Hello from the Class of 2013! Thank you to those who provided exciting news to share in our first column for the Hood Magazine. In the months since graduation, we have been a busy bunch. Many of our classmates are pursing Master’s degrees, a number of us are working with different organizations, and we have many engagements and marriages to celebrate!

Congratulations are in order for Sarah Hering who is engaged to Shawn McNalley ’12 and is looking forward to a July 2014 wedding; Kimi Brunot who is engaged to Brian Humphreys; Nicole Crutchfield who will be marrying Trevor Tabbachino in April; and Travis Kerr who is recently engaged to Jessica Becker ’12. Congratulations to newlyweds Ashley Darling Genova and Brent Genova who were married this past August. All the best!

Kellie Duncan is working as a youth counselor for Pride of America Cruise Line in Hawaii; Kate Adams is teaching third grade at Glenn Dale Elementary School; Justin Stone is teaching fourth grade at Emmitsburg Elementary School; and Ashley Darling Genova is the marketing and promotions manager at Godfrey’s Farm in Sudlersville, Md. Jeffery Reichert is now working for Interfaith Housing Alliance as their administrative support; Bridgitte McColligan is a performance technology coordinator for The Advisory Board; Kasey Johnson is working as a field archaeologist for R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates; Melayne Newman is an account coordinator with Hirshorn Zuckerman Design Group; and Kimi Brunot is as an administrative assistant for Vintage Security. Nicole Crutchfield is working as a rehabilitation counselor for youth; Amanda Kessler is working at Clearspring Elementary School as the resource and learning center teacher; and William Lewis is working for Red Horse Strategies in New York City. Meghan Hauenstein is working as an infant teacher in California and just celebrated her son’s first birthday! She is headed back to the classroom as a student to receive her teaching certification. Alexander Smith is working as an administrative assistant at Glenwood Academy and Nilsa Gonzalez is working at The Whole Self Center with their intensive individual support services. Sarah Hering and her fiancé Shawn McNalley ’12 have landed their dream jobs. Sarah is teaching Kindergarten at Lewistown Elementary School and Shawn is working for Suburban Video media company. Olivia Wolz is now working for Affiliated Computer Services; Jasmine Woolard is putting her biology degree to use as a quality control technician at Medimmune; and Kacie Stuckey is working as a kindergarten instructional assistant at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School and will be going back to school to receive her teaching certification. We will be saying ‘bon voyage’ to Will Lane and Nick Mudgett in early 2014 as they embark on their service as Peace Corps volunteers in Ecuador and Nicaragua, respectively. Until their departures, Will is a research and development intern at Evapco and Nick is the marketing specialist for Taxware.

Spencer Knoll is pursuing a Juris Doctorate at the University of Maryland School of Law. Kimi Brunot is also in Baltimore pursuing a Master’s degree in counseling psychology at Loyola University in Maryland. Dallas Tolbard is pursuing a Pharm.D at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Throughout the United States we have Nicole Crutchfield in the social work Master’s program at St. Leo University in Florida; Alex Winter in Illinois pursuing a Master’s in biological sciences at Eastern Illinois University; Ashley Birdsell who is pursuing a Master’s of fine arts in performing arts management at Brooklyn College in New York City; and Deryka Nairne in the higher education and student affairs administration Master’s program at the University of Vermont. Across the pond, Travis Kerr is studying Immunology at the University of Aberdeen School of Medicine and Blair Starnes is pursuing a Master’s of Science in forensic mental health at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London.

When you come back to visit campus, you will see a number of us keeping busy at Hood. MeMe Brown is pursuing a Master’s of Business Administration and is the graduate assistant to Rev. Beth O’Malley. Andrew Bodine is the assistant manager for the aquatics center and the assistant men’s and women’s swimming coach; Breanne Carbaugh is enjoying her time in the Thanatology program and I, Elaheh Eghbal, am serving as the AmeriCorps*VISTA member in the career center and enjoying my Master of Business Administration class.

Although our time as undergraduate students has passed, the memories we made at Hood will keep us tied forever. Continue to make your mark Class of 2013 and keep in touch! Cheers!

Class Reporter:

Elaheh Eghbal

ee6@hood.edu