 30 minutes away in Kent,
I was small and organic. The two of us had a lot of battles, but compromised, going with half the size of what he was used to yet with no chemicals,” Shelley added. The couple added a farmers’ market, which their son now runs. They have had up to 250 subscribers, but are down to 130 in addition to selling produce at three farmers’ markets. This year the farm will undergo major changes, cutting back on acreage and its subscriber base.
Washington to grow vegetables and a few flowers. Shelley sold
“We have decided to limit our CSA to only 50 subscribers, and
vegetables through her connections with co-workers.
only ‘year-round,’ which for us means the 40 weeks between
“It was just enough encouragement to push me a little further,” she said. The following year, Shelley rented an acre. At about the
mid-March and the end of December,” Shelley said. “That way I can have more family time.”
same time, doctors diagnosed her mother with cancer; she passed that winter. “It was a year of big change for me,” Shelley said. “I just decided life was too short, so I took the next step.”
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VIEWPOINT
BY RASHNA GINWALLA ’95
WALK THE WALK Globally, 2016 was a tumultuous year. The new year is still young, though, and full of promise—some are greeting it with hope, others with trepidation. As a surgeon who cares for trauma victims, an intensivist who treats critically ill patients, and a global citizen who feels personally obligated to create opportunity by restoring health, 2017 is still shrouded in mystery for me.
Working in the fragmented and administratively
I became a surgeon because I get to marvel every
hope I found in Montezuma and on the strength
day at the miracle of our corporeal existence,
of the friendships I made that persist even today.
and I can get paid for it! Human ingenuity and
That led me to work for Médecins sans Frontières
random chance ensure that I will never be out of
(MSF, or Doctors Without Borders), which
a job. I can combine my two loves of operating
remains the single most intense experience of
and of traveling into a means to satisfy my
my professional life and the one that defines the
obligations to my fellow men and women.
direction of my life’s work. It is an organization
KNOWING IS NOT ENOUGH; WE MUST APPLY. WILLING IS NOT ENOUGH; WE MUST DO.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
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Having traveled some and seen the way most of the world’s population receives medical and surgical care, there is a desperate need for multidisciplinary and trans-disciplinary human capital to address all the various social
burdened health system of the United States, I find it easy to lose sight of the big picture, to see the value of the life experiences I have had, and to apply them to my work. Seventeen years after graduating from UWC-USA, I find myself looking back at the person I was then, drawing on the
that truly knows how to “walk the walk,” to deliver what others only talk about, and to speak out when others will not. I would urge everyone to take stock and ask: “What have I done to make the world a better place today?”
determinants of health. “Health” or “wellness”
The new year will demand from us all additional
is not the sole purview of the medical field:
commitments to each other and will challenge
Lawyers who expose the subjugation of
our ability to implement our words into action
disenfranchised people and who restore their
and deliver rather than circuitously meet, speak,
human rights; doctors, nurses, and the whole
or write dead-ended resolutions. While times
cadre of the health-care delivery workforce who
have indeed changed since I left Montezuma in
actually deliver care and treat the sick; public
1995 and the increasingly public sphere within
health workers who set and raise standards of
which we are all forced to function has indeed
sanitation, hygiene, vaccinations, and other
fundamentally altered the way we communicate
population-based measures for prevention to
as a species, the basic needs of human beings
improve health; engineers who design innovative
everywhere have not changed. We all need
means of resource delivery, sanitation, resource-
clean water, nutritious food, and shelter from
appropriate technology; financiers who create
the elements. But we also all need dignity,
systems that prevent illness from destroying
respect, recognition of our existence, protection
a family’s savings and opportunity—every
from violence, and social interaction. The
profession has a role to play and, I would argue,
strength to “walk the walk” lies within each of
an obligation to do so. And ALL have a moral
us, and if we are to look back at 2017 as the year
obligation for témoignage, or “to bear witness”
in which our global conscience was awakened,
on behalf of the marginalized.
we must all ACT, each and every day.
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UWC MAKES EDUCATION a FORCE to UNITE PEOPLE, NATIONS, and CULTURES for PEACE and a SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FORUM
The signature youth summer program at UWC-USA is enrolling now for summer 2017 sessions. Students learn to make a difference in their home communities and make friends from around the world. More information at
www.uwc-usa.org/GLF