2009–Fall ’18 Class Letter
2009
Emily A. Meyer
Angela Olivas Peña
Hello Class of 2009!
It is that time of year when you get a lovely letter from me with updates! Stephen and I are coming up on our 1 year anniversary of moving to Moorhead and we continue to love it here. We just got back from our annual trip to Ripon for Alumni Weekend, where we celebrated Stephen’s class reunion. It is hard to believe that next year will be our 10th reunion! I find it hard to believe we’ve been out of undergrad for that long; it feels like we just graduated a few years ago. That being said, the planning for our 10th reunion will commence soon! I’ve volunteered to help plan it (along with a few other classmates). If you have suggestions on where our reunion should be, please let me know! I may also post a poll in our Facebook group (if you don’t have Facebook, please feel free to email me and I’ll get in touch with you that way!).
While we were in Ripon, I had the opportunity to stop and visit ELIZA CHERRY STEPHENSON ’09 and her new baby daughter, Vivian! Some other updates from our classmates include one from AMANDA KNUTSON ’09 who is currently working on her Master’s in Education through St. Mary’s University in Minnesota and teaching 4K-5th grade at an alternate school at the same time! BRITTANY KAUFMAN PRATT ’09 was the recipient of the Missouri Psychological Association Early Career Psychologist of the Year award; congratulations Brittany!
Other updates include one from CURTIS SCHMITT ’09 and his wife SARA KUSSMANN SCHMITT ’08, who welcomed a baby boy (Finley John) on October 18, 2017! Curtis and Sara both work from home, which allows them to spend lots of time with Finley. TIFFANY WALKER KINAS ’09 and her husband Ben also welcomed a baby this past year; daughter Callie Kinas was born on August 26, 2017. Their son, Cameron, is very excited to be a big brother! BRYAN NELL ’09 and his wife, Kara, also welcomed a daughter, Annabeth, in July, 2017. Bryan is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
From the other side of the pond, JUSTIN HOKE ’09 is working for the Gene and Cell Therapy Group after working as a senior research technician of gene and cell therapies at University College of London in the Institute of Ophthalmology. Justin conducts experiments, collects tissues, processes samples, trains new staff members, and conducts gene therapy treatments as part of this position. Justin also participates in weekly meetings where new research is shared and critiqued and new ideas are generated to help projects continue to advance. Justin, it sounds like you are doing great things!
Well, I think that is everything for now! Be on the lookout for more information regarding our 10 year reunion; hope to see you there!
EMILY