2007

Amanda Earp Hayes and her husband, Toby, have just begun the process of building a new home by the Chesapeake Bay near St. Michaels, MD. They also celebrated 10 years of marriage this past August and held a Battlestar Galactica-themed vow renewal for their closest friends and family members (including their amazing 7-year-old, James). Amanda works as an editor, teaches classes on nonfiction writing at various colleges throughout the Northeast, and is soon to embark on a career change as a licensed and board-certified trauma therapist.

Amanda Earp Hayes
aehayes@aehayes.com

Hello, Class of 2007! It’s wonderful to think that we just celebrated our tenth reunion, and I hope those who were able to attend had a fantastic time connecting with former classmates and friends. There is news to report, so let’s get to it: Charis Loomer Beavers is a teacher in Frederick County, where she has just started her eleventh year and is piloting the first full-day Pre-K in the county. She lives in downtown Frederick with her husband, Jimmy (a salesman throughout the Baltimore/DC region), as well as her three-year-old daughter and sixteen-month-old son. Stephanie Cowen Eisenberg has relocated to FL to work as a Senior Producer for FOX 35 Orlando. She has a little girl who will turn two in July, and who she hopes will one day be a Hoodlum like the rest of us! Amanda Earp Hayes’s first nonfiction book, Shattered: Memoirs of an Amnesiac was picked up by a publisher and released September 12 as a #1 bestseller under her pen name, A.E. Hayes. She is now working on a highly-requested sequel to the memoir, as well as writing for a YA anthology, a supernatural/horror anthology, and preparing to publish a book about a coffee shop that takes place in St. Michaels, MD. When not writing, Amanda is busy with her six-year-old son, her husband (a Senior Infrastructure and Database Consultant for a major educational company in Columbia, MD), their three Battlestar Galactica-named cats, and frequent visits to St. Michaels to enjoy the slower pace of life. Collin Kenny teaches fifth and sixth grade at Frederick Classical Charter School, where he has his students mummify chicken legs and assess whether the Mongols were civilized or barbarous. He still writes music for the guitar, which his students often sing in history songs. Collin also leads the praise team at Faith Church PCA, and plays mandolin in the Singing Stones Gospel band once a month at the Frederick Church of the Brethren. He resides in Frederick with his wife and daughter. Natalie McVeigh is excited to be in the Greater Boston Area again. She married Jessica Carsten in June 2016 in Denver, where they previously resided. After more than seven years, Natalie left her own family enterprising advising and coaching firm in May 2017 to join the Private Bank of Wells Fargo as a Vice President, Family Dynamics Consultant. In 2016, she had the honor of being recognized in her field of Family Business Advising by being selected as Faculty of the Family Firm Institute.

Melissa Barrick Estes
301-974-5981
melissadestes@gmail.com

I’m happy to share that the Class of 2007 has been blessed with success, love and sweet new babies! Amelia Cotter and Jonathan Montgomery Pollack were engaged on May 8, 2015. Laura Duncan, M.B.A.’09 is happy to report that she will be teaching the legal environment of business as an adjunct professor at Hood starting with this year’s Summer II session. Rebecca Dupont obtained a graduate degree in museum studies from Johns Hopkins Univ. on May 22, 2015. Amber Guzman, M.A.’08 obtained her second master of arts degree in clinical psychology in 2010, graduated with her Psy.D., in clinical psychology in July 2013 and was licensed as a clinical psychologist in August 2014. She currently works at the Dwight D. Eisenhower VAMC, where she is the clinical psychologist in the Geriatric Extended Care Service Line. She continues to use her master’s degree in Thanatology from Hood in this capacity. Nicole Hoff graduated with her Ph.D. in epidemiology from UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in December 2014. She has been working in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for almost four years during school. She now works for UCLA and is still based in DRC running a research program. Heather Holder Kuriga and her husband welcomed a daughter, Michelle, on March 12, 2015. Adrienne Lawrence is the new senior editor and writer for Federal Occupational Health with the federal government. She will lead a team to overhaul the organization’s voice and looks forward to her move to Bethesda, Md. Charis Loomer Beavers, M.S.’13 married James Beavers on July 4, 2014 and welcomed a baby girl, Raegan Carroll Beavers, on October 21, 2014. Janelle McKelvey Hughes is married to Leland Hughes and is working at the National Institute of Health in Baltimore. Natalie McVeigh received certificates in Family Business Advising (CFBA) and Family Wealth Advising (CFWA) from the Family Firm Institute (FFI).  She is also the owner of a start-up, internet based resource for family businesses called Family Owned Business Resources. She is also recently engaged to the love of her life, Jessica Carsten. Erin Folden Neuland and her husband, Andre, welcomed a daughter, Grace Amelia, on March 20, 2015. Jade Brew obtained a masters of science degree in accountancy from the Univ. of Phoenix in 2011. Shannon Williams recently completed a two-year fellowship program through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and earned a LL.M. in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at the European Univ. Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. She also got married on Feb. 14, 2015, and recently bought a townhouse in Silver Spring, Md. Chantel Wilson will have an additional degree conferred on May 15: Ph.D. in crop and soil environmental sciences from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ. Congratulations to the Class of 2007!

2007
Melissa Barrick Estes
melissadestes@gmail.com

It is my great pleasure to share a lot of good news from the class of 2007. Amanda Earp Hayes recently purchased a new home in Baltimore with her husband Toby and 2-year-old son James.  She works at home as a freelance writer and editor and has published two short works. Laura Smith graduated from a two-year post-graduate certificate program for psychodynamic psychotherapy through the Washington School of Psychology in Washington, D.C. She works with a practice in Frederick and is starting a private practice in Bethesda, Md. Jessica Palmer Biggs and her husband Josh live in Jacksonville, Fla. They welcomed twins, a son Mason and a daughter Aubrey, Aug. 31, 2013. Julia Blickenstaff, M.S. ’14, graduated from Hood with her master’s degree in management of information technology in May 2014. She currently lives in NYC. Congratulations to Katie Chick who was recently promoted! She is now the director in career management at The Advisory Board Company where she has been working for more than seven years. Laurie Burrier Atwell was married at Hood in July 2010. She and husband welcomed a son Colton in August 2011. She now lives in Smithsburg, Md., and is a history teacher at Smithsburg High School. Amber Guzman, M.A. ’08, earned her master’s degree in thanatology from Hood in 2008 and her doctor of psychology in clinical psychology from the American School of Professional Psychology in 2013. She is working as a psychologist in the Geriatric Care Clinic at the Leavenworth, Kan., VA Medical Center. She also recently bought a home! Sarah Fortney Marshall and her husband welcomed a son Cameron Jay Marshall Aug. 8, 2013. Adrienne Lawrence is the new operations and conference director for the Journalism and Women Symposium. JAWS is a national association that supports the professional empowerment and personal growth of women in journalism and works toward a more accurate portrayal of the whole society. Christine Layton earned her doctor of philosophy in plant pathology and plant-microbe biology from Cornell Univ. She moved to St. Louis, Mo., to take a new job at Monsanto Company; she is also engaged to Courtney James, brother of Megan James ’06. Emmanuel Osong Noumbissie is now married and has two children, Quinn and Liam, both under the age of 2. He graduated with his doctor of philosophy this year in epidemiology from Walden Univ. and started a pharmacovigilance consulting company, NEOPha, Inc. in 2010. Kimberli Smith O’Connell and her husband Daniel welcomed son Desmond Ward O’Connell June 10, 2013. Stephanie Cowen Eisenberg and her husband moved to Las Vegas in September 2013. She is now the executive producer of the morning show on KLAS-TV. She has been working in TV for the last seven years, including jobs in D.C. and Orlando, Fla. Laura Duncan, MBA  ’09 is now Laura Duncan, Esq. She works as an associate for Poffenbarger and Weddle and as an attorney for the Maryland Appointed Attorneys Program. Amy Duvall, M.S. ’13, earned her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Hood College in September 2013. Chelsea Henkel earned her master of public policy degree from Vanderbilt Univ., Peabody College of Education and Human Development and started a new job as a policy analyst with an education advocacy group in Denver, Colo. She also got engaged to Julien Ross. Jaclyn Stielper Pek and husband Kevin welcomed a daughter Lucille Luise Pek May 11, 2014. Congratulations to Derrick Harrigan, MBA ’14 who earned his master of business administration degree from Hood College in January 2014. Charis Loomer, M.S. ’13 married James Beavers July 4, 2014. They are expecting their first baby in October. Charis is a pre-school teacher at Monocacy Elementary School. Heather Holder Kuriga married Alexander Kuriga July 14, 2012, and moved to Florida on Feb. 4, 2013. Your class reporter, Melissa Barrick Estes, and husband Casey moved back to their hometown of Middletown, Md., just in time to welcome a son Adam Joseph in July 2013.

Amber D. Guzman, M.A. ’08 finished her second master’s degree in clinical psychology from the American School of Professional Psychology in Washington, D.C., in 2010. She is currently in her fourth month of internship at the Eastern Kansas VA in Leavenworth, Kan. She is also finishing her dissertation and plans to graduate with a doctorate in clinical psychology after completion of her internship in July.

Class Reporter: